With the committee split with differentiating opinions, the Zumin took the great advantage. Bases were formed both in space, on several colonies, and even on Earth. They were hidden from any sonar or radars, and could only be sought and found with special instruments, which the New Alliance did not have possession of. This posed to be a major problem for the New Alliance.
Dr. Jei was most upset with the reception and protests to Relena's well thought-out speech they had practiced for hours on end each day. He did not believe in waging war until necessary, and in truth, that was the way things should be. But the people of the New Alliance were new members; they were both willful and headstrong. Their basic idea of overcoming this matter was to push out the Zumin for good, no matter the cost nor the consequences. With that attitude, all would be destroyed much quicker than to try a hand at peace.
"I cannot believe the people wish to wage war," Dr. Jei muttered for the millionth time. "We must somehow sway their thoughts. We cannot risk total destruction before it is actually time. I leave it to you. So long!"
The five watched in astonishment as Dr. Jei called a cab and waved a goodbye. He was almost out of sight when suddenly he called out, "Hangar 5, Heero! Hangar 5!" The dark tinted window rolled up, and that was the last of him for a long while.
"Hangar 5," Heero said in wonderment and utter despair. "Where is Hangar 5? Drat [or another word...^_^] that Dr. Jei! How am I supposed to find--"
He was cut off shortly by a blast behind them. Lucrezia Noin appeared, pulling Hilde along with her. They hopped off the motorcycle and stood looking the five over.
"I am going to take you there, Heero." She turned to Hilde. "Give them the map, would you please?"
Hilde pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed them over to Heero. "Hi, Duo," she said slyly, smiling as she returned to Noin's side.
Duo barely managed to wave a hello back to her when Heero made a noise between a choke, laugh, groan, and gasp. They all turned to look at him curiously.
[what do you think? LoL, almost seems as if Heero was the one Hilde was talking to...nope, not this time! But maybe later...^_^heheh]
Heero was shuffling through the papers like a madman, seemingly searching for some missing piece. "The coordinates here, here! Here, and here!"
The others looked at him as if he were really crazy. [although they all are...that's besides the point, right?] Duo's eyebrows went up, and Hilde giggled.
Noin glanced at him. "I do not know what you feel about this, but we need to hurry. Are you ready?" Four nods comfirmed this.
Heero looked up. "It isn't very far," he commented, still going through the black-and-white small-print documents.
Noin just laughed. "No, not really. But we decided it would throw the others off. But we really do need to leave now. The other members will soon be filing out from their refreshments." She laughed again, but this time it was more harsh-sounding.
"Where is the base?" Quatre asked cautiously, aware that wherever it was, it wasn't very pleasant. That is, as he judged from Heero's reactions. You never knew with Heero Yuy and his facial expressions.
Relena tried to lean over Heero's shoulder, but to no avail. She couldn't see the papers very well on the slightly overcast day. And anyway, last time she saw him, he was already taller than her. And he had grown, too.
Heero was not oblivious to her futile attempt at snaring a glance at the papers. He glanced behind him, noted that she was blushing madly with embarrassment, and then decided they should all see them.
He laid them out carefully along the tiled mosaic flooring in the reception atrium. It was not completely closed in, but fortunately it was not a windy day. Most of the people from the meeting were in the dining room yabbering and eating refreshments. The five did not bother with food and got straight to work.
"See here, this is where we are." He looked at each of them to make sure they saw what he was speaking of. "This is the airlock. And here's the lift. Got it?" He paused and looked at Noin. The lift was a locked and security-laden piece of machinery. They would need both codes and passwords, not to mention keys and special ids. There were two lifts; one on this floor, then another on the lower level in which you must cross to the other side with more passwords and keys to the second lift.
Noin vaguely answered the question. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, Heero. We need to hurry!" She waved her hands the punctuate that haste was indeed vital.
They hurried along. Heero wondered what the lifts were like. Of course, these were no ordinary lifts. You had to have an oxygen mask in the airlock upon entering the lift and exiting the lift. The second lock required control radars to be placed atop the head for security reasons. And security was definitely needed for the locking of the world's top piece of destruction, the Gerdams.
They made it to the entryway to the airlock. Masks were put on, and then a series of ability tests were taken. In order to get inside, one must cross a corridor of flooring that had missing pieces. If you fell through, you were immediately sent back outside by transporter. The second corridor was a pattern. You must remember your pattern and make your way among lit and colored tiles. One false move and you were sent back outside for good. The third and final corridor was ice and water. The ice pieces moved in and out, back and forth. If a part of your body or clothing touched the water, it was dematerialized and you would find yourself dripping wet and back at the entryway, denied your entrance forever.
The chief difficulty was their belongings. They hadn't travelled with only money and the clothes on their back; they had much more. Packs were available at the gateway entrance, however, whatever they did they could not manage to correctly stuff their items into the bags. When Heero saw that Relena was about to say she wasn't going a step without certain things, he threw out half his stuff to accomodate her bags in his pack. Little things like that weren't as noticeable to the others who had their own problems, to Heero's everlasting relief.
Noin, however, noticed, but she didn't say anything. When Heero wasn't looking, she winked at Relena, who was then confused. Afterwards, she often asked herself why Noin had winked. She would have to ask her later.
Hilde was arguing with Duo as to how he should pack his stuffs into the large pack. Of course, being a very organized girl, she knew how to put things in such a way so that more items could be packed. Duo argued that he had done this many times before and could manage well enough without doing some of the things Hilde advised him to do. Heero couldn't help turning his nose down at this little annoying scene. They were really close friends, and maybe as close as brother and sister. But with that closeness came disputes and disagreements that all siblings have.
Quatre was a little nervous about the whole thing. He wasn't necessarily emotionally stable, but he was well off enough for one of the pilots. He always had something to fall back upon, though to him it wasn't the world. Trowa, his counterpart, was even more emotionally drained, although he wasn't nervous at all. Well, if couldn't be said he was perfectly calm, either. He was neutral and emotionless, as usual.
Noin guided them through the first corridor. It was fairly easy, although Hilde did lose her balance once and Duo had to catch her, which then caused a disturbing scene of tripping, falling over, and plenty of last-mintue catching. [a-HEM!]
For the memory corridor, they took turns in case one of them forgot and another would be able to help. Noin went first, then Heero. Relena was about to go when Noin suddenly cried out: "Relena! Wait! It hasn't blinked!"
Relena stopped midstep. Heero whirled around the minute he hit the safe-point at the end. His eyes met hers, full of despair and worry. It was an odd sight; one never saw emotion in Heero at all. Now it was all different. Why? None of them knew any such reason or answer to that question.
Duo watched the scene in silence. Whatever Heero was doing with himself was his own business. After many years of knowing Heero, one learned that you cannot meddle into his affairs. It just wouldn't work. Quatre was curious, but being the well-bred and the gentleman, he did not ask. Trowa noted this little scene and decided to keep it to himself like all other things. He must not act upon impulse or emotion, which was to ask Heero about it. He couldn't. It wasn't his way of doing things, especially on a mission. So he kept it inside, pondering it over and over.
Relena was still flustered at almost endangering the mission by eliminating herself from it. She was also rather afraid that she would be separated from Heero forever. She would just die if that should happen. After the two years of not seeing him, she almost killed herself, looking and searching for him. Noin knew, being there for her all the time. She watched her grow up. It was difficult, but she stayed there not only because it was Relena's brother's orders, but also because she wanted to.
The yellow light flickered. Left foot yellow. Up three, down two, right four. Right foot green. RED LIGHT, please stop. Left foot yellow, up three, down two, right four, right foot green, blue left, orange right, up two, down six...Relena was doing well so far.
She had almost made it when Heero cried out in alarm. She stopped, again foot in midair. She almost cried when she saw her mistake. She was supposed to wait for the person prior to receive her at the gate. She had almost stepped into the ivory box, which was still empty because Heero had been watching her every move intently on the way down to make sure he'd be able to help.
Heero came to the box and opened the transparent laser gate. She was so delicate, so graceful. He wanted to pick her up and whirl her away off her feet, like a little dance. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. His emotions were a disaster; he was both thinking of safety and the mission and everything that came along with it, yet he still was thinking solely on Relena for the most part. He had to stay focused, he just had to. But he couldn't. He'd have to kill her. It was his first intention, and it would probably be his last.
Relena was about to give him a hug when his eyes hardened over. They looked just as they used to; cold and emotionless. He dropped the gate down once more and walked out mutely.
Relena was baffled as she watched the tall, muscular, and wiry frame clothed in deep blue jeans and a black v-neck with a dark-blue button-up shirt left completely unbuttoned. [oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh......] She waited at the gate for Hilde to come across.
There were no problems until Quatre took his first step. Hovering on one foot, his pack shifted and he lost his balance. Crying out, he vaporized and disappeared on the spot. All of them cried out, including Trowa. He was last to come, and he was beginning to get extremely skeptical of this entire mission. As he watched in horror as his friend vanished from his sight, he grew anxious to get this all over with. He came over rapidly, hardly pausing where the signs said to pause. As a result, the receiving box where Duo was waiting remained closed for a good long ten minutes, for two reasons. Number one, Quatre was supposed to receive him, number two, Trowa was hasty, and the computer did not believe that hasty people should be admitted to be a Gerdam pilot.
For a while, the six remaining mourned the loss of Quatre. [almost sounds as if he died! ^_^ sorry...] He would never again be able to pilot any Gundam or any Gerdam. He would be denied any relations to any of the mecha and mobile suits made by the New Alliance. He was forbidden because of skill, although he had as much skill as the others. It was pure bad luck on him.
They had to move on, and move on they did. The final corridor was of extreme difficulty. Only those who would be great pilots and those who did not hesitate or falter by chance would make it. This proved a great challenge to all the mental states of the remaining people and pilots.
They went in twos. First it was Noin and Trowa. Quickly hopping in the two-laned [one in each lane] water-filled pool, speed, agility, endurance, and breathing came into play. They had thirty seconds to complete the round. Neither of them made it, coming in at 33 and 31 seconds.
Hilde and Duo went next. Hilde faltered at one step and Duo cried out: "You have to make it!" It buoyed her confidence, but to no avail. She missed it by two seconds and had touched down once. Duo passed with flying colors, being from a background of running and stealing. You had to be fast when you stole. If you weren't, you didn't get anything and you plain starved for days on end. He learned to run fast the hard way.
Heero and Relena came. Heero came in at 26, Relena at 29 1/2, barely making it. This time, he let her hug him, but he did not hug back. Again, Duo watched this scene with a little amusement, but he was too busy wondering what would happen to Noin, Trowa, and Hilde on the other side. [they had automatically been sent back after not making it]
Noin spoke first, a little husky. "I am sorry I cannot be there to guide you, Princess Relena, Heero, Duo. I--"
She was cut off by Hilde. "Duo! I'll miss you! I promise to do my best...whatever it is I'll have to do. I'll do everything for you! I promise!" she cried, then turned her back to them. She wasn't sobbing; she wasn't that type of person. She just turned and soon enough she disapppeared as Quatre had before.
"Hilde!" Duo managed to choke as she dispersed into the air. Heero and Relena both looked at him sympathetically, but he wasn't really paying attention. Trowa was talking to all of them.
He was looking down and his voice was soft. "Looks like this is the final goodbye. I also will try my hardest to assist you further in this mission from where I will be ranked. Hopefully someday we shall meet again. Goodbye." As if on cue, he vanished immediately after stopping speaking. Right before his entire body disappeared, he looked up, eyes misting over. Friends to the end.
The final three soberly walked out as Noin dispersed into the wall. She had finished speaking and had walked through it at the final parting. They were now alone on this journey to find the Gerdams and to quell the fighting of the colonies and Earth and of the Zumin and the New Alliance. Two warring groups plus two warring lands would not be wise. It was a death sentence.
Dr. Jei was most upset with the reception and protests to Relena's well thought-out speech they had practiced for hours on end each day. He did not believe in waging war until necessary, and in truth, that was the way things should be. But the people of the New Alliance were new members; they were both willful and headstrong. Their basic idea of overcoming this matter was to push out the Zumin for good, no matter the cost nor the consequences. With that attitude, all would be destroyed much quicker than to try a hand at peace.
"I cannot believe the people wish to wage war," Dr. Jei muttered for the millionth time. "We must somehow sway their thoughts. We cannot risk total destruction before it is actually time. I leave it to you. So long!"
The five watched in astonishment as Dr. Jei called a cab and waved a goodbye. He was almost out of sight when suddenly he called out, "Hangar 5, Heero! Hangar 5!" The dark tinted window rolled up, and that was the last of him for a long while.
"Hangar 5," Heero said in wonderment and utter despair. "Where is Hangar 5? Drat [or another word...^_^] that Dr. Jei! How am I supposed to find--"
He was cut off shortly by a blast behind them. Lucrezia Noin appeared, pulling Hilde along with her. They hopped off the motorcycle and stood looking the five over.
"I am going to take you there, Heero." She turned to Hilde. "Give them the map, would you please?"
Hilde pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed them over to Heero. "Hi, Duo," she said slyly, smiling as she returned to Noin's side.
Duo barely managed to wave a hello back to her when Heero made a noise between a choke, laugh, groan, and gasp. They all turned to look at him curiously.
[what do you think? LoL, almost seems as if Heero was the one Hilde was talking to...nope, not this time! But maybe later...^_^heheh]
Heero was shuffling through the papers like a madman, seemingly searching for some missing piece. "The coordinates here, here! Here, and here!"
The others looked at him as if he were really crazy. [although they all are...that's besides the point, right?] Duo's eyebrows went up, and Hilde giggled.
Noin glanced at him. "I do not know what you feel about this, but we need to hurry. Are you ready?" Four nods comfirmed this.
Heero looked up. "It isn't very far," he commented, still going through the black-and-white small-print documents.
Noin just laughed. "No, not really. But we decided it would throw the others off. But we really do need to leave now. The other members will soon be filing out from their refreshments." She laughed again, but this time it was more harsh-sounding.
"Where is the base?" Quatre asked cautiously, aware that wherever it was, it wasn't very pleasant. That is, as he judged from Heero's reactions. You never knew with Heero Yuy and his facial expressions.
Relena tried to lean over Heero's shoulder, but to no avail. She couldn't see the papers very well on the slightly overcast day. And anyway, last time she saw him, he was already taller than her. And he had grown, too.
Heero was not oblivious to her futile attempt at snaring a glance at the papers. He glanced behind him, noted that she was blushing madly with embarrassment, and then decided they should all see them.
He laid them out carefully along the tiled mosaic flooring in the reception atrium. It was not completely closed in, but fortunately it was not a windy day. Most of the people from the meeting were in the dining room yabbering and eating refreshments. The five did not bother with food and got straight to work.
"See here, this is where we are." He looked at each of them to make sure they saw what he was speaking of. "This is the airlock. And here's the lift. Got it?" He paused and looked at Noin. The lift was a locked and security-laden piece of machinery. They would need both codes and passwords, not to mention keys and special ids. There were two lifts; one on this floor, then another on the lower level in which you must cross to the other side with more passwords and keys to the second lift.
Noin vaguely answered the question. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, Heero. We need to hurry!" She waved her hands the punctuate that haste was indeed vital.
They hurried along. Heero wondered what the lifts were like. Of course, these were no ordinary lifts. You had to have an oxygen mask in the airlock upon entering the lift and exiting the lift. The second lock required control radars to be placed atop the head for security reasons. And security was definitely needed for the locking of the world's top piece of destruction, the Gerdams.
They made it to the entryway to the airlock. Masks were put on, and then a series of ability tests were taken. In order to get inside, one must cross a corridor of flooring that had missing pieces. If you fell through, you were immediately sent back outside by transporter. The second corridor was a pattern. You must remember your pattern and make your way among lit and colored tiles. One false move and you were sent back outside for good. The third and final corridor was ice and water. The ice pieces moved in and out, back and forth. If a part of your body or clothing touched the water, it was dematerialized and you would find yourself dripping wet and back at the entryway, denied your entrance forever.
The chief difficulty was their belongings. They hadn't travelled with only money and the clothes on their back; they had much more. Packs were available at the gateway entrance, however, whatever they did they could not manage to correctly stuff their items into the bags. When Heero saw that Relena was about to say she wasn't going a step without certain things, he threw out half his stuff to accomodate her bags in his pack. Little things like that weren't as noticeable to the others who had their own problems, to Heero's everlasting relief.
Noin, however, noticed, but she didn't say anything. When Heero wasn't looking, she winked at Relena, who was then confused. Afterwards, she often asked herself why Noin had winked. She would have to ask her later.
Hilde was arguing with Duo as to how he should pack his stuffs into the large pack. Of course, being a very organized girl, she knew how to put things in such a way so that more items could be packed. Duo argued that he had done this many times before and could manage well enough without doing some of the things Hilde advised him to do. Heero couldn't help turning his nose down at this little annoying scene. They were really close friends, and maybe as close as brother and sister. But with that closeness came disputes and disagreements that all siblings have.
Quatre was a little nervous about the whole thing. He wasn't necessarily emotionally stable, but he was well off enough for one of the pilots. He always had something to fall back upon, though to him it wasn't the world. Trowa, his counterpart, was even more emotionally drained, although he wasn't nervous at all. Well, if couldn't be said he was perfectly calm, either. He was neutral and emotionless, as usual.
Noin guided them through the first corridor. It was fairly easy, although Hilde did lose her balance once and Duo had to catch her, which then caused a disturbing scene of tripping, falling over, and plenty of last-mintue catching. [a-HEM!]
For the memory corridor, they took turns in case one of them forgot and another would be able to help. Noin went first, then Heero. Relena was about to go when Noin suddenly cried out: "Relena! Wait! It hasn't blinked!"
Relena stopped midstep. Heero whirled around the minute he hit the safe-point at the end. His eyes met hers, full of despair and worry. It was an odd sight; one never saw emotion in Heero at all. Now it was all different. Why? None of them knew any such reason or answer to that question.
Duo watched the scene in silence. Whatever Heero was doing with himself was his own business. After many years of knowing Heero, one learned that you cannot meddle into his affairs. It just wouldn't work. Quatre was curious, but being the well-bred and the gentleman, he did not ask. Trowa noted this little scene and decided to keep it to himself like all other things. He must not act upon impulse or emotion, which was to ask Heero about it. He couldn't. It wasn't his way of doing things, especially on a mission. So he kept it inside, pondering it over and over.
Relena was still flustered at almost endangering the mission by eliminating herself from it. She was also rather afraid that she would be separated from Heero forever. She would just die if that should happen. After the two years of not seeing him, she almost killed herself, looking and searching for him. Noin knew, being there for her all the time. She watched her grow up. It was difficult, but she stayed there not only because it was Relena's brother's orders, but also because she wanted to.
The yellow light flickered. Left foot yellow. Up three, down two, right four. Right foot green. RED LIGHT, please stop. Left foot yellow, up three, down two, right four, right foot green, blue left, orange right, up two, down six...Relena was doing well so far.
She had almost made it when Heero cried out in alarm. She stopped, again foot in midair. She almost cried when she saw her mistake. She was supposed to wait for the person prior to receive her at the gate. She had almost stepped into the ivory box, which was still empty because Heero had been watching her every move intently on the way down to make sure he'd be able to help.
Heero came to the box and opened the transparent laser gate. She was so delicate, so graceful. He wanted to pick her up and whirl her away off her feet, like a little dance. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. His emotions were a disaster; he was both thinking of safety and the mission and everything that came along with it, yet he still was thinking solely on Relena for the most part. He had to stay focused, he just had to. But he couldn't. He'd have to kill her. It was his first intention, and it would probably be his last.
Relena was about to give him a hug when his eyes hardened over. They looked just as they used to; cold and emotionless. He dropped the gate down once more and walked out mutely.
Relena was baffled as she watched the tall, muscular, and wiry frame clothed in deep blue jeans and a black v-neck with a dark-blue button-up shirt left completely unbuttoned. [oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh......] She waited at the gate for Hilde to come across.
There were no problems until Quatre took his first step. Hovering on one foot, his pack shifted and he lost his balance. Crying out, he vaporized and disappeared on the spot. All of them cried out, including Trowa. He was last to come, and he was beginning to get extremely skeptical of this entire mission. As he watched in horror as his friend vanished from his sight, he grew anxious to get this all over with. He came over rapidly, hardly pausing where the signs said to pause. As a result, the receiving box where Duo was waiting remained closed for a good long ten minutes, for two reasons. Number one, Quatre was supposed to receive him, number two, Trowa was hasty, and the computer did not believe that hasty people should be admitted to be a Gerdam pilot.
For a while, the six remaining mourned the loss of Quatre. [almost sounds as if he died! ^_^ sorry...] He would never again be able to pilot any Gundam or any Gerdam. He would be denied any relations to any of the mecha and mobile suits made by the New Alliance. He was forbidden because of skill, although he had as much skill as the others. It was pure bad luck on him.
They had to move on, and move on they did. The final corridor was of extreme difficulty. Only those who would be great pilots and those who did not hesitate or falter by chance would make it. This proved a great challenge to all the mental states of the remaining people and pilots.
They went in twos. First it was Noin and Trowa. Quickly hopping in the two-laned [one in each lane] water-filled pool, speed, agility, endurance, and breathing came into play. They had thirty seconds to complete the round. Neither of them made it, coming in at 33 and 31 seconds.
Hilde and Duo went next. Hilde faltered at one step and Duo cried out: "You have to make it!" It buoyed her confidence, but to no avail. She missed it by two seconds and had touched down once. Duo passed with flying colors, being from a background of running and stealing. You had to be fast when you stole. If you weren't, you didn't get anything and you plain starved for days on end. He learned to run fast the hard way.
Heero and Relena came. Heero came in at 26, Relena at 29 1/2, barely making it. This time, he let her hug him, but he did not hug back. Again, Duo watched this scene with a little amusement, but he was too busy wondering what would happen to Noin, Trowa, and Hilde on the other side. [they had automatically been sent back after not making it]
Noin spoke first, a little husky. "I am sorry I cannot be there to guide you, Princess Relena, Heero, Duo. I--"
She was cut off by Hilde. "Duo! I'll miss you! I promise to do my best...whatever it is I'll have to do. I'll do everything for you! I promise!" she cried, then turned her back to them. She wasn't sobbing; she wasn't that type of person. She just turned and soon enough she disapppeared as Quatre had before.
"Hilde!" Duo managed to choke as she dispersed into the air. Heero and Relena both looked at him sympathetically, but he wasn't really paying attention. Trowa was talking to all of them.
He was looking down and his voice was soft. "Looks like this is the final goodbye. I also will try my hardest to assist you further in this mission from where I will be ranked. Hopefully someday we shall meet again. Goodbye." As if on cue, he vanished immediately after stopping speaking. Right before his entire body disappeared, he looked up, eyes misting over. Friends to the end.
The final three soberly walked out as Noin dispersed into the wall. She had finished speaking and had walked through it at the final parting. They were now alone on this journey to find the Gerdams and to quell the fighting of the colonies and Earth and of the Zumin and the New Alliance. Two warring groups plus two warring lands would not be wise. It was a death sentence.