Chapter Five: Zero Tolerance
Act Three: Light Dyed By Darkness
By: Knux19{Remember me? Sorry dis' took so long. Computer crash, data lost, ya know how it is.}
After two days on an old cargo freighter, Heero and Lance finally hit the surface of Earth. Their destination was an old city destroyed during the war three years earlier. However, why they were going was clear, yet another question entered Heero's mind.
"Lance." His radio cracked on. The sound provided a split second of relief from the heavy "Thuds" of the Leo's steps. "Exactly why is the Sandrock's copy of the Zero System hidden there?"
"Simple. If you had a high class computer system that could push a pilot to the brink of being a perfect war machine, wouldn't you want to hide it where your enemy would least expect it?"
Heero thought about it. He knew of three copies of the Zero System. One on the Wing Zero, which was destroyed two years earlier, one on the Epyon, which was malfunctioning, and one on the Sandrock, which had been detonated after it's final fight. If they had known about this system, why did they bother going after one that had been under careful guard? "Tell me, did we go after that first system as a ruse? To make them think that they had the only one in existence?"
"Brilliant deduction Holmes. Indeed we did. This system is only known about by a handful of people. We have nothing to worry about if they think that the system lost is the only one in existence. From here on out, the mission should be easy fly...."
At that moment, Lance's Leo was struck from behind by a hailstorm of bullets. "Lance! You okay?!" Heero turned to cover Lance's damaged suit.
"Yeah....me and my big arrogant mouth.....I'm sending out a broadcast signal to our agent in the field. With any luck, maybe she's found it..." He threw several switches. "Yuy! Hit the two buttons on the left side of the right arm control. Then throw the lever on the left side of the fuel gauge!"
Following instructions Heero flicked the controls. A handgun appeared in the left arm of his Leo. "A cutting laser? Is this ALL we have to defend ourselves?!"
"Yeah.....it's the only conceivable defense mechanism we can use." Lance struggled with his controls to raise his Leo. His weapon was now drawn. "Let's just try to stay alive until Noin gets here." He turned his attention to the direction from his assailants attack. He saw nothing but destroyed buildings and fallen rubble. "Stay alert."
"Noin?! Is Lucretzia Noin here?" Hearing this made him feel some assurance of their current situation, but with an unknown opponent in their midst, his heart was still racing. Most of his prior missions had required him to fight in the open with a mech capable of greater combat maneuvers, but now he only had a civilian Leo. His odds of survival were uncertain. Would he live? Would he see Releena's face again?
His thoughts were interrupted as a blast of energy came down from the sky. The two pilots scattered to avoid the shot and took cover behind separate buildings. "Damn...what IS that thing?" Heero shouted. His question was soon answered as a black mobile suit landed in front of his Leo. He tried to get a shot it, but it was too late. The black frame had already used a heat rod to pierce his cockpit. At that moment, everything went black.
"Heero! Heero, you there?!" Lance kept hailing, but received no response.
"And then there was one." Said a new shrill female voice over the radio. "Your friend didn't put up much or a fight." The suit raised it's rifle and with two precise shots, she relieved Lance's Leo of both it's arms. "Looks like you won't either now that you've been disarmed."
"You know what I hate about smart-ass puns?" The Leo fell to one knee. "It just makes the pilot look pathetic when he, or she, loses."
"You're really in no position to be making idle threats to me Mister Perkins."
"How does she know me?....and where did she learn to fly this well....almost as if....no. Impossible." An unthinkable thought ran through his mind, but he wasn't ready to assume the worst. "I may be down," he saw a flash in the distance "but if you think I'm out, you're sadly mistaken. If you surrender, maybe you'll leave this place alive."
"Indeed." The suit approached. It was clearly a gundam, but it varied from most seen by the public. It seemed to be a variant of the Epyon, but the head and appendages were shaped differently. "Time to die little man." She raised a thin beam saber.
"Heh...fool." Lance muttered.
BANG!!!! The elbow of the black suit had been pierced by a sniper bullet.
"What?! How can this happen!?" The female shrieked. Her right arm had lost all power, her saber had fallen, and the beam rifle required two hands to use. "Looks like you win this round......but we'll meet again. You haven't seen the full capabilities of the Iris or the Epyon!" The pilot fled before she could take another hit.
Lance breathed a long sigh of relief. "Good timing Noin. I owe you."
"You owe me twice already." Her voice was a welcome sound after the horrific tone of the Iris' pilot. Still, Lance thought it had an all too familiar ring to it.
"Did you find it?" Lance asked. He had taken in enough excitement for one day, and he was ready to leave.
"I have it, but maybe you should hand it in, while I carry in Heero. You seem to be...handicapped at the moment."
Lance kicked open the hatch on his Leo. He ran to check Heero's suit. He slowly pried open the hatch with an old metal pole he found. As he opened it, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Noin, tell them that Heero's going to live, but he may need to spend a little time in the sick bay....this is one injury a wrench and a few bandages won't cure."
Act Three: Light Dyed By Darkness
By: Knux19{Remember me? Sorry dis' took so long. Computer crash, data lost, ya know how it is.}
After two days on an old cargo freighter, Heero and Lance finally hit the surface of Earth. Their destination was an old city destroyed during the war three years earlier. However, why they were going was clear, yet another question entered Heero's mind.
"Lance." His radio cracked on. The sound provided a split second of relief from the heavy "Thuds" of the Leo's steps. "Exactly why is the Sandrock's copy of the Zero System hidden there?"
"Simple. If you had a high class computer system that could push a pilot to the brink of being a perfect war machine, wouldn't you want to hide it where your enemy would least expect it?"
Heero thought about it. He knew of three copies of the Zero System. One on the Wing Zero, which was destroyed two years earlier, one on the Epyon, which was malfunctioning, and one on the Sandrock, which had been detonated after it's final fight. If they had known about this system, why did they bother going after one that had been under careful guard? "Tell me, did we go after that first system as a ruse? To make them think that they had the only one in existence?"
"Brilliant deduction Holmes. Indeed we did. This system is only known about by a handful of people. We have nothing to worry about if they think that the system lost is the only one in existence. From here on out, the mission should be easy fly...."
At that moment, Lance's Leo was struck from behind by a hailstorm of bullets. "Lance! You okay?!" Heero turned to cover Lance's damaged suit.
"Yeah....me and my big arrogant mouth.....I'm sending out a broadcast signal to our agent in the field. With any luck, maybe she's found it..." He threw several switches. "Yuy! Hit the two buttons on the left side of the right arm control. Then throw the lever on the left side of the fuel gauge!"
Following instructions Heero flicked the controls. A handgun appeared in the left arm of his Leo. "A cutting laser? Is this ALL we have to defend ourselves?!"
"Yeah.....it's the only conceivable defense mechanism we can use." Lance struggled with his controls to raise his Leo. His weapon was now drawn. "Let's just try to stay alive until Noin gets here." He turned his attention to the direction from his assailants attack. He saw nothing but destroyed buildings and fallen rubble. "Stay alert."
"Noin?! Is Lucretzia Noin here?" Hearing this made him feel some assurance of their current situation, but with an unknown opponent in their midst, his heart was still racing. Most of his prior missions had required him to fight in the open with a mech capable of greater combat maneuvers, but now he only had a civilian Leo. His odds of survival were uncertain. Would he live? Would he see Releena's face again?
His thoughts were interrupted as a blast of energy came down from the sky. The two pilots scattered to avoid the shot and took cover behind separate buildings. "Damn...what IS that thing?" Heero shouted. His question was soon answered as a black mobile suit landed in front of his Leo. He tried to get a shot it, but it was too late. The black frame had already used a heat rod to pierce his cockpit. At that moment, everything went black.
"Heero! Heero, you there?!" Lance kept hailing, but received no response.
"And then there was one." Said a new shrill female voice over the radio. "Your friend didn't put up much or a fight." The suit raised it's rifle and with two precise shots, she relieved Lance's Leo of both it's arms. "Looks like you won't either now that you've been disarmed."
"You know what I hate about smart-ass puns?" The Leo fell to one knee. "It just makes the pilot look pathetic when he, or she, loses."
"You're really in no position to be making idle threats to me Mister Perkins."
"How does she know me?....and where did she learn to fly this well....almost as if....no. Impossible." An unthinkable thought ran through his mind, but he wasn't ready to assume the worst. "I may be down," he saw a flash in the distance "but if you think I'm out, you're sadly mistaken. If you surrender, maybe you'll leave this place alive."
"Indeed." The suit approached. It was clearly a gundam, but it varied from most seen by the public. It seemed to be a variant of the Epyon, but the head and appendages were shaped differently. "Time to die little man." She raised a thin beam saber.
"Heh...fool." Lance muttered.
BANG!!!! The elbow of the black suit had been pierced by a sniper bullet.
"What?! How can this happen!?" The female shrieked. Her right arm had lost all power, her saber had fallen, and the beam rifle required two hands to use. "Looks like you win this round......but we'll meet again. You haven't seen the full capabilities of the Iris or the Epyon!" The pilot fled before she could take another hit.
Lance breathed a long sigh of relief. "Good timing Noin. I owe you."
"You owe me twice already." Her voice was a welcome sound after the horrific tone of the Iris' pilot. Still, Lance thought it had an all too familiar ring to it.
"Did you find it?" Lance asked. He had taken in enough excitement for one day, and he was ready to leave.
"I have it, but maybe you should hand it in, while I carry in Heero. You seem to be...handicapped at the moment."
Lance kicked open the hatch on his Leo. He ran to check Heero's suit. He slowly pried open the hatch with an old metal pole he found. As he opened it, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Noin, tell them that Heero's going to live, but he may need to spend a little time in the sick bay....this is one injury a wrench and a few bandages won't cure."