I love summer vacation. I'm practically turning out a chapter a day. Actually, I would have finished this last night if it weren't for Shaun (Yes, I spelled it right). I probably shouldn't say anything too much, but goddamn I wish I were a few years older.
So I'm sitting in my little (cleaned, finally) refuge in the corner listening to Bringing Down the Horse. Not the best album if you want something upbeat, but great for an angst fic. Plus, I had to try out my new headphones, right? They're those ones by Sony that have the thing that goes around your neck instead of over your head. They're the best headphones I've ever owned, man. New CD player too (but I broke my old one so I'm still kinda a little sad about that. I got insurance on this one from Best Buy. Great deal for 8 bucks. Emptied my wallet, though).
Grr . . . I hate it when my brother tears up books. It was mine too. He tore up the dust jacket of Harry Potter IV. I almost made him pay for it. Sorry, I get a little anal about the shape of my books. If it weren't for them I'd probably have gone insane. *Ah, escape!* kinda thing, I guess.
I haven't slept for 72 hours now . . . and I'm still not tired. Honestyly. I can't thinks of when I'mve been less tire. (That's really what I look like when I don't correct all my typos. Thank god for grammatic and spell check.)
I think that maybe I should get on to the fic now.
AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part V)
"Don't breathe"
It had been three weeks, and Heero had certainly been edgy. He'd had two more attacks like the one he'd had at the hotel, and it was beginning to make all of them nervous. Relena had guessed things would not be pretty, but even Heero's overprotectiveness wasn't usually that strong. He had flatly refused to tell her exactly what he'd seen (on the basis that it would just scare them) but his behavior was just as frightening. Finally, they'd made it to the "lab" on colony X-30849, but he was feigning no relief whatsoever.
"Heero, I think we should just wait until someone shows up . . ." Relena knew there was no point in arguing, but she still had to try.
Heero shook his head. "We don't even know that there was supposed to be anyone here to receive us. Don't be dense."
He normally wouldn't have said that, and the accusation betrayed his anxiety. She couldn't tell if he was nervous about having his blood drawn or if he just was anticipating a quick match for Akiko and Raina.
"Heero, she's right," Duo protested, but Heero wasn't listening. With none too scant a glance backward, he went through the door, into the hall behind the reception desk.
"I suppose we should follow him," Duo muttered, and started after. They'd already lost Heero behind a corner, and the small man was walking extremely fast to compensate for his nervousness. Duo looked back and forth, trying to peer through the windows in the doors, and then heard someone cry out in surprise.
They found Heero apologizing profusely, and making inquiries about where to seek out a Doctor Shyla McMillin.
"I'm her," the white-coated young woman said. Frizzled hair and big glasses made her look much more startled than she already was. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Uhh, we had an appointment with you," Heero said, as if she should have recognized him on sight.
"He's Heero Yuy, and I'm Duo Maxwell," Duo supplied when she gave him an even more confused look.
Realization dawned. "Oh, I'm sorry! I completely forgot you were coming today. Our secretary's gone today and I was going to come get you . . . I just totally lost track of the time. I'm terribly sorry. And you must be Mrs. Maxwell, David's daughter."
She at once noticed Sophie instead of Relena, who felt a little bit surprised that the other woman would be foremost in Shyla McMillin's mind.
They were led into a small room full of humming machines and lab equipment, painted a sterile white. Heero was not the least bit unnerved by the machines, but he clutched at his arm protectively, nervous about having his blood drawn. He had to look away as they did it. Ms. McMillin asked what had happened to the arm he'd scratched up in Zero, but he declined to answer.
"It's nothing, I do that all the time. I'm fine."
"All right," she replied, obviously suspicious.
It was quite amazing that they could see the results of the genetic sequencing in just moments after the blood was processed. The computer even displayed 3D models for them to look at, but only Heero and Duo knew what everything meant. Heero knew his own genetics by heart, but the lab wasn't ready to accept that on faith.
They waited several hours until Shyla came to get them from their courtesy rooms. Relena felt guilty about waking her husband up, but she knew she'd face a great deal of anger and disappointment was she not to do so. He looked so peaceful, finally unconscious and taking a needed break from the world. She'd held his head in her lap gently, feeling relieved that he wasn't going to collapse from exhaustion.
"I did find a lot," she told them all quietly at her computer. The room was dim and most of the other scientists had gone home. "And some of it isn't very pleasant, as you suspected. There have been regular reports logged with a large human-studies laboratory on an L6 colony, and in recent weeks the reports have not been sent by an outside source. Unfortunately, I can only tell you where your children are, not how you can get them back. I can offer, however, that this colony, X-63920 is very close to the border, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get that territory back soon."
They paid the bills— leaving them feeling very light in the pockets and heavy in the heart— and left with a thank you. The information packed into a file folder for them to take offered hope, but they were still dissatisfied. When they reached a secure place, Heero and Duo started planning for a raid.
Relena and Sophie distracted themselves by pulling into their own little corner to discuss things. Sophie was first to speak, watching the men with worried dark eyes. "Relena, what's been happening to your husband lately? Is he ill?"
Relena shook her head. "I don't know. He claims he's having visions of the children, but I can't give up the notion that maybe he really is. He says Akiko's not dying, but she's being tortured and she doesn't know us anymore. I think maybe her mind's been wiped the way her father's was."
"Oh," she said. She was twisting her ring, and Relena knew she wasn't saying all she felt.
"Hon, are you all right?"
She bit her lip. "I'm worried. Vince's so young. Dear God, he's just a baby! Most if not all of these people have never dealt with infants before!"
"He's over a year old now," Relena comforted her. "He'll be able to do some things, especially if he's developing the way our Kik did, and Heero said he heard them crying the first time he was in contact with our daughter. I think they're still all together, at least. He'll have my daughters for comfort."
"I hope you're right," Sophie said.
They sat in silence for a moment, watching their husbands plan. Relena even smiled a bit, now that Heero had something hopeful to chain his mind to.
"But," Sophie whispered almost too softly for the other to hear, "it still feels like we might lose them if we breathe too much."
"I know the feeling," Relena replied. "But I've found in the recent years that some things aren't as delicate as they seem. A spider web's stronger than steel cables if you take in relation their sizes. Frankly, it's a miracle that Earth's still around after the punishment it's taken from us and Mother Nature."
"For sure."
Heero and Duo broke off, both of them looking a little more at ease. Even just planning helps take the stress away. At least you have hope. Relena sank into his arms feeling as though she'd need every ounce of his strength to get through, and he hers.
"It's so wonderful not to be alone," she told him.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Battle alert, sound the alarm!" Mariemaia was still tugging on her commander's jacket when she sped onto the bridge, Cam following.
"Ma'am!"
Fighters were being scrambled as they spoke, most of the pilots having sensed the impending skirmish. It was a fleet of several satellite-class carrier ships, easily enough for the Phantom Runners to handle. They were in enemy territory, though, and had the disadvantage of not being able to flee, but hopefully they wouldn't need that option.
"I need three squads at coordinate 3530-029!" Mariemaia shouted. "Somebody get over there!" Oh hell. What was she doing up on the bridge at any rate? "Dennis, take over here, will you? You've got better foresight than I have. I'm going out."
"Marie!" Ben made a wild snatch for her arm. "You can't! You're too important for us to lose out there!"
"Fortuna's not going to let me die. You know I can't stand being up here when there's action out there," she countered, not pausing.
Fortuna seemed to have already sensed the tension and was ready to go. Delicate dark green hands snatched her up and into the cockpit. ::We've not a moment to spare,:: she said. ::I can feel something dangerous out there, and we'll be needed.::
And in the meantime, their Thermal Shurikan helped eliminate a lot of the maybe's. Marie dodged from fight to fight, too fast for most of the enemies and even her own men. Two Kirins got caught back-to-back surrounded by a sphere of Drakes— she barely made it. Fortuna's wings flapped madly against the emptiness of space but the unexplained detonation of one of their suits distracted them to the point of giving Marie the extra seconds she needed.
"About time," Cam panted, taking his leave to go report damage.
"Yeah sorry, my engines are only like a hundred times more powerful than yours," she replied sharply, shooting away to go save someone else.
That's when the Gayla landed almost on top of her. She recognized the misshapen craft at once. It was the only one she knew to be compiled of three different Planet-class model Destroyers, and it always seemed to look like it was falling apart from the inside.
"Marie!"
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she assured Dennis. "Just a little surprised. Have they seen me?"
"No, but how did they get here?" he asked. "They just came out of nowhere!"
Fortuna was locked into the fleet's main channel, in case they got an announcement for surrender (not likely). She heard a laugh and saw Erik Beliv's despicable face on the open channel. "How do you like my new cloaking device, Phantom Runners? I supposed you'd try and stop this supply run, so I figured I'd try it out."
"Bastard," Mariemaia said, sliding her beam saber out of its arm sheath. "I'll trash your piece of junk then, too!" With a furious cry she ignited the beam and drove it home, through the hull of the Gayla and into the engines above her. Fortuna's screens darkened protectively as they were temporarily surrounded by flames, but then the released atmosphere was gone and with a yelp of strained and burned armor Fortuna withdrew as fast as her engines would take her.
She saw on her screen the ship shudder and jerk to port, officers tumbling over railings and slamming against their consoles. The tech running the comm shouted in pain as his arm was crushed between his own body and the equipment. "Get them!" she heard Beliv shout above the groaning of injured bridge crewmembers.
Encouraged by their leader's first move, several of her peers took up the cry and rushed for the ship, only to be met with squads upon squads of Amphitere. Marie cursed. There was no way her fleet was big enough to tangle with an entire battleship's squadrons alone. "Wasn't he supposed to be at the border?" She asked angrily, watching green blips disappear from her radar at an alarming rate.
::There was a meeting held last week in the L6 colony cluster,:: Fortuna said. ::I thought you knew that.::
"I forgot. Thanks for the forewarning, though. If I hadn't left the bridge when I did we'd have been really hurting out here."
::As always, you are most dutifully welcome.::
Mariemaia gunned the engines and sped for the Gayla again, dodging and cutting at the mainline defenses as she encountered them. Fortuna was too fast to be threatened by the mobile suits, but they came in swarms. She got two or three good solid slashes in before Wufei showed up, and Fortuna wasn't at all happy about having Shenlong there. "He's not here trying to show off, you idiot!" Marie screamed. "Not stop distracting me and let me do my work!"
But Fortuna's unease was causing the gundam's performance to slow and weaken. Marie cursed at whoever had come up with the concept of rivalry. She could no doubt do much more damage than Wufei could, but not if Fortuna couldn't focus. She swore and beat towards the bridge of the Gayla, dodging ship-mounted lasers and guards.
She never made it. With a jolt that stole the air from her lungs, Marie was thrown backwards and away from the Gayla. There was a sharp laugh on the open channel, followed by the appearance of a familiar face. Mariemaia hissed involuntarily— just as Fortuna did. "Dorothy."
::Inimicus.::
She'd never seen the mobile suit before, but it did bear an uncanny resemblance to Fortuna. It was extremely slender and bloodred, with long angular back-mounted engines like Tallgeese's, which branched strangely fin-like projections where Fortuna had feathered wings. She carried a beam saber and a small-size version of Zero's buster rifle, which she tried to fire the second their names had been spoken.
"Like my suit?" sang the obviously excited warmonger. "We just got it. Isn't she wonderful? You'd almost think they were alive."
Dorothy would have not said "almost" if she'd known the real truth. The woman had always loved to brag. She scowled at the blonde and broke the connection. "What do you know of them?" she asked Fortuna urgently.
::Inimicus is a later creation built on my design. She is extremely dangerous. I advise that we try to escape.::
Mariemaia grimaced. That was exactly what she'd feared. "But with those engines, we won't be able to run."
::There is obviously an amateur pilot, or we would be fighting right now. She hasn't even got the rifle charged up properly. We might be able to outmaneuver them.::
"That leaves me in a situation I frankly don't want to deal with if we can't run. She might try and go for others in my fleet if we can, and they'll be easy prey," Marie pointed out. "The Phantom Runners will have to retreat."
::Agreed.::
Marie gave the call over the fleet's channel and was met with mounted protests.
"Marie, we can't leave you!" Cam was on the bridge, arm in a sling. "You're our leader."
"Don't assume I'm condemning myself. If I manage to get away I'll send a beacon. If I don't you guys are going to be decimated and every one of you will be dead or captured. Just GO!" With her final words ringing in the ears of all the officers, she snapped around and fled to the outer rim of the battle, tempting Dorothy to follow.
Inimicus lit her own engines, but Dorothy's reflexes were nowhere near Mariemaia's own. She could twist and turn a lot faster than the other, though she could never outrun her.
With a quick dive-and-turn move, she got that dangerous buster rifle off Inimicus's shoulder. Dorothy spent precious seconds trying to get it back, and Marie took advantage of the mistake to get away.
Actually, she reflected, Dorothy probably should have owed her for it. Seconds after she knocked it away, the improperly charged weapon exploded. If it had done so on her shoulder, it could have caused serious damage to the suit.
But those damn engines were just too fast. Marie wasn't even close to being out of sensor range when she caught up to them. For a brief moment, Inimicus seemed to assume control over her pilot— and that was all she'd needed.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
The scene was a familiar one, and Beliv chuckled faintly. Mariemaia was putting up a terrific fight down on the lower level. She was an amazon beauty if there ever was one, strong and supple with a fire about her that refused to die down. She kicked at one of the less bright officers, catching him in the stomach. Beliv knew he'd be in Sickbay for a while.
"My, my, a feisty one," he said. "We'll have to keep you in chains."
She curled her lip and glared, knocking at an officer behind her without a glance. "Don't even try it, or you know you won't ever see all of yourself again. And that would be a shame, wouldn't it you pervert?"
"I'll have to watch myself," he said pleasantly, inwardly laughing. He held out his hand to signal Captain Ingriham to bring the other prisoner in. "But now the issue arises as to what to do with you. I must say your men fled fast, as you ordered, but some of them were so loyal that they couldn't leave you behind."
With a rough shove, they sent the boy sprawling into the railing. Mariemaia's face held still, locking everything in, and Beliv knew he'd judged correctly.
"He was acting quite unorthodox, yelling about love's virtue, rather distracting I thought. So we took him in and found that he has personal significance. I tell you what, rebel. Continue to resist and, well—"
Both his guards dug their rifles into his back, and the boy's eyes widened.
"You evil sonofabitch. He has nothing to do with this. Let him go." Mariemaia's fingernails bit into her palms, and her jaw clenched so tight that she almost couldn't get the words out.
Beliv held up a finger, eyes twinkling in maniacal glee. "On the contrary, my dear. He's killed soldiers from this army, committed crimes against us. He has every right to die a disgraceful death. Now, will you go quietly or can I kill him?"
Cam bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, lifting his chin in a classic martyr's pose. "You keep fighting, love," he said. "Even if it means I'm gone. I know I'd do it, and I'm here. You get out and save the world honey."
Her hands dropped. "I can't."
His eyes shot open again, this time narrowing with impatience. "I said get out of here!"
"Cam, I have no chance," she sobbed. "I could never get out of here. I'm not willing to see you die over nothing. I don't have a choice. Don't be stupid, please."
Two guards rushed forward and held her arms roughly behind her back, and she looked up at him with heartbreaking disparity. "I love you, sweetheart," he told her. "Promise me you'll get out."
"I promise I'll try."
Beliv watched the overly dramatic scene with a kind of impatient amusement. As they hauled the Khushrenada girl out, he held him own gun to Cam's head. "But I never told her I'd let you live in any case," he said wickedly.
The gunshot echoed out into the hall, and Marie struggled against her captors again with a strangled cry. "No! God, no! You bastard, you BASTARD!"
He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't! She wasn't even aware that she was struggling any more, her brain was numb with shock and disbelief. It was in slow motion that she broke free, and the handcuff chain snapped under her strength, and it felt horribly like she couldn't breathe. The guard did the only thing he'd been trained how to do with an escaping prisoner. The impact of the bullet felt familiar, but this time the sharpness hit her from behind, narrowly missing her spine she knew because she didn't collapse right away. She didn't, however, make it more than a few steps.
All of a sudden, it didn't matter that the Phantom Runners had lost their leader, or that Trowa had lost his niece and her father would be getting her back. Cam was dead, and she was going to follow. If only . . . if only she could see him one last time. She crawled as far as she dared, the pain in her abdomen nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She reached for him, but the hall was so long and it seemed to stretch with every grasping inch she took.
There was a light, blindingly bright, beautiful and beckoning. She stared with half wonder and half relief. They'd take her, and they'd set her free. She could die in love, just like Fortuna had wished so many times for her lonely soul. The gundam was still in the back of her mind, begging her to hold on, to come back. She wondered if she would take part of Fortuna with her into death.
The one thing she had expected didn't happen. Her father's ghost was nowhere to be found, as if he'd finally abandoned her and left her in peace. She would never have to deal with him again . . .
There Cam was, reaching out to her, his shadow cast down upon her. He was calling her name, and his voice was so sweet. Her breath was running out. She couldn't resist.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Subject 00 awoke suddenly, heart pounding in her ears. There was something wrong. Everything had gone silent. She gathered the two babes in her arms and went to investigate. Her door was open.
They had been moving her again, after the big wooly man had argued with the woman in the white coat. They'd be returning, she suspected, especially if something were to happen in this strange aura. There had been a scuffle earlier. She'd heard a young female shouting, and several gunshots. Now everything seemed so dead.
Everything seemed to be frozen, and there was a bright light at the end of the hall. There were two guards, oddly still, not breathing but in a position of pursuit, about to shout. One was leaning to the side like a badly sculpted statue, favoring a broken ankle. A bullet shell lay unmoving on the ground, and even the air seemed to be resisting being pulled from its position.
There was blood on the floor, but she didn't notice it until she felt the moistness beneath her bare feet. There was a great deal of blood, but no one there. Curious, she took steps closer to the light.
There were shadows, all she could make out in the light. Some were moving; most were not. Those who were didn't look like people that should have been on the ship. She clutched the babies closer to her. They were heavy, almost too heavy for her to carry anymore, but both sleeping unawares.
She turned with a small cry when someone touched her shoulder. The hand was cool and soft, but strange and wrong. No one had been so comforting here. The woman smiled at her gently. "There you three are. You left your rooms before I caught you."
She stared at her in a kind of wonder. Then, a thought stirred in the back of her head. "Are you here to— to rescue me?"
She was met with the same kindly, slightly pitying expression and soft, cool hands on her shoulders. "You might call it that, little one. You've been hurt badly, haven't you?"
She nodded, deciding to trust her. If she were half as evil as the stormcloud man had been, it would be a tremendous relief.
The woman knelt down and brushed her dirty cheek. "We'll help you," she said, offering to take one of the taxing littles. She took the dark-haired one, the boy. "We'll take you with us," she said comfortingly.
Something nagged at the back of her mind, as if someone was trying to probe her again. She pushed him out angrily. You can't hurt me anymore. Without a backward glance, discarding her given number as she left, Subject 00 followed into the light.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Argh!" Heero clutched at his forehead all of a sudden, and Relena clasped onto his shoulders, offering as much support as she could. He hadn't had another lapse like this for quite a few days, and she had almost convinced herself it was over.
It only lasted a minute or so, and then it was gone with no trace. She waited patently, used to them by now.
"They're not on the colony anymore," Heero said. Beliv had taken them back on board his ship, but now I can't figure out where they are at all. There was a light . . . and people that looked strange, almost not human . . ."
"What do you think it means?" Duo asked.
"I wasn't there for very long. She keeps pushing me out, but it's not supposed to be impressionistic. What I saw was exactly what Akiko saw. It just doesn't make much sense." Heero leaned gratefully against his wife. The visions he kept having were draining.
Unfortunately, he couldn't allow himself to feel exhausted. Everyone had come here for a certain thing, and he had to provide it. No sooner had he though it than Duo insisted. "C'mon, man. You said you were gonna tell us something about a conspiracy."
"Yes, I was," he agreed. "And it's a long story."
"Oh man, not another 'legend of thingymabob' storyteller mood," Duo groaned.
"Hush," Sophie said, noting Heero's less-than-happy reaction. "Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't," Relena said. "He's a man. He just likes to complain."
Heero ignored them and started to tell the story. "This is my interpretation, but I don't think I'm far off from the actual events."
~~@[~*,~]@~~
It all began a quarter of a millennia ago, in Before Colony 43. On Earth, plans were being made to colonize outside space. Many were opposed, but some people became obsessed with the idea. There were great moral issues involved that have long since faded into background noise, because the weak parties were overruled and we've grown accustomed to ignoring them. The leader of the Pioneer Project, claiming to believe in manifest destiny, was a man named James Barton, an excessively wealthy man with a name that has become infamous. The history books praise Barton for his vision, but most historians don't know why he wanted to grab a hold of space so bad.
Operation Comet was founded secretly nearly fifty years later, as Barton and his scientist friends gained hold of colony politics. The plan was to separate mankind from Earth, permanently. James Barton knew that one day the sun would go and if mankind did not become detached to its home, we would die out. His worries are literally billions of years in the future, but James was very evangelistic and believed that God was going to try and destroy us much sooner than that. There were only three colonies being built, but there were already great battles over ownership, citizenship and internal government. The system we had up until very recently when the colonies declared their independence from Earth's support wasn't established until nearly fifty years later, when the descendants of our dear friends set a secret plan into place. What the original plan was is lost in the sands of time, but it is agreed that something disrupted it.
Operation Meteor became the only surviving branch of the original plan after that something went wrong. By then, nearly a hundred years after the men had first met over the matter, ancestral ties were beginning to weaken and the people split into factions. The only faction that remained in support of Operation Meteor (a radically different version than we know) was a young and impetuous Dekim Barton. Dekim had bad blood between himself and the people of Earth, as he was the only one of his former comrades who was born in space. He grew to hate Earth people with a passion, and he shrouded himself in the utmost secrecy.
In the year AC 168, Dekim— a mere twenty years young— and his five scientists found something interesting. They dropped out of existence for almost a year, and returned extremely "enlightened" by their own description. No one knows where they'd gone, and some had a sneaking suspicion that they had invited an outside source into human affairs, something Heero knew happened from testimony from several different sources of his own. There was a lull in their activity for two years until Dekim's son and daughter were born. Nothing— nothing at all— is known about their mother. The plan was put into motion then.
With aid form those outside sources, the five scientists began work on designing mobile suits of great dexterity and power. Tallgeese was the first result, but the mobile suit differed from its intended design. As it is difficult to determine if an infant will grow up to be an evil person, Tallgeese was not a desired result, intent too much on the mission. They locked it up in storage, as one would do to a dangerous criminal, where it was discovered many years later.
There were other models much more successful than Tallgeese, which earned the approval of Barton's organization. The approval included those of four models, which had been given to Barton: four Gundams by the names of Fortuna, Inicimus, Epyon and Penna Nulles. They had been send to keep and eye on the scientists and Barton, because the outsiders were suspicious that Dekim had not told them all that he was planning. They were absolutely right.
None of the prototypes survived for very long, however. There was something unstable about them. The failures weighed on the scientists, all of which were beginning to have second thoughts. Finally, the four left, intent on staying out of the evil plan. One remained behind in support of Barton, the one known as Dr. J. He worked in private and produced the first successful human-built gundam, named Wing after the original gundam from whom he took the design. That was in AC 179. Only a few weeks later, Barton made the mistake of gloating about Wing to the colony representative Heero Yuy, who became concerned. Deciding that Yuy knew too much, Dekim sent assassins. We all know how that ended.
A year later, our hero was born to Masao Yuy, nephew to the murdered Heero. Masao, too, had taken up the crusade against Dekim, but Dr. J stopped his comrade from taking any extreme actions that might draw attention. There was a dilemma about piloting Wing, since Operation Meteor was supposed to be a conspiracy. Barton exacted his threat on Masao by taking his infant son and training him up as a pilot. Young Heero, who didn't even have a name until he was presented with one for the execution of Operation Meteor, was raised in a laboratory, continuously undergoing rigorous testing and harsh drug and gene therapy until he was deemed a "perfect soldier."
A year and a half to the day before the project was going to be put into motion, three other scientists discovered the horrific plan and began developing their own mobile suits. No one is quite sure why all of them suddenly succeeded. Deathscythe, Sandrock and Shenlong all needed pilots and the call went out. They scouted across their own sectors and observed potential candidates. When the selections were made, all ties to their home were cut, and they pilots Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner and Chang Wufei were skillfully persuaded to pilot, under the idea that it was their own feelings guiding them to carry out the Operation. A carefully planned assassination of Trowa Barton was staged and the skilled mechanic was guilt-driven into becoming Heavyarms' pilot. The problem was that none of the other pilots knew of the other, so no one was sure who they were supposed to be targeting (Heero). Because of this, the pilots decided to all be on the same side, defying orders.
This is where we backtrack a bit. While Heero was being raised in the L1 colony cluster, a young, mischievous Treize Khushrenada, newly graduated and in the army, met Dekim's daughter in the L3 colony cluster where she and her brother were being schooled (and Trowa was being likewise undergoing Heero's training). The young couple, exploring new freedoms, made a mistake, which is from what Mariemaia resulted. Young Ms. Barton didn't want the baby and agreed to have the child and let Trieze assume responsibility for her, which he desperately wanted. But on an unscheduled check-up on his son's progress, Dekim discovered the promiscuity of his daughter and scared a young and uneasy Treize away from his impending granddaughter. During the years before Operation Meteor was put into motion and before Trowa's strategic murder, Dekim slowly poisoned his own daughter so that he was Marimaia's sole proprietor at her death, and subsequently eliminated the conspiring between her and Treize to pass the girl into her father's rightful possession. Dekim knew he'd been betrayed, and trained Mariemaia to be his saving grace. If he couldn't destroy Earth, he could rule it.
Treize, of course, wasn't buying it. He'd been raised as an aristocrat his entire life and he knew there was something seriously wrong. In his several attempts to gain his daughter back, he stumbled across the original gundams. He asked their aid, and discovered what had long been forgotten and had lost Dekim's guard. He was able to uncover all the information on the original Gundams. He could do nothing until Operation Meteor was put into effect, but once he did he used all his power to manipulate the pilots.
He succeeded to some extent. Treize founded OZ to counter the Gundams and take control of the colonies that were otherwise Dekim's playthings. When he stepped down from the council, he was able to persuade the pilots on a private investor's level and leave a desperately in-love Lady Une upholding his ideals within OZ. He also hoped with his almost-disappearance that Zechs Marquise would give up on Tallgeese. His best friend's falling out had been devastating beyond what he was willing to admit, but Treize knew Tallgeese was the symbol of all that was ultimately wrong with humanity. With his privacy, he contacted Heero Yuy and show him the conspiracy behind the past he so conveniently didn't know. Epyon, however, held a great grudge against the human-built Gundams and turned evil on the boy, which in turn actually helped him regain some of his lost morality. Heero did, little by little, come to understand that his creator was not the kindly man he'd seemed, and Dekim was by no means his friend. Epyon was destroyed beyond reclamation, eliminating any chance at helping resolve Dekim's plot.
In a twist of fate, Dr. J grew distant from Dekim in the time when he was working with his former colleagues within OZ. When Dr. J realized that Barton was intent to destroy every last shred of humanity, he agreed to help dismantle Operation Meteor. The five scientists died to save humanity, and with the redeemed soldier's help it worked.
The three original gundams divided to oversee the return of peace and the destruction of the human mobile suit gundams. Fortuna kept a careful eye on Earth from a distant post, the whereabouts of which are still in dispute. Inimicus disappeared altogether. It is assumed that she returned to her creators. Penna Nulles agreed to accompany the gundams most of the way to the Sun, but was partially destroyed on Christmas Day of AC 196.
Untold, the conclusion to the morbid tale rested safely in Heero's mind. The others would only be uneasy burdening such information. Fortuna returned when Shinobi summoned her to aid Mariemaia's just cause when it was evident Earth and humanity needed aid. Inimicus was summoned by another contact from the human colonies, and was presumably in the hands of Erik Beliv. Penna Nulles . . . Nulles was repaired in AC 205 and is currently in the possession of one, Heero Yuy.
A problem remained, a deadly one. Only Treize, said Fortuna, knew why the universe was threatened by these human wars. And he was dead.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
There was a silence in the room that had been unequaled. Nothing moved even outside. No cars drove past, and no one snored next door. Even outer space was never as silent as Heero's disbelieving friends. If someone breathed, it would collapse like a house of cards.
"Incredible," Duo sputtered, only then realizing his mouth had fallen open. "Wow."
Relena was staring at her hands with a shocked expression. She'd been involved in her adoptive father's politics as far as she could remember, and she couldn't fathom how something so large as that could have been hidden. She looked up, startled, when Heero put his arm around her. "How do you deal with knowing all that?" She asked him, regarding her husband with a newfound respect. He'd been able to piece that together all by himself.
"I've dedicated my life to it," he replied simply.
"But where does Beliv tie into this?" Duo asked, bewildered.
Heero nodded to himself. Duo was sharper than he gave him credit for. "That's the one thing that I can't figure out. All I know is that the gundams are afraid."
"And if the gundams are afraid, I'm really damn scared," Duo said, shuddering.
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And if you think the plot's done there, you're way wrong! I've got nine more chapters of this dog before she's done, and even then I don't know that I'm going to fit everything in!
Next time we get to hear a speech by Heero about how much he loves his kids. It's really sappy, but most parents probably wouldn't say too much different. And what's this-- Duo and Sophie fighting? The happy little couple apparently isn't so happy. You get to find out which gundam has been hiding things. Fortuna has a little heart-to-heart with someone and you get to find out exactly where Akiko, Raina, Vincent and Mariemaia went. Next, in AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VI): "Hope Doesn't Die Easy"