Canta Per Me

Canta Per Me

Episode Four: Arabian Knights

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Noir.  I own Meia Krane.

Author's Note: Good news!  Fantastic news!  Noir hasn't been licensed yet by ADV…it's only under consideration.  That means you can still get it on-line with the right connections.  I just got to see the episode 11 this morning.  Very disturbing and eerie, so here I am again.  Noir has some different stuff going on than what I have planned for my story.  Thanks for the reviews.  Some of you don't know what to expect…that's good.  I'm full of surprises.  ^_^

*          *          *

"NOIR.

The word designates the name of destiny from a distant time.

The two Virgo reign over death.

May the Black hands over the green field…

Please protect the newly born peace."

- opening from the anime, Noir.

Somewhere in the Middle East

            Relena and Meia were in the Middle East for another contract that required them to travel out of Paris.  The contract was to take out a group of terroists that were once part of the Maganac Corp of the L4 colony.  They had deflected after the death of the previous leader the father of Quatre Rabera Winner.  They felt that Quatre was weak for letting go of his pacifist beliefs temporarily to become a Gundam Pilot during the war.  The leader of the group Ali Khan wanted to prove to the world that his group was the only one worthy of leading the colonies, and not just L4.  Relena had researched everything, and Noir was there to take out the group as ordered by the contractor.  Quatre wasn't the contractor; he would never contract an assassin.  Relena knew who the contractor was, and it was some who was very close to Quatre. 

            They had rented a small army jeep to get around the area.  They were currently close to Jerusalem better known as the Holy Land of three major religions in the world. The Holy Land had began it's reign of peace long before the last war when the colonies in space were first formed.  People decided to move their families out to space where they could practice their religions in peace.  The Holy Land was no longer thought of as a prize to be won by anyone, but it was still the place of pilgrimage for devout Muslims, Jews, and Christians.  Most people didn't practice any major religion since the wars.  Many had lost faith in their religions during the war, and with the advancement of technology and science, religion was now seen as archaic.  However, there were still a good amount of people who still practiced religion.  Relena wasn't one of them, and Meia had no memories of knowing any religion.  In their line of work, it was difficult to believe in something that required just blind faith without proof.

            The inn that they were staying in was over a thousand years old and made out red earth clay.  The heat was almost unbearable, but neither Relena and Meia showed it.  The room in the inn was cool, but there were no electrical outlets or air conditioning.  Relena was using her laptop with a battery and a portable connection with her cell phone.  Meia busied herself with cleaning and loading their guns.  Relena was wearing a white, short sleeve button up shirt, a pair of brown shorts, and a pair of army style boots.  Meia wore a white tank top and a pair of army style, green pants with a pair of little, slipper-like shoes.

            "The camp isn't that far from here.  Actually, the camp is an old ruin that was here since the Crusades," said Relena.

            "What's the 'Crusades'?" asked Meia. 

            "They were a set of wars fought a long time ago for the Holy City of Jerusalem.  I believe that is where all the conflict began for the Middle East," mused Relena out loud.

            "Oh.  Why fight for just some land?" asked Meia.

            "It's physical proof that things happened here.  They want that proof," said Relena.  Meia was well versed in the art of assassination, but she knew almost nothing else, and Relena took it upon herself to teach her about the world.  She liked the idea of teaching someone how the world worked. 

            "I see.  They want physical proof of their existence," said Meia quietly as she placed the gun on the table in front of her, and took out something from her pocket.

            "Most people would like to know that they exist, Meia.  I think human beings are naturally built that way," said Relena as she looked up from her computer screen to see Meia looked at her identification card.

            "Proof…proof that we exist," whispered Meia quietly.

*          *          *

London, England

            "There is no information about what happened at Derek Smith's château.  Heero and Trowa, have you found anything else?" asked Lady Une.

            "Nothing new to report.  The place was pretty shot up though.  Whomever took out Smith and his group were better assassins than they were," said Trowa stating the oblivious.  

            "I'm worried about this.  Who are the other assassins?" asked Quatre.

            "Well, I can tell by the some of the evidence that the assassin group can't be more than three people," said Wufei.

            "Three people?  That's impossible!  There were over two dozen men killed that night," exclaimed Duo.

            "It's possible.  Believe me," said Heero quietly.  Because the Perfect Solider just confirmed that it was possible, no one decided to argue what he just said.

            "We still need to know who the assassins were," insisted Quatre.

            "If they are good enough to take out Smith, then they won't be easily found," said Wufei.

            Everyone leaned back in silence because it was a lot to think about.

*          *          *

Somewhere in the Middle East

            "There really is no map available for this complex," said Relena over the sound of the jeep engine as she drove them to the camp of the target they had to take out.  Meia and her were wearing sunglasses to keep the sand and sun out of their eyes.  Relena's shoulder length hair was put in a bun to keep her cool.  They were going to take out the encampment during nightfall when things would be more quiet.  It was too dangerous to try anything during the day, but it wasn't going to be easy either way.  Relena parked the jeep half a mile away from the encampment, so they were going to have to walk the rest of the way.  This time they were armed with guns and night vision goggles for this contract.  They reached the encampment and were looking over a sand dune to see what was going on.  There was a big bond fire; all the men were cheering and firing off their guns wildly into the air.  Relena brought out a pair of binoculars and after she got a good look, she passed them to Meia.  Meia looked through.  'This is going to be harder than I thought,' Relena thought as she looked at Meia.  Meia nodded in agreement because she knew that this wasn't going to be easy like before.  They set to work looking around the perimeter to get a lay out of the encampment before doing anything else. When Relena and Meia were satisfied, they separated. 

            Relena decided to enter through the place where the weapons were stored.  She took out a guard quietly because she had a silencer on her gun.  She took his machine gun and moved forward.  She moved from shadow to shadow.  She saw the target near the large bond fire in the middle of the encampment there were more than three dozen men easy, and probably more than a dozen men guarding the perimeter.  A man came up from behind her, Relena fired her gun and with two shots killed him.  She picked up his machine gun and knife.  The plan was to take out all the guards before coming to the bond fire, but Relena remembered that if they were former members of the Maganac Corp, then they were well trained to stop any attackers.  That was all right because Relena embraced such challenges.

            Meia moved quietly and swiftly so that none of the men she killed ever saw her.  She was surprised by a dagger that just barely missed her head.  The man who threw it sneered at her and prepared to throw another knife before Meia shot him.  She took his machine gun and the remaining daggers, including the one that had missed her.  She jumped on top of barrels filled with crude oil and on to the rooftop.  If she got close enough, she could take out the target and in the confusion take out others.  She knew that Relena was making her way around and would meet her. 

            The man known as Ali Khan was making a speech, "Soon we will vanquish all our enemies and all evil.  We will show the world…no!  The Colonies and the world who we really are!  We won't be pushed around by the likes of those fools who call themselves pacifists and go on to war!"  Relena heard all this and shook her head.  'He's a damn hypocrite.  Talking about pacifism and waving around a gun at the same time.  At least, I stopped spouting that stuff before I became what I am.  The only thing he's sore about is the fact that Quatre got power even after he had disowned himself,' thought Relena.  She no longer adhered to the idea of absolute pacifism.  Much like she didn't adhere to the idea of religion.  Relena looked up the roof and found that Meia was up there waiting for her to strike or waiting for the right time to strike.   Relena lifted her gun to take out the man who was standing next to Khan, so that Meia could be signaled to kill Khan.  She waited again until they fired the guns carelessly into the air, so that they wouldn't figure out where the shot came from.  Meia and Relena made eye contact.  The men were now shooting the guns off again, and without a moment's hesitation Relena shot the man next to Khan.  A moment later, Khan was also dead.  Now all that was left were the other men. 

            "What is going on?!" exclaimed one of the men.

            "In the name of Allah, what has happened?  Master?!" cried out one of the other men.

            "Master!" all the men were yelling at Khan who was already dead with a fatal shot in the back that went to his heart. 

            "Over there, on the rooftop!" called out one of the men as he pointed to spot that Meia had just vacated.  The men were now arming themselves.  Relena and Meia started shooting some of them. 

            "What happened to the lookouts?!" demanded someone.

            "They're dead!" someone confirmed.

            Relena was using the machine gun to take out more of the men.  Meia threw the daggers she had lifted earlier from the man she had killed.  They had to take out as many as they could and get out.  'There's too many of them!  An animal is more dangerous when it is weakened,' thought Relena without panicking.  She signaled Meia in the darkness. There was no need for the night vision goggles because of the bond fire, but they took shelter in the shadows.  A young man was firing of his gun wildly without looking around, but he didn't know what he was doing.  He shot two of his own comrades, and then Meia was hit on her side.  She crumpled to the ground from the shadows.  Suddenly, the guns had stopped.  'MEIA!' thought Relena in horror.  The men hovered around the child. 

            "A child?!  Someone has sent a child to kill us?!" exclaimed someone in utter disbelief.

            "There was someone else," someone muttered.  Relena stepped back into the shadows and lowered her gun.  She looked at Meia with concern there was blood coming out of her side, but not too much.

            "It's just a graze," commented someone.

            "Take her.  Whomever is with her will want her back, then we'll kill them all," said one who assumed command right way.  "We must move camp now.  We'll give the leader and the second a proper burial.  Then we'll move camp to that town just outside of the Holy City.  And we'll find out who this young one really is," he added.  The men followed his orders.  Relena realized that there was nothing she could do for Meia for the time being, and she saw that the men were dressing her wounding and preventing the bleeding and possible infection.  She had to get back to the jeep and to the inn.  She had to come up with something to save Meia.

*          *          *

Monaco

            Quatre was busy with the family business, and he had missed the desert.  He was also disturbed by the thought of so many professional killers running around.  He thought that if Heero Yuy could use his unique talents for good, then the other professionals could do the same.  He was supposed to go out to Jerusalem for a conference, but there was some sort of delay.

            "Don't worry, Master Quatre.  We'll be there in plenty of time," said Rashid, one of his trusted advisors and head of the Maganac Corp, the group that protected and served the Winner family.

            "That's not what I'm worried about, Rashid.  I've been thinking about Preventer business again," said Quatre with a slight smile.

            "Well, you should worry.  You do good work as a Preventer, Master Quatre.  However, let me handle the small problems of the Winner business," said Rashid.

            "Thank you, Rashid," said Quatre with an even bigger smile.

*          *          *

            Relena had returned to the jeep and drove back to the inn in record speed.  She parked the jeep and hurried to the room, locked everything, and closed the curtains.  Relena had come up with something otherwise, Meia was as good as dead.  She needed to think, but they were coming to the town.  She knew that she had the advantage if she knew how to use it.  There was more than enough time to come up with something.

            The rest of the terrorists group came around midmorning, and everyone was afraid of them.  They stormed a larger inn and took it over.  Equipment was set up for surveillance and to take out whomever would come to them.  Meia was brought out wearing handcuffs and through into one of the dark, cold rooms that was like a dungeon.  One of the men managed to get her ID card, and read it out loud, "Meia Krane."  He thought about how innocent she looked for a killer, and according to the card she was only fourteen years old.  Who would teach a child to kill so well?  The new leader wanted some information from Meia.  They wanted to know what was going on.  He killed Meia in the stomach several times.  Meia didn't break easily.

            "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?!" he demanded as he kicked her in the stomach for good measure.  Meia merely groaned in pain, but gave no answer.  "YOU'LL BREAK SOON!  NO ONE KILLS ALI KHAN AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"  The other men just watched with smirks on their face.  There were more men outside walking around the newly established compound.  The cameras were armed and ready to see if anyone was coming.  The torture continued for half an hour before Meia's mental discipline broke down. 

            "Noir…" she whispered.

            "Noir?" asked new leader.

            "Noir.  Noir is an assassin who has been around for more than a thousand years.  Even more than that.  Noir has been around ever since the medieval ages.  At least, that's what the rumor is," said another man who was well read in all kinds of history.  

            "You mean that the name is passed down from generation to generation," stated the leader.  The man nodded.  The other man who had the ID card gave it to the new leader.

            "She has a name: Meia Krane," read the new leader out loud with a smirk.  He threw down the ID card near, Meia.  She was in pain because of the wound on her side and the beating that she was taking.  The leader was satisfied because he thought that he had Noir.  Little did he know that the other half of Noir was closing in on him.

            Relena waited until it was nightfall again before she started her rescue mission.  She knew the layout of the town, and the complex that was the new camp of the group.  She decided to take out the security first starting with the surveillance, so that there would be no warning for the others.  Relena merely walked in and took out the two guards who stood in her way.  A third guard ran for the surveillance room and stopped at the door, Relena shot him letting his body fall on the door in a slam.  Someone got up to see who was at the door, and when he opened it, Relena shot him point blank in the chest.  There were six men in the room, and they were scrambling, but Relena calmly took out all of them.  She turned on the cameras to find out where Meia was, and she found her quickly.  She deleted all the footage and destroyed the all the equipment by shooting it with the machine guns she had lifted of the guards.  Relena proceeded to the where they were holding Meia.

            "Noir…" whispered Meia again.  The new leader sneered at her again. 

            "Imagine, we're the ones who took down Noir," said the new leader with a smile.

            "Noir…is…" whispered Meia as she reached out her hand to get the identification card. 

            "What?" demanded the man as he stepped on the card and pulled it away from her.  "You want this?" he asked and then he kicked it back to her. 

            Relena was making her way to the room, and she ran into the first man who read Meia's card.  He was surprised to see her.  "No…Noir…is…," he gasped.  Relena pointed her gun at him and shot him with the silencer on her gun.

            "Noir…is…a …two person…team," whispered Meia as the leader bent down to see what she was saying.  Meia suddenly jumped up grabbing the card and using it as a blade to slice his throat.  She landed with a back flip, and she did it with incredible speed that the other two men with him didn't see it coming.  He clutched his throat with a horrid look on his face and attempted to swallow, but his own blood washed in his throat.  He was drowning in his own blood.  Meia kicked the other man and grabbed his gun.  Relena finally kicked in the door only to find Meia standing in front of her pointing a gun to the only man left standing.  Relena fired and killed him.  Meia collapsed on the floor, but Relena caught before she could hit the floor.  They left the compound to go back to the inn to tend to Meia's wounds and to leave the Middle East.  Relena had to seal the contract. 

*          *          *

            "A message for you, Rashid," said one of the other Maganacs as he handed a slip of paper to him.  Quatre looked up from his tea at Rashid.  Rashid read the note, and he smiled.

            "We can go to Jerusalem now.  I just got the okay," said Rashid.

            "All right.  I'm glad.  I'm getting tired of waiting.  I would like to see the desert," said Quatre happily.  He went ahead of Rashid. 

            Rashid looked at the note:

"The Contract has been honored.

-- Noir"

            He crumpled the piece of paper. No one else had read it except for him, and he burned it with a lighter leaving the ashes in the trash can. Rashid was the one who had contracted Noir to protect Master Quatre's life, and he had no remorse for doing so.  It was something that needed to be done.  Rashid had never hired Noir before, but perhaps he would in the future.  Of course, he would do so without Master Quatre's knowledge. 

            Noir was after all, the most reliable assassin in the world. 

Next Episode, Episode Five: The Cruel Princess (Part One)…