Chapter Two: The Deportations
Act Two: Commandos
By: Alexandria the Great
For a secret war to be about to commence, Hangar 39 was certainly a frenzied place. There was a parking lot across the street, and once the boys pulled in, it was full. Right in front of the Hangar, what appeared to be hundreds of men, supposedly all 'perfect soldiers', were gathered out in front, slowly but surely migrating through a small, steel side door. Heero more than anyone felt somewhat betrayed: there couldn't really be this many 'perfect soldiers' in the world, and if there were, what the hell did they need him for?
"Uh," Duo groaned, "am I the only one having second thoughts about this?"
"No," Quatre agreed, just as irked as Heero, "who are….all these people? What do they need us for?"
"Not much, apparently," Wufei moaned. Trowa didn't say a word, but he was thinking the same thing as everyone else. The boys grabbed their duffel bags and headed toward the crowd.
There were so many around that reminded Heero of himself: hard, cold, angry, and suicidal. If they conversed, they didn't look at the ones they conversed with. Oh, sure there were some Duos and Quatres scattered here and there, but mostly a bunch if Heeros and Wufeis. Heero tapped on another version of himself.
"Excuse me," he said flatly, "Is everyone here for the same reason?"
The perfect soldier nodded. "Supposedly we're gonna meet the last Gundam Pilots. What a load of shit, huh? I'm just here cuz it's work."
"You're not a perfect soldier," Heero grumbled.
"And I give a shit because…" the soldier threw his cigarette.
"You shouldn't be here."
"Nobody asked you a damn thing anyway. Just leave me alone." The soldier turned his back to Heero. Heero grabbed his shoulder and the soldier faced him with an angry stance.
"Civilians don't get involved in secret war!" Heero yelled at him. The other guy prepared to hit Heero. Duo and Quatre held Heero back and the other guy's friends came to his side. "Heero, man, cool your jets!"
"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" an authoritive figure. As could be expected, Heero and the soldier pretended they didn't hear the authority figure, twisted out of their friends' grips, and sulked away. Heero rallied his friends and insisted they go on in and get this over with. Near the door, Lance was waiting for them. He perked up when he saw them.
"Hey guys! Over here!"
"Lance, what the hell is with all these people?" Heero demanded. Lance shown a small smile.
"Did we get into a spiffy already, Mr. Yuy?" he asked, grinning. Heero felt like making it permanent, but Lance started again,
"To be truthful, guys, all the men and women you see are going to be under your command. You're the only ones who weren't notified that you'd be meeting the last Gundam Pilots…and you have three guesses as to why." Lance grinned on the brink of laughter.
Even Duo didn't think that was funny. "So wait," he said in a slight frustration, "all these flunkies," Duo motioned to the masses behind him, "are our soldiers to command?"
"That's right. There's an even number, two hundred. A very short training program is going to commence. Out of these two hundred, we have to narrow it down to fifty, and you'll end up commanding ten each. The rest will be back up. You pick your high-ranking officers. Still not crazy about this?"
The boys were silent until Quatre said, "So this means when it comes time to fight, these are our men?"
"That's right," Lance confirmed, "And you're responsible for them. You train them, you teach them to pilot an advanced mobile suit, and watch over them. Most of them are the same age you guys were when you started piloting, but some are as old as or older than you. I'm not under anybody's command, I myself am slightly above you cuz it was my idea to get you guys here." Lance had a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"Oh, ok." Heero muttered, trying to get hold of his spinning head. This was too much. He would have to train these flunkies. That could take longer than the two or three weeks Lance had promised it would take.
"So the ones that pass the training are the front line?" Trowa spoke for the first time that day.
"That's right, o silent one." Lance confirmed. This was too much.
Inside, the masses lay in a huge, vibrating crowd under a high balcony. Lance stood on it with the original authority figure and a few other men. The first authority figure spoke, and Heero thought there was something very familiar about him:
"Ladies and Gentleman, I am Col. Sanderson Steed. I am your highest ranking officer, and this is my council." He introduced the men on either side of him, including Lance. "As you have all been informed, there is a possibility that the human race will soon see another war. While we cannot prevent the war, we will prevent the human race from seeing it."
Oh my God, Heero thought, it's official, there's going to be a war. The Colonel continued.
"The battleship Libra is in fact occupied, and the occupants sent us this message." A screen behind the masses lit up and everyone turned to see what he deal was. The image was scanned for a computer and read: GUNDAM PILOTS, DELIVER THE HUMAN RACE