DISCLAIMER: I DON'T
OWN GUNDAM WING, OR ANY OTHER COPYRIGHTED/TRADEMARKED/PATENTED MATERIAL IN THIS
WORK, BUT I DO OWN THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS I AM GOING TO INTRODUCE. FEEL FREE
TO ARCHIVE THIS, IF YOU THINK IT'S ANY GOOD.
Chapter 2: Calling Home
THE FORMER OZ CAMP
"We
might as well set up a base-camp here, Jack," suggested Captain Miles. He
looked around at the clearing they were in; it had a small brook to the north and
plenty of room for them to set up their equipment. "Let's bury those
bodies, there's no need to attract scavengers, I'll handle that. Alan, you head
back and get the others and the equipment. Jack, I want you to stay here with
the ladies."
"How
come I have to do the walking?" groaned Alan.
"Because you're a pilot, not a SEAL. Your skills are the least relevant
at this point, besides I don't trust you to be completely alert at a guard
post, there's not enough of an adrenaline rush to satisfy you, running will get
you that rush," replied Jay.
"Why
can't I-"
"Because as the commander, that is MY
responsibility."
"Fine,
I'll go," Alan relented.
THE
"No,
Milliardo, there still hasn't been any word on Relena's whereabouts."
Lucretzia Noin stated with a scowl. "Maybe if you would stop calling me I
could start looking for her."
"Have
you checked on that assassin Yuy?" Milliardo Peacecraft demanded.
"I'm
right here, Zechs!" Heero announced from across Noin's desk, showing his
frustration by calling Milliardo by the name he had used before the
reestablishment of the
"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE IN THIS COUNTRY? WHAT
HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER?" Milliardo bellowed, surprising both Heero
and Noin by getting it all out in one breath.
"ZECHS! SHUT UP!" yelled Noin, her frustration with her
lover finally overcoming her respect for him. "Heero arrived five minutes
ago offering the Preventer's services in helping to FIND your sister. You know
the reason she left as well as I do, because YOU wouldn't go check out that
meteorite, and given her subsequent disappearance, I think that she was
justified in insisting it be checked out. If you don't fix your attitude RIGHT
NOW, you'll be sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life, IF Heero
doesn't kill you for that groundless accusation."
"Wait,
Lu, don't cu -," the com-unit clicked as Colonel Noin terminated the
connection.
"Sorry
for the interruption, Heero. You were talking about a strategy to locate
Relena, right?"
BACK AT THE CAMPSITE
About
half an hour after he left, Alan returned with the supplies and the rest of
their group. When Dr. Brown saw Relena she ran over to her and got out her
first-aid kit.
"Don't
worry, It's not my blood," Relena said, she was obviously very disturbed
by recent events.
"Thank
God!" responded Dr. Brown, "Let's go over to the stream and get you
cleaned up. Then we'll see if we can find you some clean clothes."
As
Dr. Brown helped Relena, Jack Alder had begun setting up a large tent near the
stream. When he had finished setting up the tent, Katherine opened up a box
with an antenna stenciled on the side of it. She carefully unpacked a
telescoping aerial, opened the tripod it was attached to, and set it on the
ground, just outside of the tent. She pressed a button on the side of it and it
began to extend upward. Once it had reached its full height she hammered three
stakes into the ground and tied cables from the top of the aerial to them.
Next
she got another case, this one with a picture of an old-fashioned radio
microphone on it, and took it into the tent. She unfolded four legs from the
bottom of the case, and stood it up next to one of the small openings at the
bottom of the tent. After securing the case, she went outside and removed a
cable from the antenna case and connected one end to the aerial, the other end
she ran through the opening in the tent next to the radio.
The
next thing in the antenna case was a satellite antenna, which is what she
unpacked next. She unfolded its stand and set it on the ground near the aerial.
Then she unfolded the antenna. She took the last object out of the antenna
case, another cable, and plugged it into the satellite receiver, once again
running the cable back to the opening in the tent. She went back inside the
tent and opened a panel on the radio. She plugged both cables into this panel.
Meanwhile,
Amy had gotten a case marked with a lightning bolt out and was unpacking it by
the stream. This stream is fast enough and deep enough to use the waterwheel
generator, she thought. She set up a small waterwheel by the stream, and
then checked the readouts on the generator she had attached it to. The unit was
generating more than enough power for their needs, so she didn't set up any
solar collectors. She removed a large cable from the generator box, plugged it
into the generator, and ran it back to the tent, where she plugged it into a
distributor station. She opened up a box with a cable and a lightning bolt
stenciled on it and left it by the distributor.
AN: BEFORE YOU ASK,
ALL THE CASES AND EQUIPMENT GOT TO THE CAMPSITE ON A HOVERCART.
Inside
the tent, Jack was setting up a small armory on the east wall. First he
attached four legs to each of the cases he had brought into the tent. Then he
opened up the cases and checked the contents of each. Then he grabbed a case
with a fence stenciled on it and took it outside, where he set up a fence about
three meters from the edge of the clearing, being very careful to make sure
that the fence-poles were firmly in the ground. Then he attached a small device
to one of the fence-poles, plugged a cable into it and plugged the other end of
the cable into the power distributor, next to the cables from the antennas and
the radio.
When
everyone had finished their jobs, they met in the center of the campsite.
"Ma'am, can you give us a frequency that will let us contact someone to
let them know that you're safe?" Jay asked Relena, who was now wearing a
blue jumpsuit.
"Sure,
but it would probably be best if I called them. If I know my brother, he'll be
on the warpath," replied Relena.
NOIN'S OFFICE
Suddenly,
Noin's intercom beeped. Irritated, she pressed the button and snapped,
"Tell Milliardo I'm busy!"
"Colonel,
the call isn't from Milliardo. It's from Queen Relena!" Her communications
officer said, "I wouldn't have bothered you otherwise."
"Well
then put it through!" yelled Noin, barely keeping herself from snapping at
the young man.
As
the com-unit came to life, Noin looked for a moment at Relena, examining her
face for any sign of injury. She found none, other than the fact that Relena's
blond hair was strewn about in a rather disorderly fashion. "Where have
you been? Where are you? What happened?" Noin asked.
"As
for your first question, I've been in the
"How
can we find you?" Noin asked, "Your brother has been very
demanding,"
"Take
a helicopter over the
"Alright. Just so you know, Heero Yuy came in this morning looking
for you. And at about the same time, your brother called."
"Is
Milliardo still alive? If he acted the way he always does when he even hears
Heero's name he probably said something I'll regret."
"No,
he's going to be doing the regretting. I lost my temper and banished him to the
couch," Noin said with a mischievous smile.
"Oh,"
Relena said, surprised. "Well, why don't you get that helicopter out here
so I can calm him down?"
"Right away!" Noin said, just before Relena
ended the transmission.
Noin
pressed he intercom button, "Call a helicopter, have it at the gate in ten
minutes," she said, "and call Mr. Yuy as well." Then, almost as
an afterthought, she added, "Oh, and tell Milliardo that we've found his
sister and if he wants to go with me to pick her up, he had better be at the
gate in ten minutes."