~*Emotion Enhancer*~
~*Awaiting Destiny*~
~*Suit Up*~
A soldier entered the dark room, and saluted to a dark shadow. "Your
plan worked perfectly. There was no damage to the shuttle, but I think we
managed to bring about a stir within the colonies. I don't believe that
the attack on the moon base managed to destroy him. Perhaps we should-"
"No need. The attack was successful."
"But-"
"That will be all for now. You may return to your family. Treasure what you have....a family, and take care of them. Mission successful. You're dismissed."
The soldier saluted his superior one last time before exiting the room. The pale moonlight lit a small corner of the room, which was filled with pictures of a young man. He was wearing an old Oz uniform and he was shaking hands with Trieze Khusrenada at a Specials meeting which he suggested a superb plan for defeating a formidable group of specially trained Leos. The plan worked of course, he was a genius.
So dignified, and yet he died in a second for another. He thought of nothing of what he left behind. None of the soldiers thought about their families when they entered the war, or they wouldn't be able to fight to their greatest ability. Anyone who wasn't prepared to die at any time, wasn't meant to enter the war, for they were not great fighters. A true soldier would give his life at any time.
But he was supposed to come back. He swore that he would come back. They had risked so much to be together and now it was all over.
There was no doubt in her mind that he would be avenged. His death still lingered around like a bad odor, but he would be avenged.
But he wasn't the only one who suffered at the hands of her nemesis. Her darling little sister. Everything she cared for was taken away. But he had to make sure her life was torn apart in doses. But he'll pay.....
"Just a matter of time my sweet. Just a matter of time. But first, we must perfect everything. I'll fight with my heart, not with weapons. You'll see. I'll put their hearts to the test as well." ************************************ Heero's eyes fluttered open, and he expected to see a destroyed room, with dust hovering in the air, and everyone dead. He had expected to wake up with nothing left in his life.....nothing. Just as he started out with. But he hadn't anticipated what he did see.
Heero found himself back in his Wing Gundam. He felt more excited than he had in many years. Like a boy running towards his favorite playground, unable to stop running, unable to stop grinning. Then his mind recalled when he last felt like that.
It was when Trieze had set them up. He released false information, saying that all top Oz leaders would be meeting at a base, which was really a meeting for top Alliance officials. Including Marshall Noventa.
Heero was so excited. He thought that this would be the final battle. He even prayed that his suffering would end that day, and he could become a normal boy. A normal boy with friends and a place to call home. Given some luck, he might even win Relena's heart, if he no longer had to worry about loving her, then losing her, by dying in this totally meaningless war.
It would all be over today. Heero wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself, but he was giddy. Totally giddy. He was being a total, girl, but he had to stay focused. He had to actually win this battle before it was over. And in a few seconds, it would all be over.
Heero drew his beam saber and sliced the aircraft in half. Finally!
A few flashes came to him next.
Wu Fei telling him that he had just wiped out the Alliance's pacifists.
His grief. His guilt. His shame at what he had done.
Heero sitting at the computer, looking for relatives and loved ones of Marshall Noventa that he could apologize to, and even offer his life as some sort of comfort. But for some strange reason, his mind lingered on this image. His mind was telling him,
'You're missing something Heero. The answer to it all is right here, and you refuse to see it.'
Heero tried to look more closely at the screen, but it vanished before his very eyes, and when his eyes open again, Relena was hovering over him.
"Heero! Are you alright?"
He grunted at sat up, amazed at his own dumb luck. Duo, Quatre, and Lady Une were unharmed at well. The room was pretty messed up, but the shield Duo had initiated before impact had saved their butts. "I'm fine. Unh....what happened Duo?"
"Another missile. Someone's out to get us. I just don't know whom. You've been out for quite a time Heero. When the missile hit, a michrondite pipe his you in the head. Must've fell from the ceiling. Anyhow," Duo held up the packet that Relena had given him earlier. "this is total garbage. The real terrorists are only using this girl's name to cover their hides, so everyone will be looking in the wrong place. Lira Osaka is as clean as a priest's sheets. She doesn't even have the strings to pull to get a ball rolling, let alone lead a rebellion. We should just drop it." Duo moved to throw the folder in the trash, but Heero stopped him.
"Wait." he ordered, holding up a hand as he rose to his feet. "There's a reason her name came up. If there is one thing that exists in a war, it's dignity. No one would use a schoolteacher as a cover up. Keep the file. That girl may not be the one we're looking for, but she should provide some useful clues."
"But my gosh, Heero, they trailed her for a week, and put cameras in every room of her house! Nothing!"
"She could have known that she was being trailed, and only observing her for a week is not enough. They should still have their eye on her. They're being careless, and I don't intend to miss an important clue. Keep it."
"I'm telling you, this girl couldn't possibly--"
"Don't make me repeat myself Duo. You're letting your poor judgment guide you. A lot of killers don't look like killers. Hell, Relena looks and acts like an angel, but she came seconds from killing the men that rescued her and her adoptive father from Lady Une. She's even held a gun! Marimeia didn't look like a killer, but her diabolical plans managed to destroy more than one person!"
"Okay! I get the point Heero."
"I don't think you do. I want you to assume that everything in that folder is false, and I want you to believe every bit of it. Then nothing will surprise you."
Relena opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, and even took a step forward, but decided against it.
"Go ahead Miss Relena." Quatre offered.
"I was just thinking...."
"About?" Lady Une probed.
"My brother and Miss Noin. Has there been any word from them?"
"No." Duo answered. "They've been missing for quite sometime now."
"I was also thinking about the Mars Terraforming Project. It was an idea of mine, but I barely influence it, and somehow it got completed. I was just thinking, it would be just like Millardo to finish something I began, but didn't have time to finish. Has anyone thought to look on Mars, for him and Noin?"
"Yes, we have. There was an OZ badge left behind. I guess, it was kind of saying 'we're still all right'." Duo answered. "They'll come back when they're needed."
"I believe Millardo is needed now. Right now, more so than ever before, we need to enforce the Peacecraft ways. I am not the only Peacecraft alive, and we need widespread influence in space, and on the Earth. If a rebellion were to break out now, where weapon such a mobile suit were used, the Earth and Space would fall in less than one hour!"
"I understand that Relena, but you must remember. His name is still Zechs. If he decides to return at all, it will be as Zechs. The one who fights. Millardo talks, Zechs fights. You must know that Millardo won't come back."
Relena sighed and let her arms slump to her side. "I hate this. I miss by brother more than anything right now."
Heero could tell that Relena was under allot of stress, and that she was walking the thin line between sadness and misery, because Relena rarely admitted that she needed someone else's help. It was embarrassing to her. "Relena-" Heero began.
"Yes? What is it Heero?"
A thought suddenly struck him. "Never mind. Duo, where is that piece of metal the preventers found in space?"
"You mean that weird mixture of Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium? They're probably still trying to figure out where it came from."
Heero frowned. How could he have been so stupid? Working as a preventer for two years had dulled his senses. As well as everyone else's. Without even saying a word to anyone, Heero tore from the room, sprinting towards the testing facilities.
"Heero? Hey, wait a sec!" Duo yelled, taking after him.
"I'm coming too!" Relena shouted before joining them.
"Wait up!" Quarte ordered.
"Where are you going?" Lady Une asked before taking off after them.
"Heero? What's gotten into you?!" Duo barked at him once he caught up. "I haven't seen you act this way since the Marimeia incident! What's wrong?"
"Gundanium Alloy was used to make the Gundam for a reason Duo. Not just for it's resistance to damage, but for operating reasons as well. Gundanium Alloy doesn't absorb or release heat very easily and neither does Neo Titanium! They're special metals, which act as insulators instead of conductors!"
"So....?"
"That couldn't have come from this base! Even if it were freezing in space, the heat would have stayed in it. Someone sent that in the direction of this base, hoping that we'd take it in and study it!"
"You don't mean...no!" Duo turned his head around to give orders to Quatre but kept running. "Quatre, I want you to give an order of evacuation! Now! Get every single person off this base in five minutes!"
"Right! Follow me Miss Relena! Lady Une, I want you to prepare the evacuation shuttles and pods. Can you have them ready to launch in under 2 minutes?"
"Yes! I'll get right on it!"
"Duo, I have a job for you. Before you leave, I want you to send a message to Sally and Wu Fei. Tell them to change course to Earth, but staying as far away from the moon as they can. Got it?"
"Yeah, but what will you be doing?"
"If my calculation are correct, the temperature in that piece of metal they found should be rising, but they wouldn't be able to detect it from the outside, since Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium are excellent insulators. Since I know the properties and characteristics of those two metals, I should be able to figure out where it came from. Now go!"
"Right!" Duo changed course down a hallway, which lead to the bridge, so he could warn Wu Fei and Sally.
The computer's voice came on air. "An evacuation order has been issued. 4 minutes until total shutdown." The red warning lights began to flash, and the remaining time was seen on every screen monitor in the hallway.
"I won't let you win...." Heero said. ********************************************* "What?" Sally shouted. "Why do we have to change course?" Duo looked like he was frantic and she could see the hazard lights flashing in the background. "Duo? What is going on?"
"The Moon Base is about to be destroyed. We don't want your shuttle to be harmed. Just about everyone should be gone now. There's only three minutes left. I'm about to leave as well."
"But how? Why can't we prevent the Moon Base's destruction?"
"I can't explain that right now! Change course now! That's an order!" He yelled before the screen went blank. ********************************************* Heero kicked open the door to the testing facility room for questionable weapons. He rushed to the panel and reactivated the sensors. Heero putt in the necessary data as fast as he could and waited. "Come on, come on....."
'2 minutes until total shutdown.'
*Come on! I need to know where this came from, but I'll be stranded here if this computer doesn't hurry up, and I'll have a bomb staring me in the face!*
The computer was still calculating the data, but the temperature in the core of the metal has risen 90 degrees Celsius. Once it reached 100, he was a dead man. "Come on already. The temperature has risen 20 degrees since we found it, so disregard that!" Heero said as he pounded on the panel. "Come on....where did you come from?"
The computer finally beeped and showed him what he wanted to see. "At least 2 million mile radius of here? Okay, give me something more detailed....."
Heero told the computer in code that Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium did not release heat, they held it contempt, and since there was nowhere to, the heat stayed trapped, going faster as it bounced off walls, which in turn, made the metals hotter.
'Warning: One minute until total shutdown.
95 degrees.....
"Give me an answer already!!" he nearly screamed.
The screen finally blinked the exact location. Cursing under his breath, Heero ran from room and headed towards the nearest evacuation pod station. If he was right, the sky in space will be filled with beautiful fireworks. He jumped in the pod and fired up the engines, within seconds, he was flying away from the moon base.
Acting on pure instinct, Heero sent out a signal to Duo, telling him that he was heading for the Earth, and needed to be picked up. He had no doubt in his mind that Duo had taken a large and fast vessel, which was capable of doing a quick pick up.
"Got it! I'm on my way Heero!"
It should be about 30 seconds until the base blew up. A heat-activated bomb...pretty smart thinking. But just who was that smart? Who had such a massive understanding of all the metals in space, and the instincts of Preventers? A former soldier no doubt, but if they were this smart, they would have been known more.
Duo swung by and guided Heero's pod into the cockpit of his ship, before going full speed towards the Earth. Heero calmly stepped out of the pod and looked out the window.
"There's an incoming shockwave everyone, you need to get down and cover your head!" Duo's voice said over the speaker.
"I was right....it does look like fireworks...." *********************************************** "Good thinking Heero, but your old sense and instincts have gone dull. The old you would have recognized these signs hours ago. So the fabled perfect soldier is a dunce....well, I'll give you many more chances to redeem yourself. For my game has only just begun."
A figure began to pace the room. "I'll be leaving for space soon, because I know that I should be expecting you soon." The door opened and someone stepped in.
"They're headed for Earth. But I don't think they've discovered your location. I'll prepare you'll shuttle at once."
"Wait. I have a question for you."
"Yes."
"My fireworks...I know they were visible from Earth. Did you enjoy them?" *********************End Chapter Two****************** Author's Notes: It may seem a bit slow, and I know that the probabilities of that explosion happening....well.....doesn't exist at all. But for heaven's sake, use your imagination. But I will tell you this much, Lira is NOT the one causing all this. I'll leave you to think about it....
~Awaiting Destiny
"No need. The attack was successful."
"But-"
"That will be all for now. You may return to your family. Treasure what you have....a family, and take care of them. Mission successful. You're dismissed."
The soldier saluted his superior one last time before exiting the room. The pale moonlight lit a small corner of the room, which was filled with pictures of a young man. He was wearing an old Oz uniform and he was shaking hands with Trieze Khusrenada at a Specials meeting which he suggested a superb plan for defeating a formidable group of specially trained Leos. The plan worked of course, he was a genius.
So dignified, and yet he died in a second for another. He thought of nothing of what he left behind. None of the soldiers thought about their families when they entered the war, or they wouldn't be able to fight to their greatest ability. Anyone who wasn't prepared to die at any time, wasn't meant to enter the war, for they were not great fighters. A true soldier would give his life at any time.
But he was supposed to come back. He swore that he would come back. They had risked so much to be together and now it was all over.
There was no doubt in her mind that he would be avenged. His death still lingered around like a bad odor, but he would be avenged.
But he wasn't the only one who suffered at the hands of her nemesis. Her darling little sister. Everything she cared for was taken away. But he had to make sure her life was torn apart in doses. But he'll pay.....
"Just a matter of time my sweet. Just a matter of time. But first, we must perfect everything. I'll fight with my heart, not with weapons. You'll see. I'll put their hearts to the test as well." ************************************ Heero's eyes fluttered open, and he expected to see a destroyed room, with dust hovering in the air, and everyone dead. He had expected to wake up with nothing left in his life.....nothing. Just as he started out with. But he hadn't anticipated what he did see.
Heero found himself back in his Wing Gundam. He felt more excited than he had in many years. Like a boy running towards his favorite playground, unable to stop running, unable to stop grinning. Then his mind recalled when he last felt like that.
It was when Trieze had set them up. He released false information, saying that all top Oz leaders would be meeting at a base, which was really a meeting for top Alliance officials. Including Marshall Noventa.
Heero was so excited. He thought that this would be the final battle. He even prayed that his suffering would end that day, and he could become a normal boy. A normal boy with friends and a place to call home. Given some luck, he might even win Relena's heart, if he no longer had to worry about loving her, then losing her, by dying in this totally meaningless war.
It would all be over today. Heero wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself, but he was giddy. Totally giddy. He was being a total, girl, but he had to stay focused. He had to actually win this battle before it was over. And in a few seconds, it would all be over.
Heero drew his beam saber and sliced the aircraft in half. Finally!
A few flashes came to him next.
Wu Fei telling him that he had just wiped out the Alliance's pacifists.
His grief. His guilt. His shame at what he had done.
Heero sitting at the computer, looking for relatives and loved ones of Marshall Noventa that he could apologize to, and even offer his life as some sort of comfort. But for some strange reason, his mind lingered on this image. His mind was telling him,
'You're missing something Heero. The answer to it all is right here, and you refuse to see it.'
Heero tried to look more closely at the screen, but it vanished before his very eyes, and when his eyes open again, Relena was hovering over him.
"Heero! Are you alright?"
He grunted at sat up, amazed at his own dumb luck. Duo, Quatre, and Lady Une were unharmed at well. The room was pretty messed up, but the shield Duo had initiated before impact had saved their butts. "I'm fine. Unh....what happened Duo?"
"Another missile. Someone's out to get us. I just don't know whom. You've been out for quite a time Heero. When the missile hit, a michrondite pipe his you in the head. Must've fell from the ceiling. Anyhow," Duo held up the packet that Relena had given him earlier. "this is total garbage. The real terrorists are only using this girl's name to cover their hides, so everyone will be looking in the wrong place. Lira Osaka is as clean as a priest's sheets. She doesn't even have the strings to pull to get a ball rolling, let alone lead a rebellion. We should just drop it." Duo moved to throw the folder in the trash, but Heero stopped him.
"Wait." he ordered, holding up a hand as he rose to his feet. "There's a reason her name came up. If there is one thing that exists in a war, it's dignity. No one would use a schoolteacher as a cover up. Keep the file. That girl may not be the one we're looking for, but she should provide some useful clues."
"But my gosh, Heero, they trailed her for a week, and put cameras in every room of her house! Nothing!"
"She could have known that she was being trailed, and only observing her for a week is not enough. They should still have their eye on her. They're being careless, and I don't intend to miss an important clue. Keep it."
"I'm telling you, this girl couldn't possibly--"
"Don't make me repeat myself Duo. You're letting your poor judgment guide you. A lot of killers don't look like killers. Hell, Relena looks and acts like an angel, but she came seconds from killing the men that rescued her and her adoptive father from Lady Une. She's even held a gun! Marimeia didn't look like a killer, but her diabolical plans managed to destroy more than one person!"
"Okay! I get the point Heero."
"I don't think you do. I want you to assume that everything in that folder is false, and I want you to believe every bit of it. Then nothing will surprise you."
Relena opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, and even took a step forward, but decided against it.
"Go ahead Miss Relena." Quatre offered.
"I was just thinking...."
"About?" Lady Une probed.
"My brother and Miss Noin. Has there been any word from them?"
"No." Duo answered. "They've been missing for quite sometime now."
"I was also thinking about the Mars Terraforming Project. It was an idea of mine, but I barely influence it, and somehow it got completed. I was just thinking, it would be just like Millardo to finish something I began, but didn't have time to finish. Has anyone thought to look on Mars, for him and Noin?"
"Yes, we have. There was an OZ badge left behind. I guess, it was kind of saying 'we're still all right'." Duo answered. "They'll come back when they're needed."
"I believe Millardo is needed now. Right now, more so than ever before, we need to enforce the Peacecraft ways. I am not the only Peacecraft alive, and we need widespread influence in space, and on the Earth. If a rebellion were to break out now, where weapon such a mobile suit were used, the Earth and Space would fall in less than one hour!"
"I understand that Relena, but you must remember. His name is still Zechs. If he decides to return at all, it will be as Zechs. The one who fights. Millardo talks, Zechs fights. You must know that Millardo won't come back."
Relena sighed and let her arms slump to her side. "I hate this. I miss by brother more than anything right now."
Heero could tell that Relena was under allot of stress, and that she was walking the thin line between sadness and misery, because Relena rarely admitted that she needed someone else's help. It was embarrassing to her. "Relena-" Heero began.
"Yes? What is it Heero?"
A thought suddenly struck him. "Never mind. Duo, where is that piece of metal the preventers found in space?"
"You mean that weird mixture of Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium? They're probably still trying to figure out where it came from."
Heero frowned. How could he have been so stupid? Working as a preventer for two years had dulled his senses. As well as everyone else's. Without even saying a word to anyone, Heero tore from the room, sprinting towards the testing facilities.
"Heero? Hey, wait a sec!" Duo yelled, taking after him.
"I'm coming too!" Relena shouted before joining them.
"Wait up!" Quarte ordered.
"Where are you going?" Lady Une asked before taking off after them.
"Heero? What's gotten into you?!" Duo barked at him once he caught up. "I haven't seen you act this way since the Marimeia incident! What's wrong?"
"Gundanium Alloy was used to make the Gundam for a reason Duo. Not just for it's resistance to damage, but for operating reasons as well. Gundanium Alloy doesn't absorb or release heat very easily and neither does Neo Titanium! They're special metals, which act as insulators instead of conductors!"
"So....?"
"That couldn't have come from this base! Even if it were freezing in space, the heat would have stayed in it. Someone sent that in the direction of this base, hoping that we'd take it in and study it!"
"You don't mean...no!" Duo turned his head around to give orders to Quatre but kept running. "Quatre, I want you to give an order of evacuation! Now! Get every single person off this base in five minutes!"
"Right! Follow me Miss Relena! Lady Une, I want you to prepare the evacuation shuttles and pods. Can you have them ready to launch in under 2 minutes?"
"Yes! I'll get right on it!"
"Duo, I have a job for you. Before you leave, I want you to send a message to Sally and Wu Fei. Tell them to change course to Earth, but staying as far away from the moon as they can. Got it?"
"Yeah, but what will you be doing?"
"If my calculation are correct, the temperature in that piece of metal they found should be rising, but they wouldn't be able to detect it from the outside, since Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium are excellent insulators. Since I know the properties and characteristics of those two metals, I should be able to figure out where it came from. Now go!"
"Right!" Duo changed course down a hallway, which lead to the bridge, so he could warn Wu Fei and Sally.
The computer's voice came on air. "An evacuation order has been issued. 4 minutes until total shutdown." The red warning lights began to flash, and the remaining time was seen on every screen monitor in the hallway.
"I won't let you win...." Heero said. ********************************************* "What?" Sally shouted. "Why do we have to change course?" Duo looked like he was frantic and she could see the hazard lights flashing in the background. "Duo? What is going on?"
"The Moon Base is about to be destroyed. We don't want your shuttle to be harmed. Just about everyone should be gone now. There's only three minutes left. I'm about to leave as well."
"But how? Why can't we prevent the Moon Base's destruction?"
"I can't explain that right now! Change course now! That's an order!" He yelled before the screen went blank. ********************************************* Heero kicked open the door to the testing facility room for questionable weapons. He rushed to the panel and reactivated the sensors. Heero putt in the necessary data as fast as he could and waited. "Come on, come on....."
'2 minutes until total shutdown.'
*Come on! I need to know where this came from, but I'll be stranded here if this computer doesn't hurry up, and I'll have a bomb staring me in the face!*
The computer was still calculating the data, but the temperature in the core of the metal has risen 90 degrees Celsius. Once it reached 100, he was a dead man. "Come on already. The temperature has risen 20 degrees since we found it, so disregard that!" Heero said as he pounded on the panel. "Come on....where did you come from?"
The computer finally beeped and showed him what he wanted to see. "At least 2 million mile radius of here? Okay, give me something more detailed....."
Heero told the computer in code that Gundanium Alloy and Neo Titanium did not release heat, they held it contempt, and since there was nowhere to, the heat stayed trapped, going faster as it bounced off walls, which in turn, made the metals hotter.
'Warning: One minute until total shutdown.
95 degrees.....
"Give me an answer already!!" he nearly screamed.
The screen finally blinked the exact location. Cursing under his breath, Heero ran from room and headed towards the nearest evacuation pod station. If he was right, the sky in space will be filled with beautiful fireworks. He jumped in the pod and fired up the engines, within seconds, he was flying away from the moon base.
Acting on pure instinct, Heero sent out a signal to Duo, telling him that he was heading for the Earth, and needed to be picked up. He had no doubt in his mind that Duo had taken a large and fast vessel, which was capable of doing a quick pick up.
"Got it! I'm on my way Heero!"
It should be about 30 seconds until the base blew up. A heat-activated bomb...pretty smart thinking. But just who was that smart? Who had such a massive understanding of all the metals in space, and the instincts of Preventers? A former soldier no doubt, but if they were this smart, they would have been known more.
Duo swung by and guided Heero's pod into the cockpit of his ship, before going full speed towards the Earth. Heero calmly stepped out of the pod and looked out the window.
"There's an incoming shockwave everyone, you need to get down and cover your head!" Duo's voice said over the speaker.
"I was right....it does look like fireworks...." *********************************************** "Good thinking Heero, but your old sense and instincts have gone dull. The old you would have recognized these signs hours ago. So the fabled perfect soldier is a dunce....well, I'll give you many more chances to redeem yourself. For my game has only just begun."
A figure began to pace the room. "I'll be leaving for space soon, because I know that I should be expecting you soon." The door opened and someone stepped in.
"They're headed for Earth. But I don't think they've discovered your location. I'll prepare you'll shuttle at once."
"Wait. I have a question for you."
"Yes."
"My fireworks...I know they were visible from Earth. Did you enjoy them?" *********************End Chapter Two****************** Author's Notes: It may seem a bit slow, and I know that the probabilities of that explosion happening....well.....doesn't exist at all. But for heaven's sake, use your imagination. But I will tell you this much, Lira is NOT the one causing all this. I'll leave you to think about it....
~Awaiting Destiny