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CHAPTER FIVE: DARKNESS
"This way," Duo motioned with a swift gesture. Hilde and the Preventers who had followed watched in utter shock as he pressed down on the solid brick, causing a heavy door to swing open. Before them lay a staircase descending into darkness.
"You are certain this place has been abandoned?" Preventer Walker asked, hesitating in the passageway. Duo nodded, urging him, and the rest, onward. It indeed was dark; a blackness looming like that equal only to death. Duo felt Hilde tremble as she clung tightly to his arm, and he pulled her close, if only to reassure her, and himself, that this place was nothing to be feared. It was, he remembered, the place he had gotten hailed with automatic fire for the first time in three years. That feeling wasn't a very pleasant one.
"It's empty. There's no one here," one of the officers who had gone on ahead to weigh up the danger called as they reached the floor of the main hangar.
"Good," Preventer Walker answered. "We will comb the premises, but be on guard. It may look deserted now, but if something were to." The others nodded. Duo turned and took a quick glance around, still uneasy after his first encounter with whomever existed in this dark hell. Preventer Walker and the other officers were already out of sight.
"Duo!" Hilde called, and then he realized she had left his side. "Come look at this!" He turned on heel at the sound of her voice, anxious but eager, and joined her in what seemed like an even darker darkness than where he had been standing.
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Mediterranean Sea: August 27, 199 A.C
Une had long since given up pacing about, aware with much thanks to Sally, that she would wear a hole through the floor and the hull of the ship if she continued on, and now sit edgily at her desk, tapping her fingernails over her keyboard. The past few days she'd been at sea were far from anything described as pleasant. A floating island had been summoned from the Aegean to surface the MS carrier, and now they could only wait to discover what they already had confirmed. There was no doubt now that the World Nation was in danger. But what bothered Une was that the Earth was completely powerless to defend itself. If only His Excellency had been here, not I, she thought. If Treize had been the one who lived, he would have known this was coming. He would have known what to do and how to stop it. What am I capable of? "Ma'am?" asked Walker, who had entered the office without her taking notice. She donned her glasses and looked up. Suddenly, the Lady Une whose psyche had finally become stable as one entity, not the two personas she had once possessed, lost her gentle complexion. Her eyes narrowed; her façade became that of the solid, unwavering Colonel Une who had existed so long ago. "Yes, Preventer Walker?" Her voice was strong, but not hard. "Preventer Water has been overseeing the resurfacing operation. The carrier is still only one sixth above water level, but that is as far as the floating island can bring it. We await the clearance from you to search it out." Une nodded as she stood. "We will search the carrier now. Have the crews prepared, the back-up on stand by if we require it." "Yes, Ma'am." He left as quickly as he had entered, perhaps somewhat frightened by her sudden change of personality. Une took a step to follow, but caught her reflection in the mirrored glass beside the doorway. There was not the Anna who had parted with the past. There did not stand the Preventer who sought after peace, who sought to fulfill the people's dream. She was slowly becoming Une: the reckless warrior who had lost everything to the Eve of Wars. The Une who donned her glasses and did whatever was necessary to attain the upper hand in a battle. "No," she whispered. "No, it doesn't have to be like this. I don't need her help." But that voice of her parted psyches told otherwise. This must be, she answered herself. If you want to be capable of something, if you want to control what happens here and now. "No." Her eyes widened. "No, I don't need to be like this. Not again. Not ever again!" She whirled around in the empty office, pulling off her glasses, the symbol of the Colonel Une who was trying to escape into the world once more. She sent them sailing across the room, and they shattered against the far wall, the broken shards of glass scattering over the floor. She looked into the mirrored glass again, pleased with the Preventer Une she saw standing there. "I am Anna. I may not be a Khushrenada. I will never be a Khushrenada, not in blood or in name, but I am still capable of doing what must be done. Mariemaia will carry on her father's name, and I will make sure there is an Earth on which she, and all the rest, can live." With that, Une left the office, thankful that no one else had been witness to her battle with herself. It disturbed her to think that for a moment, she would have returned to the past she had struggled to free herself from. For a moment it seemed like the only thing to do; it seemed right. She had banished that moment, unwilling to return to such sin, but for how long? This was what the dream had warned her of: darkness.
"Anna, we've set the ship crew; the investigations team is standing by."
"So I've noticed," Une answered rather bluntly, jerking her head in the direction of several officers standing on the lower deck of the floating island. They were waiting, yet hardly anticipating, what they would find within the carrier which had been retrieved from the seabed. "I trust we are prepared. properly armed?"
Sally sighed, "Aikawarazu1. We've had no choice lately."
Une nodded her agreement very briskly. "Ikou!2" she commanded as she and Preventer Water boarded the platform. A port entrance to the carrier had already been broken open. Handguns drawn, the first group entered the dark metallic hell, in which, even if they did not expect it now, the Satan of insurrection had placed itself on the Earth. It seemed that Sally had already mapped out the interior of the ship electronically, and assigned each officer their sector to run a search. Danger was an imminent entity, yet this seemed the least of things on Preventer Une's mind. "We've no time to spare," she mumbled quietly as she and Sally shined a searchlight down the empty passage. Her voice carried, and the metal walls seemed to echo the one word she had not spoken aloud: Revolution.
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"Hilde, what did you--?" She shot him a frightened glance and Duo hushed, bringing himself to stand beside her. She raised a flashlight in front of them, revealing a row of consoles and computer screens. "Ya think they still work?" In the darkness, Hilde rolled her eyes.
"Why wouldn't they? It's not like they're some ancient contraption from the Earth's horrible, warring past."
"Hilde, they are," Duo interrupted, a flash of fear and anger streaking like lightning through his blood.
"What?" Duo lifted his flashlight; the beam of tinted yellow light inched its way up the wall, revealing a large tapestry draped behind the consoles. The rich velvet seemed to glow; the gold embroidering glittered like thousands of tiny diamonds strung together. Hilde gasped, dropping her searchlight. It clattered to the ground with an unsteady, almost eerie chime. There before them stood a nightmare waiting for its turn to unfold.
"Chikusho3." Before them, on the Persian blue velvet was the crest of the gold eagle, spreading its wings valiantly with its head turned to the left and its glowing red eyes narrowed, as it soar over the twin peaks.
Hilde closed her eyes for just a moment, unwilling to believe what lie in plain sight before her. "No, it couldn't be-"
"ROMEFELLER!" Duo jumped, muttering a series of curses as he jumped over the consoles and touched the bottom edge of the tapestry. His fingers tightened around the material. "Didn't they learn what they'd done was wrong? Didn't they-of all the people to return to this Earth, why did it have to be them?" He slammed his fist against the wall. "Why Romefeller?"
"Duo." Hilde whispered.
"Hilde?"
"Look at the tapestry again."
"What? Why?" He looked up, his anger boiling even higher. "What the fuck?" Behind the eagle was the lavender dove's feather. Three years had still not buried its symbolism to the world. "Chigau!4" "The Barton Foundation." Duo slammed both fists against the wall, and then brought his head to rest upon it. "Dammit, Hilde, do you think that they-" He fell silent for a moment. This was it, he thought. This would be the end. If Romefeller and the Bartons had, together, reinstated Operation METEOR, the world would end. The people would fall into the hands of a merciless dictatorship, and the Shinigami5 would be powerless to stop it. "Two billion people will die," he whispered hoarsely, choking on his words. "Two billion innocent people, dammit." "Maybe not, Duo," Hilde said softly. "Let's find the others."
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"God dammit!" Une had seen what Duo and Hilde had, but this time, it was painted metallic upon the wall of the lower hangar. "Bloody fuckers didn't realize how much the Earth had paid the last time! They'll destroy it all!" Suddenly, Une collapsed to the ground, tears bursting forth, and Sally was there, her arm around her friend's trembling shoulders. "Why?"
From that point on, everything that existed, everything that went on seemed to float by in a dream. Everything seemed surreal. The officers completed the carrier investigation, filed a report, and sunk it to the seabed once again. What they had found consisted of those hell sent insignias of the Romefeller and Barton and dozens of computer consoles. On those consoles lay data on the carrier's course to Earth, the plans for occupying the Schwarz Re?en, and the specs for more than a dozen new models of mobile suits and dolls. Some messages were coded, and never in the data did appear any name of their leader, or their soldiers. The Preventers did manage to establish, though, that these people called themselves the Neu- Romefeller--Neu-Ro, in short. and they were planning a revolution.
She stood, almost like a figurehead, on the ship's upper deck as it made its way back to the Northern shore. There was no sun today; it was hidden by the thick grey clouds of a threatening storm. She watched the waves rise and fall, hypnotically, their bleak colour splashing against the hull of the ship.
"You painted your life with the brushes of hate and anger, and the colours of remorseless sin," a voice echoed inside her head, and the Preventer closed her eyes, a desperate attempt to shut it out. "No." "You have stained yourself with darkness, and it will follow you forever." A raven's cry shrieked through the air, though none, she knew, flew these seas. The blue skies and sandy gold shores of the Mediterranean ceased to exist. Instead, the entire landscape, from the sea to the mountains, was only shades of grey. The beach extended far beyond sight, but was deserted, and inland laid only the shadows of the things that should have been. "No." She was seeing something familiar.this was the image her dream had painted out. These were the colours of her life. And this time, they were real. They existed in the world where she could not find escape. It began to rain, and she pushed herself away form the railing, turning to the shelter of the lower deck. "Oh God, why won't I be left alone?" Her vision blurred, she slammed the door of her quarters and collapsed onto the bunk. "Why?" Two days after the carrier investigation, Une had returned to Preveza. "It was confirmed The Schwarz Re?en has been occupied. There are at least 300 mobile suits guarding the main and south side gates." Une nodded stiffly, though she barely heard a word of it. The officer continued on, oblivious to Une, who was sitting perfectly still, but not paying much attention. "The matter was reported to the President, Ma'am." She nodded again. "He heeded the advice of our Preventers and took shelter with his family in the Nagoya district. We have thirty of our officers serving there as armed guards." Once again, Une nodded and dismissed the officer. Bits and pieces of past occurrences floated around, clashing with the current events she was struggling to comprehend. If she could not cope with this, what would happen when the darkness of her dream finally made its way to the real world?
"Anna?" She looked up to see Noin and Zechs in front of her desk. Noin sighed deeply, "We heard. Romefeller and the Barton Foundation have combined. They are the Neu-Ro now, right?" Zechs nodded.
"Where is Mariemaia?"
"I left her with Relena in the Sanc. There was no safer place, I suppose. But I-" Une drew in a shaky breath. "I didn't want something like this thrust upon her again. What would Treize-?" She lowered her gaze and dropped her hands to her lap. Treize. Why had she said his name aloud?
"We understand, Anna. It's okay. She's where she should be at a time like this. What of the developments of the Re?en?" Zechs asked quietly. Une nodded her head, reality dawning upon her like the military instinct that was still fighting to get free. She loaded the files onto her computer.
"Sally's on the Aegean, and she's confirmed the extent of the military force at the Re?en. This organization has been establishing links across the world."
Noin's eyes widened. "Then that means-"
"We expect them to declare was war against the World Nation within twenty-four hours. and the bad news doesn't end there." Une's tone was sombre; the scene was all too familiar.
"What is it?" Noin leaned forward in her seat.
"The Re?en is not the only one."
"You mean-"
"Lake Victoria, AkaiRyu, New Edwards, and SeeleScruro. There are several other bases stationed that we have yet to retrieve data on, or even uncover. These people mean business when I say it."
"God dammit, it's happening all over again." Zechs brought a heavy hand down on Une's desk; she nearly jumped.
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The young Preventer sat alone behind her desk that night, the darkness of her office blending in with the black hopelessness she fought to wipe from her mind. A new organization was to declare war against the Nation, yet the Preventers were powerless to stop them if their aggression proceeded. "With their force against ours, what hope will we have?" she asked herself.
"None. unless you decide upon your destiny," came a voice from the desolate shadows.
"Who's there?" With one swift, graceful motion, Une was on her feet, her revolver in her hand. "Show yourself now," she commanded, eyes narrowed with the anger that hid her fear.
From the darkness stepped a woman who met Une's gaze with a fiery pride, one almost like her own. "It's been long, child," she whispered to Anna, "but the time has finally come." Clutching the pistol tighter, Une focused on the lighted silhouette before her, and shocked, she took a faltering step back. Her gaze met a pair of deep cocoa eyes, exactly like her own. This woman was the aged image of the young Preventer. It was, following a cliché, a mirror into the future.
"Mother?" was all that slipped from her tongue. The woman smiled, and suddenly, all the danger, all the distance the years had accumulated, melted away, and Anna dropped her gun. It landed on the carpet with a soft thud.
"Little one, I did what I had to do fifteen years ago. Do you forgive me?" Une's eyes filled with tears. "I had to do something, so that this Earth, and you, would be secure. Now it seems the worst has arrived, and." The woman looked upon her daughter with a mixed emotion of joy, sadness, and remorse. "Did you know you had a burden placed on your shoulders on the day you were born?"
Une shook her head. "I have many burdens to live with. Please leave it at that, Mother. I do not wish to remember."
"But this one is the worst." Une raised her eyebrows.
"The worst?" She could not help the memories that returned at the mention of a single word. "Could anything be worse than the life I led after you left? I became a soldier. I watched my closest friends and family die. I killed so many innocent. What burden could be worse than the deaths of thousands weighing on your soul?" Suddenly, she was angry. She was angry with fate, with the world, and with herself. "Is there anything worse than this?" she demanded, and her mother closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"The day you were born, Anna, you were bestowed a destiny by all of the scientists I worked with. We were the five women associated with the scientists of METEOR. As much as we strove to match their achievements, we also existed to back them up. We created what would be there if they failed. The Celestéon was an MS given to your control in the future. The future is here now. Anna, deny it, and hate me for it, but you are a Gundam pilot."
"What?"
"The Celestéon was a Gundam built at the same time as the original Tallgeese VO prototype. The Celestéon was its equal match, either to be used with or against the Tallgeese or against any other mobile suit which threatened the Earth. Its power belongs to you."
Anna shook her head. "No."
"The Earth is in danger, little one. I've waited all this time to be able to return to you, but you must think. and decide wisely. Celestéon can stop this revolution."
"I understand, mother." Une stepped from behind her desk, embracing the woman she had previously meant to kill. "At least you're alive. I thought for certain that you'd died. I was so certain." The tears had resurfaced.
"Take the Celestéon. You are one of the few who can make a difference now." Une's eyes narrowed as an unhealed wound opened in her soul.
"A difference? Had I piloted that thing four years ago, I could have stopped that Gundam pilot. I could have saved Treize. Four years ago would have been the time to make a difference. Four years ago, I could have made a difference. but now he's dead. He's dead and the Tallgeese is gone. Along with it has gone Celestéon's meaning, because it was Tallgeese's counterpart."
"No, child. Four years ago you could have made a difference, yes, but only because you believe so. You did make a difference. Because of you, the people can still have hope for a future. I know I placed this burden on you, but please. Anna."
"Mother-"
"Whether your counterpart exists to side you or not makes no difference. Celestéon is yours. Four years ago is the same as now, little one. You'll see it, and understand why in time. But for now, listen to me. You will need courage to make it through this, Anna. Courage. and a strong heart. I've given you what I can to help, but this is as much your battle, your burden, as it was four years ago." Une nodded, dropping her gaze to the floor. "Here." The woman placed a disk gently on Une's desk. "You may do as you wish with this, but please remember."
"What is this?"
"You can use it to locate the Celestéon and access its pilot programs. You may not have much faith in yourself, but I do, Anna. I do." Une reached over, holding the disk with one hand and fingering over the intricate designs on the front cover. She smiled. "A rose."
"I watched you a few times, from the shadows. You loved these flowers as much as I did." Une hardly seemed to hear; her mind had already left to the concept that she had a destiny so similar to the five young boys who had journeyed to Earth some four and a half years ago.
"So, I'm a Gundam pilot." The older woman smiled softly.
"Good-bye, musume.6" With that, the woman disappeared into the shadows, gone before Une could do or say anything more.
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1: Aikawarazu: Roughly means "the same as always" 2: Ikou: "Let's go" or "Come on" 3: Chikusho: "Shit" or "Damn" 4: Chigau: "No way!" 5: Shinigami: "the God of Death" 6: Musume: "daughter"
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Author's notes:
Yeah, well, anyway. This was a bit bizarre. Come on, Une fighting with
herself? HA! That must've sucked. . Oh, don't worry. It'll get
worse. It's not like I'm through messing with Une's mind yet. And
what's all this about her MOTHER? And about her being a GUNDAM
PILOT??? Geez. I was SOOO on a Halloween sugar high when I wrote this.
Oh well, I wonder what'll happen when a few of our "old friends"
acquire some extra-early "Christmas presents". hehehe. Yeah, you know
what I'm talking about. ^_____^
CHAPTER FIVE: DARKNESS
"This way," Duo motioned with a swift gesture. Hilde and the Preventers who had followed watched in utter shock as he pressed down on the solid brick, causing a heavy door to swing open. Before them lay a staircase descending into darkness.
"You are certain this place has been abandoned?" Preventer Walker asked, hesitating in the passageway. Duo nodded, urging him, and the rest, onward. It indeed was dark; a blackness looming like that equal only to death. Duo felt Hilde tremble as she clung tightly to his arm, and he pulled her close, if only to reassure her, and himself, that this place was nothing to be feared. It was, he remembered, the place he had gotten hailed with automatic fire for the first time in three years. That feeling wasn't a very pleasant one.
"It's empty. There's no one here," one of the officers who had gone on ahead to weigh up the danger called as they reached the floor of the main hangar.
"Good," Preventer Walker answered. "We will comb the premises, but be on guard. It may look deserted now, but if something were to." The others nodded. Duo turned and took a quick glance around, still uneasy after his first encounter with whomever existed in this dark hell. Preventer Walker and the other officers were already out of sight.
"Duo!" Hilde called, and then he realized she had left his side. "Come look at this!" He turned on heel at the sound of her voice, anxious but eager, and joined her in what seemed like an even darker darkness than where he had been standing.
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Mediterranean Sea: August 27, 199 A.C
Une had long since given up pacing about, aware with much thanks to Sally, that she would wear a hole through the floor and the hull of the ship if she continued on, and now sit edgily at her desk, tapping her fingernails over her keyboard. The past few days she'd been at sea were far from anything described as pleasant. A floating island had been summoned from the Aegean to surface the MS carrier, and now they could only wait to discover what they already had confirmed. There was no doubt now that the World Nation was in danger. But what bothered Une was that the Earth was completely powerless to defend itself. If only His Excellency had been here, not I, she thought. If Treize had been the one who lived, he would have known this was coming. He would have known what to do and how to stop it. What am I capable of? "Ma'am?" asked Walker, who had entered the office without her taking notice. She donned her glasses and looked up. Suddenly, the Lady Une whose psyche had finally become stable as one entity, not the two personas she had once possessed, lost her gentle complexion. Her eyes narrowed; her façade became that of the solid, unwavering Colonel Une who had existed so long ago. "Yes, Preventer Walker?" Her voice was strong, but not hard. "Preventer Water has been overseeing the resurfacing operation. The carrier is still only one sixth above water level, but that is as far as the floating island can bring it. We await the clearance from you to search it out." Une nodded as she stood. "We will search the carrier now. Have the crews prepared, the back-up on stand by if we require it." "Yes, Ma'am." He left as quickly as he had entered, perhaps somewhat frightened by her sudden change of personality. Une took a step to follow, but caught her reflection in the mirrored glass beside the doorway. There was not the Anna who had parted with the past. There did not stand the Preventer who sought after peace, who sought to fulfill the people's dream. She was slowly becoming Une: the reckless warrior who had lost everything to the Eve of Wars. The Une who donned her glasses and did whatever was necessary to attain the upper hand in a battle. "No," she whispered. "No, it doesn't have to be like this. I don't need her help." But that voice of her parted psyches told otherwise. This must be, she answered herself. If you want to be capable of something, if you want to control what happens here and now. "No." Her eyes widened. "No, I don't need to be like this. Not again. Not ever again!" She whirled around in the empty office, pulling off her glasses, the symbol of the Colonel Une who was trying to escape into the world once more. She sent them sailing across the room, and they shattered against the far wall, the broken shards of glass scattering over the floor. She looked into the mirrored glass again, pleased with the Preventer Une she saw standing there. "I am Anna. I may not be a Khushrenada. I will never be a Khushrenada, not in blood or in name, but I am still capable of doing what must be done. Mariemaia will carry on her father's name, and I will make sure there is an Earth on which she, and all the rest, can live." With that, Une left the office, thankful that no one else had been witness to her battle with herself. It disturbed her to think that for a moment, she would have returned to the past she had struggled to free herself from. For a moment it seemed like the only thing to do; it seemed right. She had banished that moment, unwilling to return to such sin, but for how long? This was what the dream had warned her of: darkness.
"Anna, we've set the ship crew; the investigations team is standing by."
"So I've noticed," Une answered rather bluntly, jerking her head in the direction of several officers standing on the lower deck of the floating island. They were waiting, yet hardly anticipating, what they would find within the carrier which had been retrieved from the seabed. "I trust we are prepared. properly armed?"
Sally sighed, "Aikawarazu1. We've had no choice lately."
Une nodded her agreement very briskly. "Ikou!2" she commanded as she and Preventer Water boarded the platform. A port entrance to the carrier had already been broken open. Handguns drawn, the first group entered the dark metallic hell, in which, even if they did not expect it now, the Satan of insurrection had placed itself on the Earth. It seemed that Sally had already mapped out the interior of the ship electronically, and assigned each officer their sector to run a search. Danger was an imminent entity, yet this seemed the least of things on Preventer Une's mind. "We've no time to spare," she mumbled quietly as she and Sally shined a searchlight down the empty passage. Her voice carried, and the metal walls seemed to echo the one word she had not spoken aloud: Revolution.
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"Hilde, what did you--?" She shot him a frightened glance and Duo hushed, bringing himself to stand beside her. She raised a flashlight in front of them, revealing a row of consoles and computer screens. "Ya think they still work?" In the darkness, Hilde rolled her eyes.
"Why wouldn't they? It's not like they're some ancient contraption from the Earth's horrible, warring past."
"Hilde, they are," Duo interrupted, a flash of fear and anger streaking like lightning through his blood.
"What?" Duo lifted his flashlight; the beam of tinted yellow light inched its way up the wall, revealing a large tapestry draped behind the consoles. The rich velvet seemed to glow; the gold embroidering glittered like thousands of tiny diamonds strung together. Hilde gasped, dropping her searchlight. It clattered to the ground with an unsteady, almost eerie chime. There before them stood a nightmare waiting for its turn to unfold.
"Chikusho3." Before them, on the Persian blue velvet was the crest of the gold eagle, spreading its wings valiantly with its head turned to the left and its glowing red eyes narrowed, as it soar over the twin peaks.
Hilde closed her eyes for just a moment, unwilling to believe what lie in plain sight before her. "No, it couldn't be-"
"ROMEFELLER!" Duo jumped, muttering a series of curses as he jumped over the consoles and touched the bottom edge of the tapestry. His fingers tightened around the material. "Didn't they learn what they'd done was wrong? Didn't they-of all the people to return to this Earth, why did it have to be them?" He slammed his fist against the wall. "Why Romefeller?"
"Duo." Hilde whispered.
"Hilde?"
"Look at the tapestry again."
"What? Why?" He looked up, his anger boiling even higher. "What the fuck?" Behind the eagle was the lavender dove's feather. Three years had still not buried its symbolism to the world. "Chigau!4" "The Barton Foundation." Duo slammed both fists against the wall, and then brought his head to rest upon it. "Dammit, Hilde, do you think that they-" He fell silent for a moment. This was it, he thought. This would be the end. If Romefeller and the Bartons had, together, reinstated Operation METEOR, the world would end. The people would fall into the hands of a merciless dictatorship, and the Shinigami5 would be powerless to stop it. "Two billion people will die," he whispered hoarsely, choking on his words. "Two billion innocent people, dammit." "Maybe not, Duo," Hilde said softly. "Let's find the others."
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"God dammit!" Une had seen what Duo and Hilde had, but this time, it was painted metallic upon the wall of the lower hangar. "Bloody fuckers didn't realize how much the Earth had paid the last time! They'll destroy it all!" Suddenly, Une collapsed to the ground, tears bursting forth, and Sally was there, her arm around her friend's trembling shoulders. "Why?"
From that point on, everything that existed, everything that went on seemed to float by in a dream. Everything seemed surreal. The officers completed the carrier investigation, filed a report, and sunk it to the seabed once again. What they had found consisted of those hell sent insignias of the Romefeller and Barton and dozens of computer consoles. On those consoles lay data on the carrier's course to Earth, the plans for occupying the Schwarz Re?en, and the specs for more than a dozen new models of mobile suits and dolls. Some messages were coded, and never in the data did appear any name of their leader, or their soldiers. The Preventers did manage to establish, though, that these people called themselves the Neu- Romefeller--Neu-Ro, in short. and they were planning a revolution.
She stood, almost like a figurehead, on the ship's upper deck as it made its way back to the Northern shore. There was no sun today; it was hidden by the thick grey clouds of a threatening storm. She watched the waves rise and fall, hypnotically, their bleak colour splashing against the hull of the ship.
"You painted your life with the brushes of hate and anger, and the colours of remorseless sin," a voice echoed inside her head, and the Preventer closed her eyes, a desperate attempt to shut it out. "No." "You have stained yourself with darkness, and it will follow you forever." A raven's cry shrieked through the air, though none, she knew, flew these seas. The blue skies and sandy gold shores of the Mediterranean ceased to exist. Instead, the entire landscape, from the sea to the mountains, was only shades of grey. The beach extended far beyond sight, but was deserted, and inland laid only the shadows of the things that should have been. "No." She was seeing something familiar.this was the image her dream had painted out. These were the colours of her life. And this time, they were real. They existed in the world where she could not find escape. It began to rain, and she pushed herself away form the railing, turning to the shelter of the lower deck. "Oh God, why won't I be left alone?" Her vision blurred, she slammed the door of her quarters and collapsed onto the bunk. "Why?" Two days after the carrier investigation, Une had returned to Preveza. "It was confirmed The Schwarz Re?en has been occupied. There are at least 300 mobile suits guarding the main and south side gates." Une nodded stiffly, though she barely heard a word of it. The officer continued on, oblivious to Une, who was sitting perfectly still, but not paying much attention. "The matter was reported to the President, Ma'am." She nodded again. "He heeded the advice of our Preventers and took shelter with his family in the Nagoya district. We have thirty of our officers serving there as armed guards." Once again, Une nodded and dismissed the officer. Bits and pieces of past occurrences floated around, clashing with the current events she was struggling to comprehend. If she could not cope with this, what would happen when the darkness of her dream finally made its way to the real world?
"Anna?" She looked up to see Noin and Zechs in front of her desk. Noin sighed deeply, "We heard. Romefeller and the Barton Foundation have combined. They are the Neu-Ro now, right?" Zechs nodded.
"Where is Mariemaia?"
"I left her with Relena in the Sanc. There was no safer place, I suppose. But I-" Une drew in a shaky breath. "I didn't want something like this thrust upon her again. What would Treize-?" She lowered her gaze and dropped her hands to her lap. Treize. Why had she said his name aloud?
"We understand, Anna. It's okay. She's where she should be at a time like this. What of the developments of the Re?en?" Zechs asked quietly. Une nodded her head, reality dawning upon her like the military instinct that was still fighting to get free. She loaded the files onto her computer.
"Sally's on the Aegean, and she's confirmed the extent of the military force at the Re?en. This organization has been establishing links across the world."
Noin's eyes widened. "Then that means-"
"We expect them to declare was war against the World Nation within twenty-four hours. and the bad news doesn't end there." Une's tone was sombre; the scene was all too familiar.
"What is it?" Noin leaned forward in her seat.
"The Re?en is not the only one."
"You mean-"
"Lake Victoria, AkaiRyu, New Edwards, and SeeleScruro. There are several other bases stationed that we have yet to retrieve data on, or even uncover. These people mean business when I say it."
"God dammit, it's happening all over again." Zechs brought a heavy hand down on Une's desk; she nearly jumped.
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The young Preventer sat alone behind her desk that night, the darkness of her office blending in with the black hopelessness she fought to wipe from her mind. A new organization was to declare war against the Nation, yet the Preventers were powerless to stop them if their aggression proceeded. "With their force against ours, what hope will we have?" she asked herself.
"None. unless you decide upon your destiny," came a voice from the desolate shadows.
"Who's there?" With one swift, graceful motion, Une was on her feet, her revolver in her hand. "Show yourself now," she commanded, eyes narrowed with the anger that hid her fear.
From the darkness stepped a woman who met Une's gaze with a fiery pride, one almost like her own. "It's been long, child," she whispered to Anna, "but the time has finally come." Clutching the pistol tighter, Une focused on the lighted silhouette before her, and shocked, she took a faltering step back. Her gaze met a pair of deep cocoa eyes, exactly like her own. This woman was the aged image of the young Preventer. It was, following a cliché, a mirror into the future.
"Mother?" was all that slipped from her tongue. The woman smiled, and suddenly, all the danger, all the distance the years had accumulated, melted away, and Anna dropped her gun. It landed on the carpet with a soft thud.
"Little one, I did what I had to do fifteen years ago. Do you forgive me?" Une's eyes filled with tears. "I had to do something, so that this Earth, and you, would be secure. Now it seems the worst has arrived, and." The woman looked upon her daughter with a mixed emotion of joy, sadness, and remorse. "Did you know you had a burden placed on your shoulders on the day you were born?"
Une shook her head. "I have many burdens to live with. Please leave it at that, Mother. I do not wish to remember."
"But this one is the worst." Une raised her eyebrows.
"The worst?" She could not help the memories that returned at the mention of a single word. "Could anything be worse than the life I led after you left? I became a soldier. I watched my closest friends and family die. I killed so many innocent. What burden could be worse than the deaths of thousands weighing on your soul?" Suddenly, she was angry. She was angry with fate, with the world, and with herself. "Is there anything worse than this?" she demanded, and her mother closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"The day you were born, Anna, you were bestowed a destiny by all of the scientists I worked with. We were the five women associated with the scientists of METEOR. As much as we strove to match their achievements, we also existed to back them up. We created what would be there if they failed. The Celestéon was an MS given to your control in the future. The future is here now. Anna, deny it, and hate me for it, but you are a Gundam pilot."
"What?"
"The Celestéon was a Gundam built at the same time as the original Tallgeese VO prototype. The Celestéon was its equal match, either to be used with or against the Tallgeese or against any other mobile suit which threatened the Earth. Its power belongs to you."
Anna shook her head. "No."
"The Earth is in danger, little one. I've waited all this time to be able to return to you, but you must think. and decide wisely. Celestéon can stop this revolution."
"I understand, mother." Une stepped from behind her desk, embracing the woman she had previously meant to kill. "At least you're alive. I thought for certain that you'd died. I was so certain." The tears had resurfaced.
"Take the Celestéon. You are one of the few who can make a difference now." Une's eyes narrowed as an unhealed wound opened in her soul.
"A difference? Had I piloted that thing four years ago, I could have stopped that Gundam pilot. I could have saved Treize. Four years ago would have been the time to make a difference. Four years ago, I could have made a difference. but now he's dead. He's dead and the Tallgeese is gone. Along with it has gone Celestéon's meaning, because it was Tallgeese's counterpart."
"No, child. Four years ago you could have made a difference, yes, but only because you believe so. You did make a difference. Because of you, the people can still have hope for a future. I know I placed this burden on you, but please. Anna."
"Mother-"
"Whether your counterpart exists to side you or not makes no difference. Celestéon is yours. Four years ago is the same as now, little one. You'll see it, and understand why in time. But for now, listen to me. You will need courage to make it through this, Anna. Courage. and a strong heart. I've given you what I can to help, but this is as much your battle, your burden, as it was four years ago." Une nodded, dropping her gaze to the floor. "Here." The woman placed a disk gently on Une's desk. "You may do as you wish with this, but please remember."
"What is this?"
"You can use it to locate the Celestéon and access its pilot programs. You may not have much faith in yourself, but I do, Anna. I do." Une reached over, holding the disk with one hand and fingering over the intricate designs on the front cover. She smiled. "A rose."
"I watched you a few times, from the shadows. You loved these flowers as much as I did." Une hardly seemed to hear; her mind had already left to the concept that she had a destiny so similar to the five young boys who had journeyed to Earth some four and a half years ago.
"So, I'm a Gundam pilot." The older woman smiled softly.
"Good-bye, musume.6" With that, the woman disappeared into the shadows, gone before Une could do or say anything more.
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1: Aikawarazu: Roughly means "the same as always" 2: Ikou: "Let's go" or "Come on" 3: Chikusho: "Shit" or "Damn" 4: Chigau: "No way!" 5: Shinigami: "the God of Death" 6: Musume: "daughter"
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Author's notes:
Yeah, well, anyway. This was a bit bizarre. Come on, Une fighting with
herself? HA! That must've sucked. . Oh, don't worry. It'll get
worse. It's not like I'm through messing with Une's mind yet. And
what's all this about her MOTHER? And about her being a GUNDAM
PILOT??? Geez. I was SOOO on a Halloween sugar high when I wrote this.
Oh well, I wonder what'll happen when a few of our "old friends"
acquire some extra-early "Christmas presents". hehehe. Yeah, you know
what I'm talking about. ^_____^