Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

The Shadow of L9

Xavien arrived on L9, anger filling him to the core. After all those years of planning, all those years of waiting, it was collapsing all around him. They knew everything, knew who he was, what he had wanted, what he did for a living. Hell, chances were they knew where he was and were coming after him.

But he had a few more tricks up his sleeve. If he couldn't obtain power legally, then he would do it the old fashion way and use force to get it. He still had his own private army, comprised not only of human piloted suits but Mobile Dolls as well. He had battleships like the Sagittarius at his beck and call. And he also had a certain minister in his hospitality.

And that's where he was, entering the quarters that he had given to the Peacecraft bitch and her little Catalonia friend. His sudden appearance must have surprised them since both of them had shocked looks on their faces.

"It seems I've been outed," he announced to the women, his face an expression of distaste.

"Now do you see how your efforts are meaningless?" Relena asked him, smug. He'd wiped that smugness off of her.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me earlier," he growled. "I don't care. Besides, you're still here, aren't you?"

"You know it's only a matter of time before they find us and you," Dorothy said. "You're not going to get away with this."

Then Xavien grinned wickedly. "That is precisely why I'm going to let them come."

"Huh? What?"

"I'm going to show myself," Xavien explained as if the two were simple children. "I'm going to demonstrate what power I have at my command and wait for them to come here. They'll throw everything they have at me in order to rescue you. And when they arrive, they'll all be destroyed."

"And how do you plan to accomplish that?" Relena demanded, dubious of his claim.

"Oh, you'll see," Xavien promised sinisterly, a wicked smile showing off brilliant white teeth. "You'll have a front row seat to the show, provided a certain streetrat doesn't interfere."

"Why do you hate Duo so much?" Dorothy asked quietly.

Xavien narrowed his eyes. "Because he comes from L2, my dear," he answered stiffly. "L2 is nothing more than a pit of decadence. It doesn't deserve to exist. It should be completely wiped out."

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. How Xavien was talking sounded as if he was obsessed with hating L2. Perhaps all logical reasoning for hating it had dropped away and become an overpowering obsession, no reason left to guide it? That was a potential weakness in Xavien's armor. She would have to use it later on. "But that doesn't explain why you hate Duo."

"He's from L2, born and bred," Xavien snapped, his stiff yet calm demeanor taking a turn for the worst as his different colored eyes began to express his twisted obsession. "He's a menace, a disease that needs to be wiped out. They took away from me the one thing that should have been mine, mine and mine alone. The scum of that blighted Colony killed my family off. My father, my mother, my bratty sister, each and every one of them. Of course, the murders were never solved thanks to the status quo there. It should have been me that ended their lives! Not those gutter rats! ME!"

Relena and Dorothy stared at him in horror.

Grinning wickedly, his obsession having taken complete control, Xavien continued, "You heard me alright. I wanted to kill them since I could first create a memory. They forced me to be a companion of the one and only Raberba Winner (1), hoping to impose their strict Pacifism on me but I resisted. I had everything planned out, waiting for them to return from a trip to L2 when I heard the news. Those miserable streetrats stole them away from me and robbed me of my vengeance. They will pay for that and they have. Along with that streetrat that's running amuck on my Colony, all those insects will die slow, horrible deaths when all humanity is mine!"

His eyes were blazing with insanity and unreasonable passion as they bored into the two captive women. His grin turning malicious, he finished, "In the meantime though, enjoy whatever time you have left as the main event is about to begin."

Wasting no time, Xavien spun around and left the two captives, locking the door to their quarters behind him.

"What do you think he's up to?" Relena finally asked fearfully.

"I don't know Relena," Dorothy answered, just as shaken as the other girl. "But it can not be anything good."

---

Colonel Serin was not having a good day.

First, he had received orders to restart the Mobile Suit factories at the Lunar Base. However, it had been years since that equipment had been used and it had fallen into disrepair.

Second, he had to get the Lunar Base prepped for armed forces to arrive. He knew, as did everyone, that Relena Darlain had been kidnapped. However, it seemed as if she was being held in space and the powers that be on Earth were planning on rearming the base. The problem was that scars left over from the Gundam attack on the base still lingered. Even six years after the destruction, they were still repairing the damage.

Third, he had just found out that the base was currently understaffed. There weren't enough people here to get everything ready by the time the Earth forces got here. He wasn't sure if there would be anything ready for those forces when they arrived.

"Colonel! We're picking something up!"

Serin growled to himself. Now what? Were the Earth forces here already? "What is it?" he demanded.

"According to the readings," the soldier said, "a large object is in orbit of the Moon. It just appeared on radar just now and it is currently over the Lunar Base."

"And what exactly is it?" Serin demanded.

"It looks like an asteroid," the soldier answered. "I think it's that one that's been orbiting the moon for some time." Pausing, he suddenly stated, "I'm picking up a transmission, Colonel."

"Let it though," Serin ordered.

All screens in the command center went blank before momentarily coming back on. A middle-aged man relaxing in a chair smiled at them all, his different colored eyes disturbing the Colonel.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"My name is Janus Xavien," the man spoke. "I am here to declare that the Lunar Base now belongs to me. Surrender at once, if you know what's good for you."

Serin snorted. "Or you'll do what? The only one who is going to be surrendering is you, pal."

"I beg to differ," Xavien responded smoothly. "You have no idea just what I'm capable of. With the press of a button, I could have you all destroyed in a matter of seconds. If you truly value your life, you will surrender to me."

"Now that's just crazy talk," Serin retorted. "I would never surrender to some wacko like you."

"The transmission is coming from the asteroid," the soldier stated, looking up at the Colonel for further orders.

"Launch all Mobile Suits," Serin commanded. "We'll show this guy not to mess with us."

"I'm afraid you're going to regret that," Xavien spoke. "I hope you enjoy your life, whatever is left of it." With that, the screens went blank before resuming their original statuses. Serin snorted and called for an image of the target to be brought up.

There it was; the asteroid. Appearing only a couple years before the Eve Wars, nobody had figured out what it was doing, besides orbiting the Moon. It seemed like that was about to change as the Mobile Dolls were about to be unleashed when an ominous green light shot out of the rock. Cracks grew on certain parts of the asteroid, more green beams shooting out into the darkness of space.

"What the hell is going on?" Serin demanded.

Without warning, parts of the asteroid exploded, revealing metal structures fused with the rock. Metal twisted around many of the uncovered areas, as if growing from it. One noticeable area was a large, half-spherical depression that now rose above the remains of the asteroid.

Then another green light grew out of the depression and those watching could see the energy gathering in it. Serin realized just what was happening and issued evacuation orders immediately. He was too late though.

The energy shot out as a green beam of light that was directed straight at the Lunar Base. Everything inside was vaporized instantly.

---

The area where the Lunar Base once stood erupted into small chunks of rock that were escaping the Moon's crust, rocketing out into the vastness of space. Shockwaves from the blast caused even more chunks of rock to break away from the small planetoid, the frozen stone spreading out upwards, trying to escape from the moon. A lovely crater now stood where the Lunar Base once had been.

Xavien smiled to himself as he looked over the damage before speaking to himself. "I have made the first move, my friends. Now it is your turn. Try not to disappoint me."

The colony L9 soon blended it with the darkness of space as it waited for the inevitable reaction from Earth.