Crash and Burn
Part 9 (as it turns out)
Author: Did-uh-be ((Nyneve))
*sniff* *sniff* 'Ello ebry-wud. I hab a code id by dose. Zo eggs-cuze be iv I soud a liddle cod-gez-ded. *sniff* *sniff* *cough* Eben doe I dode veel gud, I do I had do ged diz jappie oud. *sniff* *sneeze* I'b hobing you ed-joy diz chappie. We ged do zee Bina pilod er Guddub. Waow, I dink I'b bedder led you read dow. I need zub hod zoop. Dode owd de adibe. Lader.
((Translation: *sniff* *sniff* Hello everyone. I have a cold in my nose. So excuse me if I sound a little congested. *sniff* *sniff* *cough* Even though I don't feel good, I knew I had to get this chappie out. *sniff* *sneeze* I'm hoping you enjoy this chappie. We get to see Mina pilot her Gundam! Well, I think I'd better let you read now. I need some hot soup. Don't own the anime. Later.))
-Nyneve
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It had been another two months since DeMilo had been finished. But I still hadn't gotten to pilot it! At first I was really ticked, but when the Professor told me we'd have to wait until it was safe to go up into space for a test flight, I knew I could wait. I'd never been to space, but from what she had told me, that was where the new faction of OZ was gaining the most power.
The Professor and the guys had been calling them OZ-II. Some colonies had been controlled by them politically for years. It was only in the past few months that they'd taken control militarily.
The past few months. I'd been saying that for so long. It was winter now, almost Christmas. I had originally stumbled into that dorm room in March. I started training in early April. I was introduced to De Milo back in October, right around Halloween. While most students had graduated and gone home for the summer, I hadn't. I stayed at the school all summer, and when classes were starting, and I was kicked out, I moved into an apartment. An apartment right across the hall from (how convenient!) Duo. The professor covered our rent and food bills, so I was training all day now, since I didn't have to work. But my social life had plummeted. When all of the people I knew from school had gone onto universities, I didn't. I laugh to think of what our high school reunion will be like.
Another thought crossed my mind. I hadn't spoken to Lita since that day I moved out. I only saw her once, on her way out from detention. I would've smiled and waved, but Heero was with me, and we were on our way to training. So all I could do was watch. I think she noticed me though, so now she probably thinks I'm one of those girls who does everything for her boyfriend. Which was about as far from the relationship between Heero and myself.
It was weird though. Heero actually seemed shocked at how fast I'd learned. He told me once that I had mastered skills that had taken other pilots years to learn. To this day, I haven't received a complement higher than that.
So now, I was sitting in my apartment, a definite upgrade from the dorm I shared with Duo. My own kitchen, living room, bathroom (thank you God, thank you…), bedroom, and private balcony. My beautiful white jeep was parked down in the basement, and to all of my neighbors, with the exception of Duo, it seemed as though I was a lucky girl. My story was that I was an actress who got her money here and there, and also from her rather wealthy family. Well, the wealthy family part wasn't completely a lie.
Lying. Oh, it was fun. I hadn't gone on any real missions yet, but I there had been more tests. However, I was ready. I got better and better at making up stories, changing the way I look with nothing but a thrift store wardrobe and makeup, walking around unnoticed. It was no secret the Professor was planning to use me as a spy, rather than a soldier. But I was still getting excited about piloting a Gundam.
Ah, DeMilo. Not a training day went by that I didn't stop by to check on her. As it turned out, she not only had a beam spear and buster rifle, but a flamethrower and one beam saber. I could easily tell it was modeled after the original Wing Gundam with little bit of Altron's influence as well. However, the Professor had pointed out it was one of the best for space combat, making it a little more original.
But now, I was laying around boredly in my apartment. Duo was out doing something, and there was nothing good on TV. Then, an idea hit me. I walked over to my bookshelf and pulled out The Red Badge of Courage. It had been a while since I read it. Finding the spot I had last left off, I began to read.
At last, they saw him stop and stand motionless. Hastening up, they perceived that his face wore an expression telling that he had at last found the place for which he had struggled. His spare figure was erect; his bloody hands were quietly at his side. He was waiting with patience for something that he had come to meet. He was at the rendezvous. They paused and stood, expectant.
There was a silence
Finally, the chest of the doomed soldier began to heave with a strained motion. It increased in violence until it was as if an animal was within and was kicking and tumbling furiously to be free.
This spectacle of gradual strangulation made the youth writhe, and once as his friend rolled his eyes, he saw something in him that made him sink wailing to the ground. He raised his voice in a last supreme call.
"Jim—Jim—Jim—"
BRRIINNNNGGGG!!!!!! KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!!
I was startled out of the hypnotic words by someone knocking on the door and the phone ringing. Setting the book down, I dashed to the door. Looking through the peephole, I saw it was Duo. I opened the door, then ran to the phone and picked it up, waving as Duo walked in.
"Hello? This is Mina Aino," I replied.
"Mina? It's Quatre," he replied.
"Hey, what's up? Any news from the Professor?" I asked.
"Actually yes. She says she wants you and Duo to pack some clothes and meet her at colony L6C24308. The Gundams are already there, and she wants you to test drive DeMilo. Heero's already there, and Wufei and Trowa left today," Quatre explained.
"Are you serious?" I cried happily. "I'm finally gonna get to pilot a real Gundam?"
"Uh-huh. Meet me at the spaceport downtown tomorrow morning. Our shuttle leaves at 9:00 AM," he explained.
"Okay. See you tomorrow Quatre!" I replied.
"Get a good night's rest Mina. Don't let Duo bother you too much," he added, then hung up.
"What's up? What did Q-man want?" Duo asked, helping himself to my Doritos. I yanked the bag away and put it back in the cupboard, before grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"We're going to space Duo! I get to pilot DeMilo!" I smiled.
"All right! From what Heero and the Prof. tell me, you're a prodigy. Guess we'll get to see some of your talent huh?" he commented.
"Maybe. I wanna see what space is like though. I've never been to a colony before," I said, pulling the Doritos out again and munching away absentmindedly.
"Well, some of them are a lot like Earth. Sometimes you can't even tell the difference. Which colony did the Prof. say we were going to for the test run?" Duo asked, sitting down and resuming his snack.
"L6C24308. Do you know where it is?" I asked.
He frowned and sighed. "Yeah, but don't get excited. As far as I've heard, that one's not even complete yet. Don't expect great accommodations."
"I don't care. Just to get to see space…I've always wanted to. When I was little, my mom dragged me everywhere on Earth. But she refused to do business with the colonies, so I never got to see them. But I guess I will now, huh?" I replied.
"Yeah. But don't get too excited. It's a lot safer if you've got your feet planted on the ground. I'll see you around Mina. You probably want to pack," Duo finished, and walked off with my Doritos. However, I no longer cared. I was going to space!
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"Are we there yet?" Duo whined for the five thousandth time. However, he was grinning widely.
"Duo, I will hurt you if you don't knock it off! I'm serious!" I warned, looking over at him. If Quatre hadn't decided to sit between us, I think there would be one less pilot arriving at L6.
"Come on Duo, leave her alone," Quatre chided, shooting a helpless look at me.
"Oh. Sure. Take her side," Duo muttered. A few moments later, he glared at me. "Quatre! She's looking at me!"
I slapped my forehead. "Duo, are you trying to be the annoying sibling I never had?"
"Yes," he smiled proudly. "Am I doing a good job?"
Fwap! My newspaper met his head. "Does that answer your question?"
His eyes widened, as if he was going to fake crying, when suddenly, his face got serious. Tugging the newspaper out of my hand, he pointed to an article in the very corner of the first page.
"Hey guys, look at this. 'Gatton To Meet With President'," he read. " 'Remus Gatton, leader of the rising Workers' Party, met with the president today to discuss a possible election as Vice Foreign Minister, currently Relena Dorlian. Gatton says he 'is dissatisfied with Vice Foreign Minister Dorlian's policies, and wants to have them changed to benefit all of the middle- and low-class citizens of Earth and the colonies', fitting his Workers' Party principles. And oddly enough, the Workers' Party is being compared to the communist governments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Making the odds even worse for Gatton is the suspicion of his possible involvement with OZ-II'!"
We looked at each other. We all knew well enough who Remus Gatton was, and we all knew he was after Relena's job. But his involvement with OZ-II? What was that about?
"What do you think? How much does anyone actually know about Gatton?" I asked.
"Not much. The Workers' Party just kind of rose up out of nowhere, but it sure won the favor of people. But the paper's right. It is a lot like the old Communist party. If he gained power, there could be some major problems," Quatre explained.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll be arriving at L6 shortly. We ask that you fasten your safety belts and remain seated until landing. Thank you," a voice over the intercom said.
"We'll talk to the Prof. about it. Who knows? Maybe it's just some sort of weird coincidence," Duo suggested.
But I could tell he didn't believe it. None of us did.
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"Okay, so where do you think they are?" Duo asked as we got our baggage and looked around the less-than-busy spaceport.
"Quatre? What did the Professor say when she sent you the transmission?" I turned to him. However, his eyes were locked on someone on the far side of the room.
"Quatre? What is it?" I asked, touching his shoulder, then gasped when I noticed who he was looking at. I had seen the face just an hour or so before, on the front page of the newspaper. It was the face of Remus Gatton.
"Mina, is that…?" he trailed off.
I nodded. "You guys go find the Professor. Leave this to the espionage trainee."
With that, I slipped off towards him. Sliding on a pair of sunglasses and plopping on a hat as I walked, I was able to somewhat change my appearance as I tracked him. He seemed to be in a hurry, and was walking fast. It was hard to keep up with him without looking too conspicuous. But I kept cool, following all the way to the other side of the spaceport, where he met another woman. She seemed a little familiar, but I couldn't place her face. Long blond hair, dark eyes, eyebrows that seemed to branch off.
She greeted Gatton warmly, with a hug and a smile as she took his bag and led him towards the door. However, she caught sight of me staring. I could tell she was memorizing my face, it was obvious I had recognized Gatton.
Just then, a bunch of construction workers appeared between the departing couple and myself, and when they'd cleared, Gatton and his lady friend were gone.
Sighing, I made my way back to Duo and Quatre, finding Trowa with them.
"What happened?" Quatre asked.
"It was Gatton all right. I trailed him pretty far, but then he met up with some lady and got away from me. Sorry guys," I apologized, removing the hat and sunglasses.
"Ah, no big deal. Probably just here to make an appearance to the workers. You know, stir up a rebellion or something," Duo replied sarcastically.
"Why else do you think the professor had us stationed on this colony?" Trowa said quietly.
There was nothing we could say to that.
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As I stepped into the flat I was renting out, I sighed. I was stuck rooming with Duo yet again. However, this time we had separate bathrooms at least.
"The professor wants us to meet her at this spot at 5:00. She has DeMilo, and she wants you to be ready to pilot it. Get some rest and some food," Trowa said, handing me a sheet with the coordinates and a map on it.
I nodded, then collapsed on the couch. Maybe it was just the space flight, but I was exhausted.
"I'll wake you up in an hour or so, okay Mina? Duo's going to go pick up some food," Quatre said, sitting down at the table and starting to write a letter.
"Yeah, okay," I yawned, closing my eyes. However, once they were closed, I felt more awake than ever. But when I opened my eyes, I was exhausted again. By now, I was convinced there was no winning, so I just lay there on the couch with my eyes closed.
As I did, I could hear the scratching of Quatre's pen against the paper. He was probably writing home. I envied him like that. His family was rich too, but at least they cared about him. Then again, both of his parents were dead, and he had 29 sisters. That made me jealous too. He at least had other people to turn to. Besides his sisters, he had the Maganac Corps. It was amazing how much he meant to them too. But it was still funny to see my aristocratic friend with the slightly rowdy Maganac. But as for all of the girls at his house, I couldn't help but smile at that. All those siblings must have been a big help with his love life.
That was another thing weird with all of them. Five totally cute guys, no girlfriends. I had learned a few months past the Heero was the "boyfriend" Relena spent all of her time chasing, but whenever I asked him about it, he'd never say anything, so I assumed that there was nothing going on there. But maybe I wasn't one to talk. After all, despite what Duo liked to think, I didn't have a boyfriend either.
Hm…if I were going to go out with one of the guys, I wonder which one I'd choose. Heero still scares me. Duo scares me even more. Trowa's just so quiet, but I always feel somewhat more secure when he's around. Quatre's really nice, but he's just a little too much like me, in some ways. Wufei? Ha. We can barely stand in the same room without arguing about something.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by Quatre shaking me gently. "Mina? You should probably wake up now. Duo's back," he said.
"What? I just closed my eyes! How could it be…" Sure enough, the clock read 4:37. I was going to have to eat and I should probably change out of the skirt I was wearing to.
"Hey, I brought you a sandwich," Duo said, putting a wrapped package on the table. I sat down and ate it without talking. However, Duo and Quatre seemed to be involved in some sort of whispered conversation.
"Are you sure?" Quatre murmured.
"No, just something Heero thought he saw. You don't think the Prof would…" he trailed off.
"I hope not. She's not ready for that yet," Quatre answered.
"Um guys? I am right here, you know," I said as I threw the paper away.
"We uh, weren't talking about you. We were talking about…um…someone else," Duo explained.
"Yeah. Sure. Okay, I'm gonna change. Could you clean up the rest of this stuff, Duo?" I asked.
I didn't wait for an answer before I went into my bedroom. Changing out of the skirt and blouse I originally wore, I put on a pair of tight jeans and a tank top. Glancing in the mirror, I realized my hair was going to be in my face. After I braided it quickly, I twisted it into a blond ring at the back of my head. Then, grabbing my jacket and sunglasses, I walked back out.
"Ready to go? This place is way the heck on the other side of the colony, so we should probably leave.
The two of them nodded, and we left the flat.
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I closed my eyes and let the very essence of DeMilo surround me. Floating in space was the weirdest thing I'd ever experienced. I'd had no problems so far. Then again, I was still waiting for the Professor to give me the signal to use the combat system. All I'd done so far is fly around a little bit and tested the communications system.
Suddenly, I saw another Gundam appear on the corner of my radar. I got a transmission from Quatre.
"Well, how are you handling it so far?" he asked with a smile.
"So far, so good. Are we testing the combat system?" I asked.
His smile disappeared. "Yes. Mina, if anything starts going wrong, let me know and the Professor will shut down DeMilo's computer."
"Okay. Let's see what this thing can do!" I grinned, moving in.
He barely managed to block me before moving out of the way. We were testing my offense first, so I didn't have to worry about him attacking back as I continued to attack him repeatedly. Things were going great.
Suddenly, a small light appeared above me that I didn't notice before. All of a sudden, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. My head hurt like crazy. But then, something even worse happened. Someone was in the cockpit with me.
I had no clue how. The thing was smaller than my shower. But I could sense it, someone was inside with me. But they were outside too. And if I didn't attack, they'd kill me.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled out the my buster rifle and began shooting. First I wasn't shooting anything, then I noticed Quatre. I don't know why, but I began firing at him. By some miracle, he'd managed to avoid getting the full-frontal blast. My accuracy had gotten a lot better. I had no clue how though.
"I'll get you. You can't defeat me," I muttered. And yet, I felt like I didn't say it. It was like I was watching myself go insane, attacking anything that moved. I saw Quatre send me a transmission, but I'd ignored it. I couldn't stop. That was when I started screaming.
"No! Stop it! Help me! For the love of God, someone help me!" I cried. I felt hot tears falling down my cheeks, but even so, I couldn't stop shooting. Something was controlling me, and there was nothing I could do.
Then, just when it felt like I was going to die from screaming and the strain on my mind, it stopped. Everything stopped. DeMilo stopped firing, Quatre stopped avoiding the shots, and I stopped breathing.
The last thing I felt was strong arms pulling me free from the cockpit.
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I woke up to the sound of angry voices. Someone had laid me down on (surprise, surprise) one of the hard chair/couches again.
"She's a rookie Professor! Why would you put the Zero system on a Gundam that you knew a rookie was going to be piloting?" Duo asked.
"Mina could've died out there. She had no idea that the Zero system was on DeMilo. She doesn't even know what the Zero system is," Quatre added angrily.
"You suspected, didn't you? If you were so worried, why didn't you tell her yourself?" The Professor replied. From the tapping sound, I could tell she was typing on her computer, probably not even looking at them.
"What do you think she would've done if she knew she was piloting a Gundam that could kill her? We're lucky she didn't run off when she had the chance. Or chances. There's no way she's going to stay here now," Wufei muttered.
"I heard that," I groaned, trying to sit up. Quatre put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a sitting position.
"Are you all right, Mina?" he asked gently.
"I'm fine. Well, my head still hurts. A lot," I admitted. "But other than that I'm okay. What happened?"
Everyone's eyes focused on the Professor, who was, as I predicted, typing at a computer with her back to us. We were in a control room that looked into the area where Quatre and I had been fighting before.
"The Zero System took over and you lost control. You're going to have to work on that for next time," she answered nonchalantly.
"Next time? You'll kill her!" Duo cried.
I rolled my eyes. "Thank you for that support Duo."
He blushed. "I mean…okay, scratch the killing part. But don't you get how dangerous the Zero System is? Most pilots go insane after using it."
"If they don't die," Heero added.
"Well, I'm not insane. And it won't kill me. I bet all of you can use the system, right?" I asked. None of them answered. "Right?"
"Heero has it mastered," the Professor explained. "And you'll have to learn to live with it too."
Quatre stared at her, completely shocked. "Are you saying you're not disengaging the system?"
"Of course not. Since Mina's from Earth, it'll be easier for her to learn to use the system. It worked for Milliardo Peacecraft, it'll work for her."
"Zechs had experience piloting before. This was Mina's first time," Heero pointed out.
"Will you guys quit it? I'm fine okay? I didn't come out dead or insane. I don't even have a scratch!" I yelled, standing up. "If you don't get it, chasing down Gatton at the spaceport today was probably more life-threatening than the Zero System. Especially since I got recognized. I've asked you all to trust me, and now you have. I'm grateful." I smiled weakly. "And now I'm asking you to quit worrying about me. I'm a Gundam pilot too, and I'm your comrade as well. I'll be just fine."
With that said, I walked out looking like I felt ten-feet-tall. But really, I felt about two inches tall. The Zero System scared me worse than hell. But I wouldn't let them down. They would see that a lying, easily scared girl could handle the Devil's Gundam.
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All for now! R+R+R!!!! *goes of to play with Zero System*