Author's Note: This chapter marks the beginning of the final stretch. The fic's days are numbered so enjoy it while you can.
Warning: Spoilers for Gundam Wing. This goes for both the prologue and the rest of the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Busted
After assessing the damages on the Nightshade, Serbiak found himself on standby, waiting for Xavien's next orders. That meant he was going to have to wait with no rest whatsoever.
As if he could go to sleep anyway with what was on his mind. No-name was not only alive and well but was determined to stand in his way like old times. Oh how he would like to face that runt with Nightshade on his side; he'd show that no named freak who was the best!
And then there was that third Taurus… Where had it come from anyway? What was the use about thinking about it anyway? The chance he'd get to face that particular pilot was next to nil.
It was just one embarrassment after another.
---
Xavien was in no good mood that morning. He didn't even want to go into the Legislature's chambers for the introduction of his new legislation or to string along the fools that were the public's elected officials. Not that any of that wasn't fun, it certainly was, but his dark mood was too thick and heavy.
The whole fiasco at Sanc was still at the center of his mind. Despite the assurances from Serbiak that the accused disk was destroyed and couldn't have gotten out of that reckless destruction in one piece, he was on edge, waiting for something to happen. Thus far, nothing had, but he hadn't gotten to where he was today trusting the blind words of idiots.
It seemed like he could only trust himself to do things right these days…
However, the show must go on and if things went the way he wanted them…
Then there was no way he was going anywhere anytime soon. He would truly be ruler of the world and the Colonies, the title itself some fancy words strung together to make it seem as if he wasn't. As if any of those morons out there bothered to read the fine print…
These thoughts ran through his head as he entered the Legislative chambers, heading for his appointed seat near the podium. He paused by it, looking out into the slowly filling room.
There was so much power to be had just by standing in that one spot. He remembered when a certain Peacecraft girl once stood there while he sat unnoticed on one of the representatives' benches. The little brat didn't know how to wield the power she had correctly. She could have done anything from this very spot and yet did so little. In a few hours, it wouldn't matter anyway as him and only him would stand in that spot, governing all of humanity.
And it would all begin in just a few minutes…
If only Winner would see him now. The man's Pacifistic ideals would never had gotten him this far. In the end, those ideals ended up getting him killed. Only through chaos had Xavien gotten this far. He would have loved to have seen that man's face at this moment.
He sat down in his seat, waiting for the appointed time to arrive before nodding at the herald who would call everything into order with the simple words, "This session is now convened."
"May I have order? On this day of June 18, After Colony 201, I hereby declared that this session of the Legislature commence."
And there they were.
Showtime.
"My fellow colleagues," he greeted, taking his place behind the podium. "I am as stunned as you are about the recent events in the Sanc Kingdom. The Luciferian Army has struck at us, unprovoked, while we remain helpless as they hold Relena Peacecraft and her associate against their wills, using them as shields so that we won't attack them. As of now, we have the entire ransom collected and ready to be sent but we have all been caught off guard by such a despicable deed." At least some good could come from that. He could see the representatives hanging on his every word, taking in everything he said as if it were religious dogma.
"It is time to end this stalemate," he declared. "As you all know, I have done my best to follow the path laid out by Minister Peacecraft herself but unfortunately, that path can not lead us out of this dark storm that we confront. Action must be taken, justice swift and sure. In order to achieve both though, we will need to have a more permanent figure leading us, someone who will make sure we do not stray too far from the ideals of Pacifism yet allow us to strike back at those who dare to take advantage of us. It is truly a time for change and that time is now!"
Applause met him. He drank it all, allowing himself to revel in it. The time was at hand. They had taken his bait hook and line and now it was time to finish it.
He was interrupted by the sound of the chamber doors opening.
Looking up, he covered his irritation up beneath an unfeeling mask. "What an unexpected pleasure, Director Une," he greeted, eyeing the woman.
"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine," the woman replied, giving him a predatory look. Something was not right about this. He could see a few Preventers walking the perimeter of the chambers and it did not escape his notice that they were watching him.
Hidden by the podium, his finger pressed down on a button that was part of a small device. The button began to blink with a frequent red light, sending out a signal.
"What business brings you here today, Director?" he inquired casually. "Have you made any headway on finding our enemies?"
"Indeed we have, Knox," she answered smoothly.
Something was definitely not right. Still, the whispers that drifted among the representatives was not a pleasant one. It was just a small setback; he could get them all riled up again.
"Is that all?" he asked, impatient for her to be gone.
"Not at all, Knox," she replied, "or should I say Janus Xavien?"
The whole world seemed to freeze at that, at least to Xavien. How did she know that name? How could she know it and that he was his real name?
Without missing a beat, he let his irritation out. "And what prompted that?"
"You are under arrest," Une stated without a trace of humor in her voice. Her agents had taken out their pistols and aimed them all at him. The noise level increased as representatives were demanding to know what was going on.
"Arrest?" he repeated.
"Indeed," Une continued. "You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Relena Peacecraft, the kidnapping of Dorothy Catalonia, and for distributing illegal arms all over the Earth and the Colonies."
"What the hell are you talking about?" he bluffed, his eyes switching between the Preventers Director and the Preventer agents that were closing in on him.
"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded a representative, cuing a vocal outrage.
Ignoring it all, Une finished, "Oh yes, and I almost forgot. You are also under arrest for the kidnapping of Duo Maxwell."
"That streetrat?!" he snarled with fury, his voice cutting through the cacophony and silencing everything. It was only a few seconds later that Xavien realized what he had done. The rest of the Legislature was staring at him as if they had never seen him before. The Preventers were closing in on both sides.
His face contorting into rage, he leapt back and pulled out his own gun. The agents tensed, ready for his next action. The armsdealer was sure that they wouldn't hesitate to shoot him if he made one bad move. The politicians were all staring at him in horror. He bitterly saw that everything was beginning to fall apart. But he was not going to let that happen without a fight, not after all he had done and waited for.
"You think it's going to be that easy?" he spat, his angry gaze leveled on Une who was also holding out her own gun. "I control the government now. You must take orders from me. Don't think I won't hesitate to kill you for this treason."
"It's over Xavien," Une countered. "We know everything. As of this moment, I declare, with the approval of the Legislature, martial law. You are going to tell us where you're hiding Relena."
"You'll never get your princess back," Xavien snarled. "I hold her life in the palm of my hand. If you want her back so badly, you will do everything I tell you to do, got it?"
"You have no power here," Une stated, letting a little smirk out. "You're finished."
The wall erupted into debris as a metal hand ripped through it, pulling back a large chunk out. There in all its glory was the Nightshade and Xavien could not have been more pleased. "It's about time," he muttered as he scrambled to get as far away as he could from the Preventers.
Already, a few agents were firing at him, Une's voice commanding them not to kill him. Somehow, miraculously, none of the shots hit him as he made his way to the Nightshade's outstretched hand, climbing into it and using the fingers as an obstacle to protect him from the gunshots.
"Go now!" he shouted over the noise to the Gundam, the Mobile Suit obeying his request as it launched itself with its thrusters away from the capital building. "Go to the Sagittarius!" he yelled. "We're going back to L9!"
Nightshade's eyes glowed, signaling that Serbiak had received his order.
Because of the surprise visit of Nightshade, pursuit was too slow to be mobilized in time to catch up with them. Within the hour, the Sagittarius had launched, escaping Earth's orbit and vanishing into the darkness of space.
---
"He got away?!" Quatre exclaimed once it had been confirmed that there was no trace of Xavien or his dark Gundam. "But I thought we had him!"
"No one could have anticipated that Mobile Suit's intervention," Trowa logically pointed out. "At least it confirms that Xavien was behind the rogue Gundam attacks."
"It means little," Heero stated. "Xavien still has Relena. We need to know where he's keeping her. He's more than likely going there to hide."
"And where do you propose we start looking?" Zechs calmly asked. "We have no clue as to where he's been keeping her in the first place."
"You sure are calm about this," Trowa commented.
"No use getting upset over it," Zechs replied.
"So where do we start?" Heero demanded, bringing everyone back to the current topic.
Une sighed, rubbing her temples. Before even an hour had passed after Xavien's escape, the Legislature had put given her control of the Government. That, adding on to being the Preventers' Director was stressing. There was only one course of action that they could take at this moment.
"All we can do for now is wait until Xavien makes the first move," she stated. When it seemed her decision was going to be protested, she continued, "We have no idea as to Xavien or Relena's whereabouts at this time. As much as I hate to say it, we can only wait until Xavien reveals himself. If he does, Relena is sure to be nearby since he wouldn't want to lose such a bargaining chip. In the meantime, we will prepare for whatever Xavien might throw at us. All intact Mobile Suit factories will be started up."
Leveling her gaze at the deflating men around her, she simply stated, "As of this moment, we are at war. Bring all the Gundams here. We'll need them."