Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is the legal property of Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, and Bandai Entertainment.

Author's Note: I dropped the Tamashii so she's just Rei now.

ZERO SOUL

Chapter 6: Codename: Rei

By: Vegie-kun

"Captain Woolfsen, sir!"

"What is it, private?" a man of around fifty looked up at the unexpected intruder. His old but keen eyes sensed the boy's uneasiness. Thirty years in the military gave him an abundance of experience on how to handle such soldiers.

"We are ready to commence testing of the new homing missiles in ten minutes, sir!" the young man quickly replied and saluted. He was very young from the way he looked, maybe seventeen; average height, short brown hair and eyes, an ordinary guy who didn't stand out much from among the rest of the soldiers.

"Tell them I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted and left the room, eager to give the captain his privacy.

Once alone the older man rose from his seat and walked over to the large window in his office. Sighing, he stared out at the naval base that was located in the southern region of the United Kingdom. His tired green eyes fell upon the ships in the ports, the weapons on the buildings, and the people running back and forth through the night. /OZ is back and soon they will attack... Our reasons for developing these new weapons are justified. We must be prepared! We have to be unless we want OZ ruling over us again... *sigh* I loathe to think of the lives that will be sacrificed this time around. Will we even stand a chance now, especially when we don't even have the Gundams to help us? I pray to God that this ends before too many lives are wasted./ The old captain ran a hand through his gray beard, straightened up, then turned to leave the room.

*KABOOM* *CRASH*

"What the hell was that?!" The sudden explosion knocked the old man to the floor. He heard the frantic pounding of feet across the floor and distressed cries. "Private!" he yelled at a running soldier making him halt in his tracks. "What's going on? What was that explosion?"

"Sir! We're being attacked by an unknown enemy!"

"What the -?" Just then the lights went out while explosions continued to ravage the building. /Why haven't the alarms gone off? Dammit! It's got to be OZ./ "Private! Go to the main control room and tell them to prepare the beam cannons! It might be OZ!"

"Yes, sir!" The young man was off and running in the opposite direction but struggled to get past the others in the hall. The captain slowly got up and followed the private's path, still somewhat shaken by the explosion. Three shadows stood nearby silently watching as he did so, watching and waiting.

"Do you think this will work?" Noin asked as she stood in front of Lady Une's desk.

The woman waited before giving a reply. "I am positive that we will succeed. We have taken all the necessary precautions and we also have a backup plan should this one fail. The only thing we're unable to anticipate is the enemy's reaction to our plan. If we're not careful she may try to kill herself." Lady Une's voice remained steady as she got up and walked over to Noin. "You should also get ready; just in case something happens that we weren't prepared for. Wind is waiting for you down in the communications room. I think you should go there and wait with him."

Noin stood there for a moment longer reflecting on something that just came to mind. /Lady Une is so much the mother figure now... I guess it's all thanks to Mariemaia. It's really hard to imagine that she was once a cold-blooded opportunist... Thank you for being there for us, Lady Une./ "Yes ma'am," she replied playfully, leaving before she saw the warm smile that formed on the other woman's lips.

"Everything will be alright, Noin. Have faith." She stared at the closed door for a minute more before going back behind her desk.

"AH!"

"What the -?"

*Bang*

"Where did it go?"

"Oof"

"Somebody hel-"

"AAHHH!"

Screams were heard throughout the corridors inside the base as an unseen enemy took down the soldiers. Gunshots and dropping bodies accompanied the mysterious figure as she made her way through. Once the noise had died down, running footsteps were heard accompanied by an occasional explosion. A figure clad in a black flight suit suddenly zoomed past the fallen victims.

"Rei," a voice called to her through her helmet's com-link, "the control room is to the right at the end of the corridor. Don't bother downloading the information on the base. All we want is the data on the new homing missiles. Make sure you render the base completely inoperable."

"Acknowledged," came the cold and steady response as she reached the door and kicked it open with unimaginable force.

The room's occupant was taken completely by surprise. "Who the hell are y-?" the question was cut short as the man was knocked down with a blow to the head.

The other soldiers in the room immediately drew their guns and fired as the girl ducked and dropped to the floor, rolling out of the way. Every single shot missed, and the girl was up again and soon lunged for the nearest soldier. She knocked him out with the back of her hand and drew her gun, shooting at the rest of them. Her aim was deadly, needing only a bullet apiece to take each one of them out. The room was quiet once again and the girl stood there for a moment to survey the room before going over to the computer console. Removing a disk from a pocket on her suit she inserted it into the computer slot and proceeded to push a few keys. The screen was soon surrendering detailed information of its deepest secrets; within minutes it was done pouring its "heart" out to her. As the screen when blank she ejected the disk and slipped it back into her pocket. Satisfied, she ran out of the room, leaving behind an explosive gift.

Another shadow observed the girl as she ran down the corridor. "She's headed towards the Sector 2 area, I'm going to pursue her; be ready to move out," the shadow commanded over a communicator before it stalked off after her. /I'm not going to let this chance slip by... No way in hell!/

"Wufei," Sally's voice rang over the communication link in his Gundam's cockpit, "Heero has just informed me that the target is heading towards Sector 2 of the naval base. Don't do anything yet, just be ready in case Heero fails."

"Don't tell me what to do, onna. I know the task assigned to me," he snorted.

"Fine, just be careful. We're not sure if she has a mobile suit nearby or not. The radar we had set up didn't show anything but if it's like that last attack it should be there somewhere." Sally couldn't help but show concern for her partner despite his sharp tongue.

"Thanks... Sally. I'll keep that in mind," before she could answer back he shut off his communication to Preventers' Headquarter. /C'mon, Yuy, I know you can do this. I don't want to have to use Nataku to stop a little girl./

"Huff huff huff huff..." the girl's breathing resonated in her helmet as she ran towards the designated exit. She was soon in a large hanger-type room that almost empty save for a few planes. The exit and the sounds of her own footsteps were the only things on her mind until...

*click*

The sound registered like a loud explosion in her head and she quickly whirled around brandishing her own gun. Through the helmet's black visor she saw her opponent's figure, highlighted by the moon's glow streaming through the building's windows. It was a young man of about eighteen or nineteen years of age, around 180 cm tall, somewhat slender but with muscular build, dark unkempt hair, and clad in a green shirt, charcoal zippered vest and dark jeans. What got her attention were his eyes, made silver with the moon, set in an unnerving glare; she didn't flinch from it... She couldn't. She made no attempts to run or shoot he didn't leave her much room for either being only 4 meters away.

"Omae o korosu," he declared coldly to the enemy. "If you even think of escaping from me," Heero's voice would have sent chills down a snowman's spine, but the girl in front of him didn't even budge a millimeter. /So this is OZ's new soldier. She's pretty good, but what does that matter now that we've got you cornered./ "Drop your gun. I guarantee that you won't make it out of here alive otherwise." He waited a moment to give her the chance to surrender. When the girl refused to move he knew that one of them was going to die... "Fine then, but I won't kill a faceless opponent like this." The figure waited for a few moments and then carefully moved her right hand to grab at her black helmet, slowly taking it off... /No.../

Heero immediately lost his death glare; his expression flickered between confusion and denial, his mind on the verge of collapsing when he saw the waves of golden hair spill out of the helmet. It cascaded down her shoulder, falling all the way down to her butt. His eyes darted to the black helmet she held in the crook of her arm against her body. They moved up to her heart-shaped face. It was deathly pale, especially in the moonlight. Her lips were set in a thin line instead of the full smile that he had always remembered and cherished. His eyes finally if not slowly wandered up and fell upon hers.

/Nothing./ He saw nothing in her eyes... nothing. No emotion whatsoever could be seen in those silvery orbs and it sent chills down his spine. They showed none of the happiness, the grief, the anger, or the determination they once held and that tore him apart inside. /This can't be her... It can't be! This person standing before me is nothing b-but... an empty shell... there's no life in her. It may look like her but it isn't… it's not her! I don't see Relena anywhere in that 'thing'... I don't see compassion, or purity, or the kind soul that she has always shown me... I see nothing... These eyes are void of any human emotion, and they're looking right at me./ He would have been fine if hatred or even sick amusement was thrown his way but to his dismay they weren't.

"Relena..." was the only word he was able to muster through the raging storm of thoughts and questions in his head. Silence fell upon them and suddenly, much to his own surprise, he threw his gun down. It skidded right next to the young girl's feet. /I can't do it. Even if this thing doesn't turn out to be her... I just can't do it... I can't take that chance... not with her... not again... not ever... Dammit what's wrong with me!?/ He hung his head and dropped his hands to his sides in defeat and readied himself for the bullet he knew would inevitably pierce him.

"Heero, watch out!"

"Huh?" He heard Trowa's voice from behind him and turned around in horror as he saw Trowa fire at the girl. "NO!" Demonstrating his quick reflexes Heero jumped in the way of the bullet meant for the enemy. Without making a sound the bullet tore through his left shoulder, throwing him to the ground. His eyes connected with hers again as his head fell backwards; he saw something strange briefly pass over the girl's eyes before. /There... there was something there.../ Using the slight moment of confusion Trowa had caused she turned around and bolted for the exit. The last thing Heero saw was her hair whipping across her back before the pain reached him and Trowa was by his side.

As the girl neared the exit she saw two more figures running towards her and her mind quickly noted the new obstacles: one blonde male, 175 cm, slight build, Preventers uniform, and one brown-haired male, 180 cm, strong build, black leather jacket, and a meter long braid. They were both armed and ready so she decided not to make the first move, in case they the type to fire without hesitation. Reassessing her options she decided to switch tactics.

"Ojousan?!" the braided man shouted in surprise as the distance between them started to close. To his shock instead of attacking him she did a baseball slide between his legs, rolling to put further distance between them before standing on her feet once more and dashing for the hangar exit. With no other obstacles in her path she was soon close to attaining her freedom. Within a matter of seconds she was finally outside and her way.

*CRASH*

A giant metal foot appeared out of nowhere and stopped her dead in her tracks; her arms instinctively going up to cover her face. Peering through the openings of her arms she saw a beam weapon directed straight at her and realized that she'd miss her chance.

"I can't believe Yuy actually failed... it's not like him," Wufei commented to himself as he saw the girl's figure next to Altron's left foot. Turning on the outside com-link he began to address the enemy. "Surrender if you value your life, onna. There's nowhere for you to run, and trust me when I say that it'd be pointless for you to try... What the -?" he held his tongue when he saw the honey blonde hair blowing in the night wind. /It couldn't be.../ He watched, mesmerized as she slowly moved her hands and positioned them behind her head. Her eyes shot up to look at him and Wufei found himself staring at strangely blank eyes... red eyes.

"In the name of Nataku... what's happened to her?" he reestablished communications to the Preventer Headquarters. "Sally..."

"Yes, Wufei? I'm here," she answered her partner. "What's the situation on your side?"

He swallowed thickly, wondering how best to broach the situation. "We caught the enemy..."

"That's great! Do you have identification on her?"

"... It's Darlian... or at least I think it's her." He replied, still reeling from disbelief.

"What?!" She screamed, unsure if she had heard correctly. "What do you mean by that? Wufei?" She was also starting to lose her composure.

Wufei shook his head. "You have to see this for yourself... We'll bring her in soon." He switched off the link and stared back at the young woman below. /Now I understand why Yuy failed.../He soon noticed Duo and Quatre coming out of the hangar and making their way towards the girl with extreme caution. Trowa followed right behind supporting an injured and limp Heero whose left shoulder was bleeding. Most likely from a gunshot wound, Wufei thought. Duo and Quatre looked as if they were at a loss for words while Heero sported a blank expression on his face. Trowa, on the other hand, looked entirely composed with a gun pointed at their acquired target.

"Wind, Fire..." Sally began, calling their attention to her, "I just spoke with Wufei... They've captured the girl," she turned around to face her fellow Preventers and friends.

"And?!" Wind's voice was harsh and demanding, but who could blame him after all the things he'd gone through?

Sally couldn't face him; or rather she didn't want to be the one to face him with the news. She didn't think she'd be able to handle the look of despair and loss that she knew would befall him. "... It's Relena..." she finally replied, staring at the floor to hide from his glare.

"What?!" Came the expected cry of disbelief. "You must be joking," the look on his face made it clear that he didn't have time for such trivial things. When he didn't hear Sally respond he knew something was very wrong and what she had said may have been true. Not knowing what actions to take he just stood there like a lost child, unsure of the world around him. The only thing preventing him from total collapse was Noin's reassuring hand, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"They should be here in about an hour. We should prepare things for their arrival," Sally spoke up once more as she got out of her seat and headed towards the door.

"What's her status?" the commanding voice barked out. "She should have contacted us by now." Cold blue eyes narrowed at a computer screen.

"We don't know, sir," a soldier piped up from a nearby computer terminal, "She hasn't responded to any of our questions, and we're not picking up any noise from her helmet.'

"She turned off communications?!" he asked, clearly angered.

"No, sir, it's still on, she's just not responding," the soldier answered, trying to avoid the general's wrath.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I think that we may have another obstacle on our hands," he commented contemplatively.

"Sir, what should we do?" Came the tentative question from a nervous soldier.

"Wait. That's all that we can do... for now." He abruptly turned around and walked out of the room, the sound of a door sliding signaling his exit.

"Who are you?" Heero's rasped voice pierced the silence that permeated the atmosphere. The girl continued to ignore his question. She chose to just stand there with her hands behind her head; eyes staring emotionlessly at the space in front of her. "I'm going to ask you one more time; who are you!?" He gritted the question through his teeth, pain evident in his firm voice. Still, she did and said nothing.

*click*

"Trowa, what are you doing!?" Quatre looked on in surprise as the tall, stoic pilot raised his gun to point it at the girl's head.

"Answer," he said in a low, even voice as he continued to shoulder the injured WingZERO pilot.

"Rei," she finally answered in an emotionless voice that matched Trowa's own.

"Rei?" Duo and Quatre had been expecting her to confirm that she was Relena Darlian not a stranger they had no relations to. Heero and Trowa seemed unfazed as they continued to observe the girl.

"Rei... zero..." Heero's voice was barely audible against the night wind. /Zero… zero what? Zero… as in beginning? Like a prototype? Or is it referring to an absence of something? An absence of recognition? Fear? Emotions?... Zero emotions… That's what I saw in her eyes... the lack of emotions... to the point where it seemed like she even lacked a soul... They couldn't have picked a better name. Dammit! What did they do to her!? How did they do this to her?... How?.../

"Come on, we'd better get back to Preventer Headquarters. Sally and the others are waiting for us," Wufei called to them from Altron's cockpit. "I'll follow behind to make sure it's safe."

The others nodded and proceeded to lead the girl known as 'Rei' towards an aircraft hidden behind Wufei's Gundam. Quatre used a remote to open the craft's hatch; a platform unfolded itself from the entrance for them. Once on board, they led the girl to a cell near the cockpit; it had been built especially for this mission. Duo assigned himself the task of piloting the aircraft while Quatre took to tending Heero's gunshot wound. Trowa was left with the job of watching over the captive girl as she stood leaning against the cell's wall.

Her quietness and lack of movement made the pilots uneasy. They weren't sure how to break the steadily thickening silence between them. What does one say to the person that they had been searching for the past nine months? It was made even more difficult as she refused to acknowledge their presence. When Quatre finished dressing the wound on the Japanese pilot he moved to join Duo in the cockpit while Heero sat in front of the cell next to Trowa. Throughout the entire flight back to Preventer Headquarters his Prussian blue eyes never left the girl's strange ruby red ones, no matter how much it hurt him to look. /No soul at all.../

-to be continued-