Creature of the Wood
Chapter 18
-----------------------------
Doktor S moved through the metal corridors slowly, his hands clasped behind his back as the events of the day replayed themselves in his mind. His pilot was one of the best he'd seen, and that was putting it mildly. However, there was always that untouchable core to the boy that kept him distant from all around him. He hadn't known Trowa's kith before meeting him the first time, and he was a bit leery when he found out what animal ken the Pooka claimed. It was going to be tricky to work with the instinctively solitary Fae... but he was determined to make it as easy as possible on the boy. That included times like now, when it was impossible to find him. After the practice runs of the day, he'd released Trowa to his own devices, knowing full well that it would only be a matter of minutes before Trowa vanished into thin air.
Unfortunately, the time always came when he would have to either track down the wayward Pooka or just wait for him to return. This was one of the times when he had to search the satellite from top to bottom... and it had been three hours and counting since he started. His steps took him towards one of the less-used cargo bays towards the rear of the satellite. It was one of the few that had an energy field surrounding the bay entrance, making it possible to open the cargo doors and stare out into the depths of space without fear of losing pressure. As expected, a thin willowy form stood in front of the massive expanse, gazing out into the inky blackness. He walked over slowly, remaining silent as he came to stand behind the boy. They remained there, quiet in their ponderings, until Trowa's voice broke the silence.
"We have to go soon, don't we...?" The emerald gaze never wavered, catching sight of each pinpoint of starlight displayed before him. He'd known this day would come, and there was too much activity happening around them for it to be otherwise. They had known that at some point the gundam and its pilot would be called into action. They just hadn't known when.
Doktor S merely nodded, slanting his eyes to watch the boy. "Heavyarms is being loaded onto one of the transports as we speak. We'll be leaving within a few hours and heading towards L4. We will meet with one of my colleagues there and hopefully have you train with his pilot for a short time. At least to get used to each other's movements and abilities. Another will be meeting us there as well, from the L1 cluster. From there, we wait."
"What of the other two?" There were five gundams, he knew that much. But no word had come from the creator of Gundam 02 yet, as to whether or not he'd found another pilot. It had come as a shock to all involved when they'd learned of the fatal accident that had claimed the life of the original pilot... and rumour had it that all of the gundams could potentially cause the same to happen. It didn't bother Trowa, however. He knew that when dealing with Nockers, some margin for error had to be allowed. All he'd noticed so far with his own suit was that it was ammunition-based. Once the ammo ran out, it grew increasingly more difficult to achieve victory. To remedy that situation, he simply worked harder at mastering hand-to-hand techniques. He'd done well so far... or at least Doktor S had led him to believe that.
The Doktor lifted a brow at the question, half turning to face the boy. "Nothing yet from 02. 05 suffered a slight setback when their training ground was discovered. The pilot is recovering, however, and should be ready to deploy on schedule."
"What is our schedule, exactly?"
Sighing softly, Doktor S reached over to close the bay doors. "That is also not definate yet. If nothing else goes wrong, we should have a month or two before we're truly needed on Earth."
Trowa nodded softly, his gaze unwavering even though his view was now obscured by the thick metal doors. "Doktor? Why are we being sent to Earth? What could possibly be so terrible to force the Fae to become aggressive?"
"I'd been waiting for that." He turned then, moving back towards the hallway. "Come with me, Trowa... there's something I'd like to show you." He didn't wait to see if the boy followed... but after leaving the room, the pause before the door slid closed was just pronounced enough to let him know that he hadn't walked out alone. They walked in silence through the inner labyrinth of the satellite, until they came to a single sliding door that led to the Nocker's personal lab. Upon entering, it became apparent that it wasn't so much an actual 'lab' as it was a computer area dedicated to testing and retesting the inner workings of the mobile suits. There was also a smal model set to one side, of a large square building, it seemed.
Trowa moved towards it, lifting a brow as he paced around the large table. In tihs sense, he seemed to take on the aspect of the lion, just in the way that his gait resembled the stalking nature of the large cat. The building itself seemed to be a simple square box, with very little in the way of outside features. There were no windows, but a small set of doors on each of the four sides, near the center of the walls. He could make out tiny air vents and intake screens, but he couldn't quite figure out how such small additions could suffice for the entire place. "What... is this?" he whispered, not entirely certain that he wanted to hear the answer.
Without a word, the Doktor moved to the table, placing his hands at either side of the building model and parting the sides. It was designed with hinges, making it able to be opened much like a dollhouse, so that one could see inside. What Trowa saw set his breath to catch in his throat. Inside the building were what seemed to be tiny roads, buildings that were no more than giant apartment complexes with miniscule windows, air recycling factories, climate control, sunlight simulators... it looked like one of the colonies, only without any of the little things that made the space dwellings tolerable. There wasn't a single trace of green... no grass, no trees.
"W-what... what is this thing...?"
"Something that is in our not-too-distant future, if the earth-based Romafeller foundation isn't stopped. This is a prototype of their plans for most of the major cities on earth." Doktor S moved around to the other side of the table, opposite Trowa, to look down with scorn at the model. "It's called an Arcopolis. A fully contained environment where machines do all the 'tedious' work of providing air, artificial sunlight, weather patterns. They're also amazingly easy to control. As we speak, Romafeller has been revealing 'scientific finds' of dangerous and perhaps lethal levels of increasing radiation around the globe. It's got a grain of truth to it... humans have damaged the environment in the past, and have only recently begun to rectify that. However, it will be centuries at this rate before the levels rise to the point of endangering human life."
Trowa leaned forward on his hands, emerald eyes glaring at every tiny detail of the building before him. "So they spread these 'findings', and since Romafeller controls most scientific research, there will be no one to oppose their so called facts. If anyone does, they'll look like a lunatic."
"Exactly. These will be the salvation of the human race, to hear the ones singing the praises of these atrocities. What they'll do, however, is confine humans in a small space with no outlet into nature. I don't even want to think of the banality that will come of this. Fae can't live in such conditions at all, and most humans won't be able to, either. It's their way of controlling the population and wiping our kind from the face of the earth."
The pooka lifted a brow then, looking towards the scientist. One could almost swear that a tufted tail lashed through the air behind him as his voice growled. "They know of us?"
Nodding softly, Doktor S sighed. "Unfortunately... most of Romafeller seems to be human, although I've never seen a more banal lot in my existance. We have reason to believe that some of their higher diplomats and military leaders are, at the very least, Autumn People." His words trailed off then, his gaze locked to the structure on the table.
Trowa's hands tightened, the thin wood of the tabletop splintering beneath claws that formed at the tip of each finger. "And more likely... we're dealing with at least one more Dauntain."
* * *
Quatre lay across the simple bed, staring at the ceiling as every muscle in his body tried to unknot itself. It had been a hard day... but he was getting used to it. Instructor H had put him through the wringer his first day here, trying to make him cave. It hadn't worked, nor had it worked on any of the subsequent days. The end result was that Selena had been contacted and told not to worry. Quatre was certain that whatever the scientist could throw at him was far preferable to meeting up with his sister again once this was all over. She was going to kill him. He just knew it.
The rest of his stay here, outside of the training, had been more than tolerable. In fact, it had been downright pleasurable. Instructor H's 'back up crew' were a group of Arabic mercenaries known as the Maguanac Corps. After testing the young blonde on their own, each and every one of them had come to like the Sidhe, despite their native distrust of the 'nobility'. Each and every member of the Corps were of the Eshu kith, or were human relatives of those Changelings... the nomads of Africa, India and the Middle East. This particular group had all come from the Arabic countries of Earth, and had joined together because of their values and beliefs. When they had heard of the troubles about to happen in the human world, and discovered the plans of several Fae to counteract those troubles, they'd immediately thrown their forces in with the others. It was the companionship of the Maguanacs and the stories they told in the evenings, after all the work of the day was done, that kept Quatre's heart lifted throughout the trials he was forced through to become the fighter that was needed.
Now, however... all he wanted was a nap and a shower. Not necessarily in that order. It never failed, however, that every time he got a spare moment to get his thoughts organized... they always returned to a pair of emerald eyes that pierced through the haze of his mind like a knife. He wondered what Trowa was doing now, and if he ever thought of him in return. He had no true way of knowing... other than what little information Instructor H was willing to part with. It turned out, however, that not even the Nocker had any idea of the other pilots' true names, and all Quatre could do was pray that Trowa wasn't the ill-fated first pilot of Gundam 02.
"Oh Master Quatre... excuse me."
Quatre had been so wrapped up in his thoughts about the stoic pooka he hadn't even noticed two of the Maguanacs knock and enter his small quarters. He smiled then, sitting up on the bed and looking towards the one that had spoken. "Sorry, was woolgathering again. What can I do for you, Abdul?" It was then that he noticed the large box sitting on the floor behind the man. "And what on earth is that?"
The Arab just grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. "There was an extra crate in the shipment we brought up today. The manifest said it was to be delivered only to the Sandrock pilot."
"For me?" Quatre peered around the door and stared at the large wooden box. "Umm.. thank you Abdul." He closed the door and circled the box. Thoughts of curiousity and the cat flashed through his mind as he unbuckled the straps. "It's probably something to help me train," he sighed as he hoisted the lid.
The stars in front of his eyes where as bright as the pain splitting through his head as it made contact with the floor. As the blinding spots faded he found his vision filled with round golden eyes. "T-T-Trowa?" Panic gripped his heart when he realized that it wasn't his lover's animal form that had him pinned, but a very angry looking leopard. *I'm gonna die. Oh god Trowa, I'm gonna die,* repeated in his mind as he waited for the claws and teeth.
~*Shut up.*~
Quatre barely opened his eyes, searching for the source of the voice through his lashes. The pale green orbs flew open wide when he now saw a girl straddling his chest. Long blonde hair concealed most of her lightly furred body, but he could see the tell-tale spots running along her face and arms. "Who...."
"I said to shut up." The leopard girl's voice was sweet sounding but there was something ominous in the tone. She placed one hand in front of Quatre's face, a retractable claw just poking at his cheek. "You're kind of cute, so I'm giving you a chance. Now tell me where Selena Winner is."
* * *
TBC
Chapter 18
-----------------------------
Doktor S moved through the metal corridors slowly, his hands clasped behind his back as the events of the day replayed themselves in his mind. His pilot was one of the best he'd seen, and that was putting it mildly. However, there was always that untouchable core to the boy that kept him distant from all around him. He hadn't known Trowa's kith before meeting him the first time, and he was a bit leery when he found out what animal ken the Pooka claimed. It was going to be tricky to work with the instinctively solitary Fae... but he was determined to make it as easy as possible on the boy. That included times like now, when it was impossible to find him. After the practice runs of the day, he'd released Trowa to his own devices, knowing full well that it would only be a matter of minutes before Trowa vanished into thin air.
Unfortunately, the time always came when he would have to either track down the wayward Pooka or just wait for him to return. This was one of the times when he had to search the satellite from top to bottom... and it had been three hours and counting since he started. His steps took him towards one of the less-used cargo bays towards the rear of the satellite. It was one of the few that had an energy field surrounding the bay entrance, making it possible to open the cargo doors and stare out into the depths of space without fear of losing pressure. As expected, a thin willowy form stood in front of the massive expanse, gazing out into the inky blackness. He walked over slowly, remaining silent as he came to stand behind the boy. They remained there, quiet in their ponderings, until Trowa's voice broke the silence.
"We have to go soon, don't we...?" The emerald gaze never wavered, catching sight of each pinpoint of starlight displayed before him. He'd known this day would come, and there was too much activity happening around them for it to be otherwise. They had known that at some point the gundam and its pilot would be called into action. They just hadn't known when.
Doktor S merely nodded, slanting his eyes to watch the boy. "Heavyarms is being loaded onto one of the transports as we speak. We'll be leaving within a few hours and heading towards L4. We will meet with one of my colleagues there and hopefully have you train with his pilot for a short time. At least to get used to each other's movements and abilities. Another will be meeting us there as well, from the L1 cluster. From there, we wait."
"What of the other two?" There were five gundams, he knew that much. But no word had come from the creator of Gundam 02 yet, as to whether or not he'd found another pilot. It had come as a shock to all involved when they'd learned of the fatal accident that had claimed the life of the original pilot... and rumour had it that all of the gundams could potentially cause the same to happen. It didn't bother Trowa, however. He knew that when dealing with Nockers, some margin for error had to be allowed. All he'd noticed so far with his own suit was that it was ammunition-based. Once the ammo ran out, it grew increasingly more difficult to achieve victory. To remedy that situation, he simply worked harder at mastering hand-to-hand techniques. He'd done well so far... or at least Doktor S had led him to believe that.
The Doktor lifted a brow at the question, half turning to face the boy. "Nothing yet from 02. 05 suffered a slight setback when their training ground was discovered. The pilot is recovering, however, and should be ready to deploy on schedule."
"What is our schedule, exactly?"
Sighing softly, Doktor S reached over to close the bay doors. "That is also not definate yet. If nothing else goes wrong, we should have a month or two before we're truly needed on Earth."
Trowa nodded softly, his gaze unwavering even though his view was now obscured by the thick metal doors. "Doktor? Why are we being sent to Earth? What could possibly be so terrible to force the Fae to become aggressive?"
"I'd been waiting for that." He turned then, moving back towards the hallway. "Come with me, Trowa... there's something I'd like to show you." He didn't wait to see if the boy followed... but after leaving the room, the pause before the door slid closed was just pronounced enough to let him know that he hadn't walked out alone. They walked in silence through the inner labyrinth of the satellite, until they came to a single sliding door that led to the Nocker's personal lab. Upon entering, it became apparent that it wasn't so much an actual 'lab' as it was a computer area dedicated to testing and retesting the inner workings of the mobile suits. There was also a smal model set to one side, of a large square building, it seemed.
Trowa moved towards it, lifting a brow as he paced around the large table. In tihs sense, he seemed to take on the aspect of the lion, just in the way that his gait resembled the stalking nature of the large cat. The building itself seemed to be a simple square box, with very little in the way of outside features. There were no windows, but a small set of doors on each of the four sides, near the center of the walls. He could make out tiny air vents and intake screens, but he couldn't quite figure out how such small additions could suffice for the entire place. "What... is this?" he whispered, not entirely certain that he wanted to hear the answer.
Without a word, the Doktor moved to the table, placing his hands at either side of the building model and parting the sides. It was designed with hinges, making it able to be opened much like a dollhouse, so that one could see inside. What Trowa saw set his breath to catch in his throat. Inside the building were what seemed to be tiny roads, buildings that were no more than giant apartment complexes with miniscule windows, air recycling factories, climate control, sunlight simulators... it looked like one of the colonies, only without any of the little things that made the space dwellings tolerable. There wasn't a single trace of green... no grass, no trees.
"W-what... what is this thing...?"
"Something that is in our not-too-distant future, if the earth-based Romafeller foundation isn't stopped. This is a prototype of their plans for most of the major cities on earth." Doktor S moved around to the other side of the table, opposite Trowa, to look down with scorn at the model. "It's called an Arcopolis. A fully contained environment where machines do all the 'tedious' work of providing air, artificial sunlight, weather patterns. They're also amazingly easy to control. As we speak, Romafeller has been revealing 'scientific finds' of dangerous and perhaps lethal levels of increasing radiation around the globe. It's got a grain of truth to it... humans have damaged the environment in the past, and have only recently begun to rectify that. However, it will be centuries at this rate before the levels rise to the point of endangering human life."
Trowa leaned forward on his hands, emerald eyes glaring at every tiny detail of the building before him. "So they spread these 'findings', and since Romafeller controls most scientific research, there will be no one to oppose their so called facts. If anyone does, they'll look like a lunatic."
"Exactly. These will be the salvation of the human race, to hear the ones singing the praises of these atrocities. What they'll do, however, is confine humans in a small space with no outlet into nature. I don't even want to think of the banality that will come of this. Fae can't live in such conditions at all, and most humans won't be able to, either. It's their way of controlling the population and wiping our kind from the face of the earth."
The pooka lifted a brow then, looking towards the scientist. One could almost swear that a tufted tail lashed through the air behind him as his voice growled. "They know of us?"
Nodding softly, Doktor S sighed. "Unfortunately... most of Romafeller seems to be human, although I've never seen a more banal lot in my existance. We have reason to believe that some of their higher diplomats and military leaders are, at the very least, Autumn People." His words trailed off then, his gaze locked to the structure on the table.
Trowa's hands tightened, the thin wood of the tabletop splintering beneath claws that formed at the tip of each finger. "And more likely... we're dealing with at least one more Dauntain."
* * *
Quatre lay across the simple bed, staring at the ceiling as every muscle in his body tried to unknot itself. It had been a hard day... but he was getting used to it. Instructor H had put him through the wringer his first day here, trying to make him cave. It hadn't worked, nor had it worked on any of the subsequent days. The end result was that Selena had been contacted and told not to worry. Quatre was certain that whatever the scientist could throw at him was far preferable to meeting up with his sister again once this was all over. She was going to kill him. He just knew it.
The rest of his stay here, outside of the training, had been more than tolerable. In fact, it had been downright pleasurable. Instructor H's 'back up crew' were a group of Arabic mercenaries known as the Maguanac Corps. After testing the young blonde on their own, each and every one of them had come to like the Sidhe, despite their native distrust of the 'nobility'. Each and every member of the Corps were of the Eshu kith, or were human relatives of those Changelings... the nomads of Africa, India and the Middle East. This particular group had all come from the Arabic countries of Earth, and had joined together because of their values and beliefs. When they had heard of the troubles about to happen in the human world, and discovered the plans of several Fae to counteract those troubles, they'd immediately thrown their forces in with the others. It was the companionship of the Maguanacs and the stories they told in the evenings, after all the work of the day was done, that kept Quatre's heart lifted throughout the trials he was forced through to become the fighter that was needed.
Now, however... all he wanted was a nap and a shower. Not necessarily in that order. It never failed, however, that every time he got a spare moment to get his thoughts organized... they always returned to a pair of emerald eyes that pierced through the haze of his mind like a knife. He wondered what Trowa was doing now, and if he ever thought of him in return. He had no true way of knowing... other than what little information Instructor H was willing to part with. It turned out, however, that not even the Nocker had any idea of the other pilots' true names, and all Quatre could do was pray that Trowa wasn't the ill-fated first pilot of Gundam 02.
"Oh Master Quatre... excuse me."
Quatre had been so wrapped up in his thoughts about the stoic pooka he hadn't even noticed two of the Maguanacs knock and enter his small quarters. He smiled then, sitting up on the bed and looking towards the one that had spoken. "Sorry, was woolgathering again. What can I do for you, Abdul?" It was then that he noticed the large box sitting on the floor behind the man. "And what on earth is that?"
The Arab just grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. "There was an extra crate in the shipment we brought up today. The manifest said it was to be delivered only to the Sandrock pilot."
"For me?" Quatre peered around the door and stared at the large wooden box. "Umm.. thank you Abdul." He closed the door and circled the box. Thoughts of curiousity and the cat flashed through his mind as he unbuckled the straps. "It's probably something to help me train," he sighed as he hoisted the lid.
The stars in front of his eyes where as bright as the pain splitting through his head as it made contact with the floor. As the blinding spots faded he found his vision filled with round golden eyes. "T-T-Trowa?" Panic gripped his heart when he realized that it wasn't his lover's animal form that had him pinned, but a very angry looking leopard. *I'm gonna die. Oh god Trowa, I'm gonna die,* repeated in his mind as he waited for the claws and teeth.
~*Shut up.*~
Quatre barely opened his eyes, searching for the source of the voice through his lashes. The pale green orbs flew open wide when he now saw a girl straddling his chest. Long blonde hair concealed most of her lightly furred body, but he could see the tell-tale spots running along her face and arms. "Who...."
"I said to shut up." The leopard girl's voice was sweet sounding but there was something ominous in the tone. She placed one hand in front of Quatre's face, a retractable claw just poking at his cheek. "You're kind of cute, so I'm giving you a chance. Now tell me where Selena Winner is."
* * *
TBC
