Intruder - Part Thirty two
Shadows of memories...
They watched as the Alliance guard from Duo's file disappeared, and was replaced by '03B-K'. The figure was Katherine Bloom, Trowa's sister.
"Heero, skip to the next, I think we all recognize the circus' knife thrower, Katherine."
"Alright, 03U-M"
"Midii Une. As I told you yesterday during dinner, I met her as a ten-year-old in the jungle. She was forced to work for the Federation, and probably the Alliance too."
She had blonde, shoulder-length hair, and blue eyes. Quatre again was uncomfortable.
"She's the one I shot earlier?" Hilde asked, quietly.
"The Intruder was using this image, yes."
"Oh."
"...Ok."
"Alright."
The next image came into view. Trowa laughed softly.
"The circus' ringmaster. He was always telling me off for disappearing into the night, when I went on my missions. At first Katherine thought it was funny, he couldn't fire me, I was the best target he'd had, so he'd just storm around the place until I came back. Then he'd try to argue with me while I sat in with the lions. They would growl at him and he'd decide he had something more important to be doing.
When Katherine found out where I went, after I did a surprise performance in an OZ base, she got worried about me every time. Once she stopped me from self-detonating."
"Ok, that's Trowa's three, let's see who's next."
He selected folder 04W-Q, and opened it up. The first to be displayed was a dark and shorthaired man, with a well-kept beard. Richly dressed, he was standing tall and proud.
All of them recognized him at once, particularly Quatre.
"Father..."
"I think we all recognize Mr. Winner, father to Quatre and owner of many resource satellites and so own. The next file is 04W-S, ok Quatre?"
"Yes, it's alright."
As the image appeared, both Duo and Trowa flinched, and stared at the resemblance.
"Whoa...This is weird."
"This is your sister, right Quatre?"
"One of them, yes, but I couldn't tell you which. I only ever knew one, and she died when father did. She looks like Midii, doesn't she Trowa?"
Trowa nodded, still looking at the image floating there.
"And you Duo? To you she reminds you of Sister Helen? That is what I was thinking when I saw your files."
"Nope...Actually I was wondering if she's single."
Quatre cringed as Hilde stood back. He knew what was coming.
*Slap*
"Ow! Hilde, you know darn well I was kiddin' babe." He smiled sweetly, but it just came out as his usual grin. "She's got nothin' on you."
Hilde acted as if she wasn't convinced.
"She can't fly a Mobile Suit, and I'll bet she's never saved my life either."
Satisfied that Hilde was calmed, he turned to Quatre.
"You're right, she does look like Sister Helen, but isn't. She's not really your sister either. They're all fake, projections setup by a crafty little- "
He stopped as she disappeared, and was replaced by the Magnamacs Leader.
"-Oh, it's Rashid."
Quatre turned around to see his trusted friend and guardian.
"I don't know if you've all met Rashid. He's the Magnamacs leader, based on Earth."
Both Duo and Trowa had, but Heero, Wufei and Hilde had not.
"Perhaps when this is all over, we can invite him to come here, or we could all visit them on Earth."
When he said visit them, he meant to go 'home'. It was actually the Winner family's mansion, but his sisters mostly lived on the colonies, or in other countries on Earth, so he had the ownership of the family's home. It was currently inhabited by a few of the Magnamac corps, the rest had returned to their homes in the desert once the war was over, as 'Master Quatre' no longer required their protection.
"Once you have finished organizing your holiday plans, perhaps we could continue?"
05C-W. The folder was opened and the next image flickered into view.
"Lemme guess. Meiran?"
Wufei nodded. "'Nataku'."
"She looks pretty proud."
He nodded again. "She was. Always proud, for her clan, her heritage, and her strength."
She stood up, back straight, head held high. Her black hair in two bunches at the back, loosely bound. She was wearing a long coat, similar to Wufei's but red rather than white.
They stood, looking over the noble looking warrior. She was not one to forget.
"What is the next file, Heero?"
"05K-T"
"Treize."
It was only one word, but the way it was said showed his disgust.
"We don't need to load it, we all know who he was." Quatre wasn't eager to upset Wufei.
He didn't seem to care. "Do it anyway."
The image of the Alliance and then OZ leader came into view. He was standing in his usual royal blue uniform, complete with half cape and a red rose stem. Any admiration for Meiran on their faces was destroyed, all of them had a reason to kill this man, and the only sorrow of his death was that they hadn't been able to do it themselves.
Wufei had done it, and regretted it. Once he had dealt the fatal blow, he realized too late that it was all part of a plan.
~ He beat me in battle, twice, and quit. ~
Heero switched the image to the last one, 05N-L.
They were all surprised as the image of Noin appeared. They had expected perhaps Sally Po, or another uniformed soldier, but Noin? Why?
Wufei found it amusing that the Intruder should believe he would react to Lucrezia.
He had battled her early in the war, but they had all worked together in the final battle.
She had proved herself to him, and he respected her now, she was a good pilot, and had in fact helped them set up this base.
"Why put Noin there? She's not an enemy, and she's Zechs's partner now."
"Maybe they're just misinformed?"
"Ha! Unlikely. They're pretty well informed about everything else, don't cha think?"
"Maybe that's it. Maybe...Aw, this is dumb. Ok, so what if they want us to believe that they aren't all knowing, and they could make mistakes?"
"You're right, it's dumb. Come on! Everyone knows about Zechs and Noin."
"Yeah, I guess."
Heero stood up from his computer and turned it off. The conversation grinds to a halt.
"Ok, now we now what they have against us, we'll be more prepared, and therefore their supposed shock tactics will fail against us."
This statement receives agreement from everyone present.
"However, we must remember that it is possible they will have voice data behind each of the people represented by them."
Everyone but Duo agrees with him.
"How the hell are they gonna manage to get a voice data file on, say, Sister Helen, or Meiran? Father Maxwell, yeah, shouldn't be too hard, he used to preach to the people, an' some of it coulda got recorded, but Meiran never did anything like that which would have been recorded, unless this has been planned by someone with very long foresight.
I mean, come on will ya? This is crazy! Quatre's sister could be anybody's voice, as he's never met her, and that soldier guy's the same."
"I agree it is unlikely, but we mustn't rule it out as a possibility."
"Yeah, right." He looked around at the others; they were all pretty low.
"Hey, this is way boring, wha' d'ya say we go blow up some space mines or somethin'?"
"Sure, why not."
"Maybe 'cause we should have lunch first?"
"Nah! Anyway, if we get hungry that bad, we can sneak on to L6 and go to a café."
Shadows of memories...
They watched as the Alliance guard from Duo's file disappeared, and was replaced by '03B-K'. The figure was Katherine Bloom, Trowa's sister.
"Heero, skip to the next, I think we all recognize the circus' knife thrower, Katherine."
"Alright, 03U-M"
"Midii Une. As I told you yesterday during dinner, I met her as a ten-year-old in the jungle. She was forced to work for the Federation, and probably the Alliance too."
She had blonde, shoulder-length hair, and blue eyes. Quatre again was uncomfortable.
"She's the one I shot earlier?" Hilde asked, quietly.
"The Intruder was using this image, yes."
"Oh."
"...Ok."
"Alright."
The next image came into view. Trowa laughed softly.
"The circus' ringmaster. He was always telling me off for disappearing into the night, when I went on my missions. At first Katherine thought it was funny, he couldn't fire me, I was the best target he'd had, so he'd just storm around the place until I came back. Then he'd try to argue with me while I sat in with the lions. They would growl at him and he'd decide he had something more important to be doing.
When Katherine found out where I went, after I did a surprise performance in an OZ base, she got worried about me every time. Once she stopped me from self-detonating."
"Ok, that's Trowa's three, let's see who's next."
He selected folder 04W-Q, and opened it up. The first to be displayed was a dark and shorthaired man, with a well-kept beard. Richly dressed, he was standing tall and proud.
All of them recognized him at once, particularly Quatre.
"Father..."
"I think we all recognize Mr. Winner, father to Quatre and owner of many resource satellites and so own. The next file is 04W-S, ok Quatre?"
"Yes, it's alright."
As the image appeared, both Duo and Trowa flinched, and stared at the resemblance.
"Whoa...This is weird."
"This is your sister, right Quatre?"
"One of them, yes, but I couldn't tell you which. I only ever knew one, and she died when father did. She looks like Midii, doesn't she Trowa?"
Trowa nodded, still looking at the image floating there.
"And you Duo? To you she reminds you of Sister Helen? That is what I was thinking when I saw your files."
"Nope...Actually I was wondering if she's single."
Quatre cringed as Hilde stood back. He knew what was coming.
*Slap*
"Ow! Hilde, you know darn well I was kiddin' babe." He smiled sweetly, but it just came out as his usual grin. "She's got nothin' on you."
Hilde acted as if she wasn't convinced.
"She can't fly a Mobile Suit, and I'll bet she's never saved my life either."
Satisfied that Hilde was calmed, he turned to Quatre.
"You're right, she does look like Sister Helen, but isn't. She's not really your sister either. They're all fake, projections setup by a crafty little- "
He stopped as she disappeared, and was replaced by the Magnamacs Leader.
"-Oh, it's Rashid."
Quatre turned around to see his trusted friend and guardian.
"I don't know if you've all met Rashid. He's the Magnamacs leader, based on Earth."
Both Duo and Trowa had, but Heero, Wufei and Hilde had not.
"Perhaps when this is all over, we can invite him to come here, or we could all visit them on Earth."
When he said visit them, he meant to go 'home'. It was actually the Winner family's mansion, but his sisters mostly lived on the colonies, or in other countries on Earth, so he had the ownership of the family's home. It was currently inhabited by a few of the Magnamac corps, the rest had returned to their homes in the desert once the war was over, as 'Master Quatre' no longer required their protection.
"Once you have finished organizing your holiday plans, perhaps we could continue?"
05C-W. The folder was opened and the next image flickered into view.
"Lemme guess. Meiran?"
Wufei nodded. "'Nataku'."
"She looks pretty proud."
He nodded again. "She was. Always proud, for her clan, her heritage, and her strength."
She stood up, back straight, head held high. Her black hair in two bunches at the back, loosely bound. She was wearing a long coat, similar to Wufei's but red rather than white.
They stood, looking over the noble looking warrior. She was not one to forget.
"What is the next file, Heero?"
"05K-T"
"Treize."
It was only one word, but the way it was said showed his disgust.
"We don't need to load it, we all know who he was." Quatre wasn't eager to upset Wufei.
He didn't seem to care. "Do it anyway."
The image of the Alliance and then OZ leader came into view. He was standing in his usual royal blue uniform, complete with half cape and a red rose stem. Any admiration for Meiran on their faces was destroyed, all of them had a reason to kill this man, and the only sorrow of his death was that they hadn't been able to do it themselves.
Wufei had done it, and regretted it. Once he had dealt the fatal blow, he realized too late that it was all part of a plan.
~ He beat me in battle, twice, and quit. ~
Heero switched the image to the last one, 05N-L.
They were all surprised as the image of Noin appeared. They had expected perhaps Sally Po, or another uniformed soldier, but Noin? Why?
Wufei found it amusing that the Intruder should believe he would react to Lucrezia.
He had battled her early in the war, but they had all worked together in the final battle.
She had proved herself to him, and he respected her now, she was a good pilot, and had in fact helped them set up this base.
"Why put Noin there? She's not an enemy, and she's Zechs's partner now."
"Maybe they're just misinformed?"
"Ha! Unlikely. They're pretty well informed about everything else, don't cha think?"
"Maybe that's it. Maybe...Aw, this is dumb. Ok, so what if they want us to believe that they aren't all knowing, and they could make mistakes?"
"You're right, it's dumb. Come on! Everyone knows about Zechs and Noin."
"Yeah, I guess."
Heero stood up from his computer and turned it off. The conversation grinds to a halt.
"Ok, now we now what they have against us, we'll be more prepared, and therefore their supposed shock tactics will fail against us."
This statement receives agreement from everyone present.
"However, we must remember that it is possible they will have voice data behind each of the people represented by them."
Everyone but Duo agrees with him.
"How the hell are they gonna manage to get a voice data file on, say, Sister Helen, or Meiran? Father Maxwell, yeah, shouldn't be too hard, he used to preach to the people, an' some of it coulda got recorded, but Meiran never did anything like that which would have been recorded, unless this has been planned by someone with very long foresight.
I mean, come on will ya? This is crazy! Quatre's sister could be anybody's voice, as he's never met her, and that soldier guy's the same."
"I agree it is unlikely, but we mustn't rule it out as a possibility."
"Yeah, right." He looked around at the others; they were all pretty low.
"Hey, this is way boring, wha' d'ya say we go blow up some space mines or somethin'?"
"Sure, why not."
"Maybe 'cause we should have lunch first?"
"Nah! Anyway, if we get hungry that bad, we can sneak on to L6 and go to a café."