Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I don't own Gundam Wing, blah blah blah, I'm not making any money out of this blah blah blah *sigh*

Author's Note: Most notable change is the debriefing at Preventers' Headquarter and a reshuffling of events.

ZERO SOUL

Chapter 5: A New Enemy

By: Vegie-kun

One and a half months later...

The Peacecraft mansion seemed plagued with a lingering air of hopelessness, despite their best efforts. In the office once belonging to Relena Darlian, Zechs Marquise and Lucrezia Noin were standing near the window, gazing out at the beauty of the former Sanc Kingdom. It was a sharp contrast to the darkness and rage that occupied their hearts.

"Today's Relena's birthday," came Zechs' bitter voice, so full of contempt, anger, and despair. The mood in the room was darkening by the minute.

"She's eighteen years old..." Noin's voice mirrored his turmoil completely. "I hope she knows that we're thinking of her... wherever she is..." Noin felt tears roll down her cheeks but she made no attempt to wipe them off. They were the only things telling her that this situation wasn't a horrible nightmare. /Oh God, Relena... where are you? Are you still ali-NO! You are alive! If we even acknowledge the possibility that you might be dead, then the enemy has already won. We can't allow them to take away our hope as well... Poor Zechs... he's spent so much of his life not being there for her and now he barely had the chance to make up for it before it was taken away from him again./

"Any news from the pilots?" his question snapped her out of her brooding thoughts.

"Not much," she sighed. "They finished their re-training three weeks ago and their Gundams are 100% complete. They're currently taking part in guerrilla missions to locate and destroy OZ's bases. Of the ones they've already found and destroyed, all were fairly small. My guess is they were decoy bases set up only to divert our attention while the main bases are still left to accomplish their tasks." Noin finished and looked out the window again.

"This OZ is much smarter than before," Zechs mused. "They don't seem to be taking anything lightly but they still haven't shown themselves... Lu?"

"Yes?" she asked, eyes still fixated on the outside.

"... Please stay by my side... until this whole thing gets resolved I'm going to need your support more than ever." He turned his head to look at her, his face no longer full of contempt but of need... the need for comfort, answers, and reassurance.

"Of course, Zechs," Noin simple reply as she looked into his face and forced a smile.

Eight months later...

"Sir! The intruder's headed this way!" a soldier cried out as the lights went out. Suddenly a loud explosion was heard and felt, followed by the sound of the door being violently kicked open. What followed were the sounds of bodies dropping to the floor, one by one. The soldiers practically had no time to react before they were taken out.

Once the struggles ceased, light footsteps were heard walking towards the computer consoles in the room. The screen was turned on, its light illuminating a portion of the figure before it; a slender figure wearing a black flight suit, face obscured by a dark helmet. The figure popped in a disk, typed a few keys and the screen suddenly came alive as information scrolled down its face before going blank once more. As quickly as it made its way inside the room, the figure was out in a flash. The sound of more dropping bodies could be heard throughout the hall.

"Oi, Quatre! Can you hear me?" Duo's voice came over the static of their communication link.

"I can hear you, Duo, but the static is getting worse. We should cut all contact until we reach the bunker. Do you copy?" his voice called out through the disturbance.

"I hear ya," with that the communication link was disconnected. /Man; I can't believe it was another decoy... Dammit! We're getting nowhere! *sigh* This is a fine time for OZ to actually develop a brain. Shitty bastards!... Oooo don't think you can hide from us forever. Once I find your main base then nothing's stopping Shinigami! Just you wait and see./

They slowly walked off into the severe sandstorm, making sure the stay in close proximity so as not to lose sight of one another. After about half an hour into their journey they reached a spot that was located seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Slowly, Sandrock's hands reached down into the sand. A few seconds later it lifted up a large metal door that revealed an entrance. Quartre motioned for Duo to head in first; as Deathscythe made his inside Sandrock turned its head one last time at the surroundings before disappearing into the darkness that awaited them.

Inside the underground bunker the lights immediately turned on and the two Gundams walked over to a stationary platform near the back wall. As if resting themselves against the steel slab, their green eyes turned off and the cockpit doors flew open. With the help of the cable wires they soon lowered themselves onto the ground.

"I didn't think we'd ever be back here," the braided pilot mused, recalling the time they had retreated to this same area after Heero self-detonated his Gundam. Silence soon descended upon them as they made their way to another well-lighted room.

"So what were you trying to tell me back there?" Quatre's soft voice spoke up

"Huh? Oh yeah," Duo exclaimed as he remembered the transmission he received an hour ago. "Une contacted me. She said we had to report back to Preventer Headquarters in four days."

Quatre's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Four days? But why?" His face held a look of worry.

Duo shrugged, he hadn't a clue himself as to why they were being called back. "She just said we were gonna receive new information then."

A look of hope brightened Quatre's face. "I wonder if it's about Miss Relena."

"Maybe… or maybe they've finally found out where Heero disappeared to." Both their minds went back to the day their re-training ended, just two weeks after having arrived at the secret lab on L1. All the Gundams had been modified as a direct result of the limited resources. In addition to the downgraded armor, due to the prototypes' smaller exoskeleton frame the finished Gundams were also smaller compared to their originals Heavyarms was also left with just the single barrel beam Gatling gun that the prototype came with while Altron was left with only one Dragon Fang. These changes all contributed to improving the Gundams' speed and in order to adjust for that the controls had also been vastly improved to be more precise.

*FLASHBACK*

Once the training had ended, it was decided that all the pilots were to go back to Earth together. They had planned to leave that night but it was evident that Heelo had made plans of his own as he reeled himself into WingZERO and closed the cockpit entrance.

"What the HELL are you doing!?" Duo and Wufei were screaming at him through his com-link.

"I'm carrying out my mission," came the familiar deadly and stoic voice. A threat soon followed, "Don't even try to find me because you won't. If need be I will find you." Then he left with WingZERO.

*END FLASHBACK*

"Do you think that Heero might have found her?" the Arabian asked again. "I don't think the Earth Sphere Unified Nation can handle this any longer." He shook his head, exasperated, recalling the weeks that followed Une's announcement. "I mean one month after her disappearance and they were already at each other's throat, pointing fingers everywhere. And the replacement they got for her is… He's got no spine at all!" Contempt laced his usually sweet his voice.

"Oi, Quatre, just calm down. The guy is trying his best; considering how many people were taking advantage of this ordeal to get what they want. They would never have acted that way if it were Relena they were dealing with, that's for sure. Besides, the poor guy has got some pretty big shoes to fill."

"You're leaving again, Trowa?" Catherine's voice rang through the trailer occupied by the clown. The tall young man turned and walked up to the young woman with the star earrings and reddish-brown hair, and embraced her in a hug. Once again he had used the circus as his means of avoiding detection as he traveled from one base to the next. It had worked pretty well and he had been able to hide it from Catherine and the other circus members as far as he could tell. Although it pained him to do so because this meant getting everyone involved should they ever figure out what was really happening. Not to mention the fact that Catherine would kill him if she knew that he was piloting a Gundam again.

"I always come back, don't I?" he said softly, trying to change the dreary mood. He soon placed a hand on her head once he felt the tears coming through his costume. "I know you're strong, sis, and I'm sorry I had to break my promise again."

The tears slowly subsided and the young woman pulled out of the hug, her eyes sparkling with sadness and hope. "Find her for me too, okay?"

Trowa nodded and Catherine left the trailer leaving him to finish undressing out his costume and into his Preventer uniform. Once done, he stepped outside and walked into the forest not far off from the circus. The Gundam pilot soon made his way to a carrier truck with a massive tarp that hid his Heavyarms. He hopped into the driver's seat, adjusted the rear view mirror and started the ignition.

The carrier truck sped down the dirt road at a speed many would deem unsafe. As light from the sun hit the truck's windshield, it revealed unruly dark brown hair that obscured determined Prussian blue eyes. Heero was finally going back to meet the others. After having left the other pilots he had gone back to doing things his own way. Without the others around no one was there to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. He had reverted back into being the 'Perfect Soldier'. He had become even colder than before, not even giving a second thought to his actions before he executed them. He had destroyed so many bases in the past eight months that it had become automatic. Even when he destroyed things he no longer let out that psychotic laugh; it was a scary thing indeed.

He knew the bases he'd destroyed weren't the main ones but he didn't care. They seemed to satisfy a part of him, something he wasn't sure of… something akin to the need for vengeance. His mind had grown dark and desolate since the day he had lost her and every single time he failed to find her afterwards made it worse. This time; however, he had information the others needed to see immediately. It was probably the first time in a long time that his eyes showed any hint of emotion when he came upon this... something that seemed like hope.

"Wufei, did you get the call in to Wind and Fire?" Sally's voice distracted the already irate Chinese from his work.

"Of course I did, onna! I am not irresponsible!" he answered back obviously offended. "They should be arriving here today."

"Alright, alright, geez, I'm sorry. But you could do with a little loosening up, you know. You keep this up and one of these days those veins in forehead will pop." The older woman looked across to her partner and grinned as she saw him glare at her. /I should really stop doing that to him... But it's so much fun... which is a good enough reason for me not to stop./

"Po, Chang, come to the conference room on the third floor immediately," Lady Une commanded when she suddenly appeared in the doorway of their office. "Everyone has arrived."

"Everyone? Does that include Heero?" Sally questioned with hopeful eyes.

"Why not come see for yourselves." She turned on her heels and headed for the elevator followed by Sally and Wufei.

They were on the third floor in minutes and walking into the room they were greeted by Quatre who looked exhausted yet cheerful. Taking their seats they saw Trowa across from them, arms crossed over his chest. /Wait a minute, where is everyone else? Hmph, never trust a woman with such things-/

"Oi, Wufei!" The sound of that dreaded voice made Wufei turn his head ever so slowly back, hoping it was just his hearing. It wasn't. Duo walked in, arms full of small packages. It wasn't until he sat down and laid the items on the table that Wufei saw what they were. Seeing the Chinese man's expression the braided pilot flashed this trademark grin. "I just thought that I'd get a little snack for myself. The trip back here was a long one."

Wufei snorted and shook his head in mild disbelief. "Your stomach is as bottomless as the sea, Maxwell."

Duo batted his eyelashes at his fellow Gundam pilot. "I'll take that as a compliment, Wufie."

"Baka! I told you before, don't call me that!" Wufei fumed and made to get up when the conference room door opened up again.

"Miss Noin!" Quatre's greeting broke them out of the fight before they could get started. They turned their heads and saw the raven-haired woman followed by the familiar figure of Zechs Marquise. The moment the man walked in his passive expression changed to a dark scowl as he eyed something in the corner. Wufei took note of that and turned towards the corner he was looking at. Hidden in the shadows stood a figure with a barely visible thatch of dark brown hair, who he hadn't noticed since he'd come in. /Man, Zechs has a sixth sense when it comes to Heero Yuy, just like his sister... must be a hereditary thing./

"Please take a seat, all of you." Lady Une's voice resonated through the room. Everyone immediately began to shuffle around the office and eventually found seats. Within seconds the lights were suddenly turned off and a large screen became the only illumination in the room. "A week ago Heero contacted me saying he had acquired some information concerning OZ. He didn't tell me much afterwards, only to gather you all together while he looked further into it."

"Typical."

"Quiet, Zechs."

"Fine, Noin."

The screen's light was soon obscured by the figure of the Japanese pilot. Once he was standing in the middle he surveyed the room before beginning. "OZ is planning to launch a large scale attack soon."

"What!?" The announcement sent shockwaves through the conference room and Heero waited until they quieted down before resuming.

"I was headed towards Northern Spain a few days back when I intercepted a distress signal from a local naval base. They reported being attacked by some unidentified intruder. The intruder forced their way through and stole some vital information, including military codes and weapons data. Once they completed their objective they destroyed the base. I suspect that base isn't the only they've attacked thus far. I confirmed with Commander Une earlier and it seems that four other military compounds were infiltrated though this was the first one to be destroyed. That is the reason why we didn't get wind of their actions earlier."

"All those codes and data would give OZ a definite advantage against any army," Noin contemplated with a worried expression.

"Which leads to the most obvious conclusion that they are planning to strike soon," Heero resumed, "That attack on that naval base in Northern Spain a week ago was their most recent."

"So what does this *crunch* exactly mean?"

"They made a mistake," Heero replied coldly. "OZ managed to infiltrate the first four facilities without incident; they disabled the surveillance system before the attack happened so I wasn't able to retrieve any footage from them. However they got careless with that naval base; they didn't take down the surveillance system before attacking. Most likely assuming that destroying the base would destroy all evidence of their intrusion."

"Why do you think they did that?" Wufei interrupted. "If they were so careful with the first four places I don't see why they wouldn't take the same measure of precaution with the last one."

Heero contemplated the question. "The only reason for being sloppy would be time. I assume they wanted to be in and out of there quickly. By the time I arrived at the base there were no signs of the OZ anywhere but I discovered that the cameras at the base send their surveillance videos directly to another computer located in the nearby city."

"Probably to ensure that the files can be recalled for later use even if the base were to be destroyed." Une surmised.

"Correct," Heero confirmed, "I managed to hack into that system and retrieved the security footage of what happened." He held up a disk and turned around to insert it into the computer console. Images filled the monitor and they were able to make out the figure clad in a black flight suit running through the corridors of the base.

"Shit!"

They stared in amazement as the figure took down three soldiers with ease, using the most minimal amount of energy required. The image then switched to show the figure throwing some explosives, then kicking a door open; everything it did was with precise efficiency. Nothing seemed wasted, it had a goal and it always got there by taking the quickest route possible.

*GASP*

A particular explosion set the corridor alight. Although it was only a quick glance they saw that the figure was... female.

*BOOM* *KABOOM* *BOOM* *CRASH*

The figure in the flight suite was standing with her back turned to the exploding building. She moved a hand up to press a button on her helmet. "Success," she said in a voice devoid of feeling. There was silence for a while before a voice answered back.

"Good job, Rei."

"Onna?!"

There was silence once more as they saw a group of soldiers surrounding the OZ agent. The soldiers were hesitating; obviously scared of what the enemy would do. Suddenly one of the men made a move on her. She jumped out of the way and elbowed him in the back, knocking him to the floor. Another quickly lunged at her but she let out a kick and sent the guy flying into the wall. Taking out her gun she shot three more soldiers though one managed to grab her from behind. As she pried him off, he pulled violently at her arm before slamming against another wall. The suited figure stood there afterwards, hand clutching her left shoulder.

"Oi, what's she doing?"

"Dislocated shoulder," Heero informed him.

"What's she doing now?" Duo asked again, seeing the figure ram herself into the wall repeatedly.

"Putting her shoulder back into place."

"Ugh, by herself?," A look of disgust graced Duo's face, "Oh man, I just had a flashback to the time you set your own broken bone. God… that was the most disturbing sight I'd ever witnessed. Seeing this doesn't make me feel any better."

The rest continued to watch intently as the figure succeeded before she ran off unperturbed, a few more explosions following her. Another scene taken from a camera just inside the building's entrance showed the enemy running out of the facility. The sound of clanging metal could then be heard followed by the noise of take-off boosters, then jet thrusters, and then static. Everyone in the room seemed stunned into silence.

"That sounded like a mobile suit," Trowa's voice broke through the quiet.

"Hmmm… by the sound of it, that suit seems capable of flight," Noin assessed. "If that's the case then it's most like an Aeries or Taurus, and possibly the flight pack equipped Leos." She brought her hand to her chin as she contemplated further. "There's also the possibility that they may have improved upon the Serpent's flight capabilities or even redesigned the Virgo II for manual operation. The other scenario would be that they've built a new breed of mobile suits…"

"That, I wasn't able to confirm," Heero interrupted, "All external cameras were taken out prior to the enemy's appearance. My guess is they destroyed them from a distance before going inside."

"I guess they really want to keep us guessing, huh?" Duo said thoughtfully.

"It doesn't matter," Heero said, eyes narrowing. "We can use this girl. We will intercept her at their next target and use her to get to their main base. Since her attacks went unnoticed for awhile now it is safe to assume that OZ wanted to distract us from her existence."

"While we attacked those decoy bases she made her move on those military facilities..." Quatre jumped in, realization having dawned on him.

"That confirms she was sent from one of their main bases," Heero continued in a dangerously monotone voice. "She will lead us to Relena." With that he walked towards the door and exited the room, leaving the others to contemplate this new turn of events. /Relena... I'm coming for you./

-to be continued-