Chapter 7
Duo was getting itchy (in a polite way). Something was wrong. The old man was already an hour late; he was never late.
A look at his companions told him that they felt the same way: drenched through and utterly miserable.
But he had promised to come, and so, they waited.
-"Why don't you guys step inside, were it is warm?"
-"Noin!! You should be inside!!"
-"Shut up, Zechs!! She can be wherever she wants!!"
-"Ona!! You should be inside, too!!"
-"Don't get me started, Chang!!"
-"It is good to see that the Gundam pilots remain as sharp as ever."
Everyone turned to look at the speaker. Wearing a tan trench coat and drenched to the bone, Howard was giving them an amused glare.
-"If you are expecting to confront the Omegas , and you are gonna act like this. Well, lets say that it is gonna be a really short confrontation. Ending with you guys eaten alive, metaphorically speaking."
Embarrassed silence.
-"So you do know them?"
-"The right term, 04, is knew. It has been years since I saw any of them, the last one being Heero. More than five years, actually."
-"But you can tell us about them."
-"Not much, and definitely not here, 03. Lets go into that little restaurant these fine ladies came from, before we turn into walking soups."
-"As if we already weren't drenched."
-"Come on, Wu-man!! Cheer up!! You'll soon be dry, and you can get a better view of Sally's assets once we have better illumination!!"
-"Maxwell!! Kisama!! Don't you ever shut up!?!?"
-"Only when my mouth is busy elsewhere, Wu-man!!"
Wufei's resulting nosebleed made them laugh all the way into the restaurant.
Lucia was, by now, really bored. How long could it take for those idiots in the court yard to check that the machines contained in the trailers were the ones they were expecting?
Thank the gods that Gia had brought a mace of cards. Damn, even poker was better than watching all those stupid ants ogling the cargo.
-"Full house."
-"Poker of fives."
-"What the hell!?!? You're cheating again, aren't you?"
-"G, I don't need to cheat and you know it."
-"I know, but still."
-"They're moving."
Both girls moved closer to the edge of the roof, detonators held firmly in their hands.
The trailers were indeed moving. Green and purple eyes quickly found their mark: the second to last.
-"Let the show begin."
Gia nodded. By unspoken agreement, both of then waited until the last trailer was inside the gates before pressing the small red buttons.
Lady Une had been supervising the arrival of her master cards. She finally had them in her hands, and she wasn't planning on letting them go until they weren't useful to her any more.
It almost made her sad, not having the pilots here. This was the moment in which she finally got her first taste of victory, and she wanted to enjoy it alone. Soon they would find out about her little friend, the man that was making all of this possible. To think that Yuy had been so close to stopping them. Ah, but the fool had not realized the truth until the last moment, until his end. The memory of his expression as he had looked upon them on the screen, realization coming into those blue eyes. Too bad the explosion had ended the video feed, it would have made the memory perfect if she had been able to watch his face as he died, betrayed by someone he trusted with his life.
Stupid and trusting to his end.
The others would meet him soon enough.
She gave the go to the drivers, and the trailers bean the 100 yard drive to the Gundams new hangar.
Mere seconds after the gates had closed behind them, the storage sheds to the far left blew into a ball of fire, closely followed by the fifteenth and twenty-seventh floors of the main building.
-"What the hell is going on!?!?"
-"Ma'am, command center is down, as is communications!! All the weapons storages inside the compound are gone as well!!"
-"I can see that you idiotic. . . !!!!!!!!"
The rest of what she said was drowned as another explosion rocked the building.
-"That would be the rest of our weapons, Ma'am."
-"Find whomever is responsible for this!!! Find them now!!!"
The soldier began to desperately try to lead a search. Une screamed commands to every person available, but she had the feeling that it was already too late. Whomever had planned this hit on the Preventers knew what they were doing and were probably long gone.
As she commanded her men, she realized that the trailers containing the Gundams had stopped with first explosion. They were sitting ducks, right there in the middle of the court yard, for anyone with half a decent aim.
-"Get those trailers out of here!!!! Get them somewhere safe!!!!"
The drivers immediately complied, and the trailers continued their march towards the hangar.
-"Ma'am, the fires are under control. It seems that only the ones in the storage sheds caused real damage. The others were small incendiary bombs, set close to the windows and designed to cause more panic than real damage. We are searching every nook and cranny of the building, but with due respect, I don't think we'll find anything. I await your orders, Ma'am."
-"So, basically, all of this was a fucking distraction."
-"Yes, Ma'am."
-"Well, as you can see. IT FUCCKING WORKED!!!! I want everyone that can be spared back in retraining, and I want security increased and a complete check-up of every defensive system in the whole compound. This is ridiculous! The best military base in the whole ESUN and we cant fucking find out who did this I want them court-martialed by Monday at the latest, is that clear!?!?"
-"Yes, Ma'am."
-"Then. MOVE!!!!"
Une stomped by the poor man and entered the hangar. The head of technicians was already having the Gundams checked over.
-"Any damage?"
-"It doesn't seem likely, Ma'am, but we still haven't checked them all."
Une sat down on a crate and watched as each Gundam was moved out of its trailer, checked over, and set in its respective docking area.
-"Hmm, Boss? You probably want to check this out."
The head of technicians moved towards the trailer he had been called from, and stopped in shock. Une looked at him curiously, the man had turned an interesting shade of white.
-"Hmm, Ma'am? I believe there has been some damage."
Alarmed, she move until she was standing next to him, eyes fixed on the trailer. On the empty trailer.
As calmly as she could, Une stepped away and counted the MS's displayed before her. The hit was like a ton of bricks, and sent her in a round of cursing that could easily rival with any of Wufei's rants.
Wing Zero was gone.
Duo was getting itchy (in a polite way). Something was wrong. The old man was already an hour late; he was never late.
A look at his companions told him that they felt the same way: drenched through and utterly miserable.
But he had promised to come, and so, they waited.
-"Why don't you guys step inside, were it is warm?"
-"Noin!! You should be inside!!"
-"Shut up, Zechs!! She can be wherever she wants!!"
-"Ona!! You should be inside, too!!"
-"Don't get me started, Chang!!"
-"It is good to see that the Gundam pilots remain as sharp as ever."
Everyone turned to look at the speaker. Wearing a tan trench coat and drenched to the bone, Howard was giving them an amused glare.
-"If you are expecting to confront the Omegas , and you are gonna act like this. Well, lets say that it is gonna be a really short confrontation. Ending with you guys eaten alive, metaphorically speaking."
Embarrassed silence.
-"So you do know them?"
-"The right term, 04, is knew. It has been years since I saw any of them, the last one being Heero. More than five years, actually."
-"But you can tell us about them."
-"Not much, and definitely not here, 03. Lets go into that little restaurant these fine ladies came from, before we turn into walking soups."
-"As if we already weren't drenched."
-"Come on, Wu-man!! Cheer up!! You'll soon be dry, and you can get a better view of Sally's assets once we have better illumination!!"
-"Maxwell!! Kisama!! Don't you ever shut up!?!?"
-"Only when my mouth is busy elsewhere, Wu-man!!"
Wufei's resulting nosebleed made them laugh all the way into the restaurant.
Lucia was, by now, really bored. How long could it take for those idiots in the court yard to check that the machines contained in the trailers were the ones they were expecting?
Thank the gods that Gia had brought a mace of cards. Damn, even poker was better than watching all those stupid ants ogling the cargo.
-"Full house."
-"Poker of fives."
-"What the hell!?!? You're cheating again, aren't you?"
-"G, I don't need to cheat and you know it."
-"I know, but still."
-"They're moving."
Both girls moved closer to the edge of the roof, detonators held firmly in their hands.
The trailers were indeed moving. Green and purple eyes quickly found their mark: the second to last.
-"Let the show begin."
Gia nodded. By unspoken agreement, both of then waited until the last trailer was inside the gates before pressing the small red buttons.
Lady Une had been supervising the arrival of her master cards. She finally had them in her hands, and she wasn't planning on letting them go until they weren't useful to her any more.
It almost made her sad, not having the pilots here. This was the moment in which she finally got her first taste of victory, and she wanted to enjoy it alone. Soon they would find out about her little friend, the man that was making all of this possible. To think that Yuy had been so close to stopping them. Ah, but the fool had not realized the truth until the last moment, until his end. The memory of his expression as he had looked upon them on the screen, realization coming into those blue eyes. Too bad the explosion had ended the video feed, it would have made the memory perfect if she had been able to watch his face as he died, betrayed by someone he trusted with his life.
Stupid and trusting to his end.
The others would meet him soon enough.
She gave the go to the drivers, and the trailers bean the 100 yard drive to the Gundams new hangar.
Mere seconds after the gates had closed behind them, the storage sheds to the far left blew into a ball of fire, closely followed by the fifteenth and twenty-seventh floors of the main building.
-"What the hell is going on!?!?"
-"Ma'am, command center is down, as is communications!! All the weapons storages inside the compound are gone as well!!"
-"I can see that you idiotic. . . !!!!!!!!"
The rest of what she said was drowned as another explosion rocked the building.
-"That would be the rest of our weapons, Ma'am."
-"Find whomever is responsible for this!!! Find them now!!!"
The soldier began to desperately try to lead a search. Une screamed commands to every person available, but she had the feeling that it was already too late. Whomever had planned this hit on the Preventers knew what they were doing and were probably long gone.
As she commanded her men, she realized that the trailers containing the Gundams had stopped with first explosion. They were sitting ducks, right there in the middle of the court yard, for anyone with half a decent aim.
-"Get those trailers out of here!!!! Get them somewhere safe!!!!"
The drivers immediately complied, and the trailers continued their march towards the hangar.
-"Ma'am, the fires are under control. It seems that only the ones in the storage sheds caused real damage. The others were small incendiary bombs, set close to the windows and designed to cause more panic than real damage. We are searching every nook and cranny of the building, but with due respect, I don't think we'll find anything. I await your orders, Ma'am."
-"So, basically, all of this was a fucking distraction."
-"Yes, Ma'am."
-"Well, as you can see. IT FUCCKING WORKED!!!! I want everyone that can be spared back in retraining, and I want security increased and a complete check-up of every defensive system in the whole compound. This is ridiculous! The best military base in the whole ESUN and we cant fucking find out who did this I want them court-martialed by Monday at the latest, is that clear!?!?"
-"Yes, Ma'am."
-"Then. MOVE!!!!"
Une stomped by the poor man and entered the hangar. The head of technicians was already having the Gundams checked over.
-"Any damage?"
-"It doesn't seem likely, Ma'am, but we still haven't checked them all."
Une sat down on a crate and watched as each Gundam was moved out of its trailer, checked over, and set in its respective docking area.
-"Hmm, Boss? You probably want to check this out."
The head of technicians moved towards the trailer he had been called from, and stopped in shock. Une looked at him curiously, the man had turned an interesting shade of white.
-"Hmm, Ma'am? I believe there has been some damage."
Alarmed, she move until she was standing next to him, eyes fixed on the trailer. On the empty trailer.
As calmly as she could, Une stepped away and counted the MS's displayed before her. The hit was like a ton of bricks, and sent her in a round of cursing that could easily rival with any of Wufei's rants.
Wing Zero was gone.
