Disclaimers Note - I don't own Gundam Wing, or any of the characters therein. All of the unfamiliar characters are my own, but some unfamiliar ones might become familiar, in which case they are not mine, or they may not! You'll have to read this and find out! Any correlation of this story to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental, honest. Phew!
**The Original Age Part 2 – The Newcomer
By Espion
Trensa woke up and stared into the darkness. As he rolled himself out of bed, he caught sight of his clock. 6.15am. Good, he'd managed to snag a decent eight hours sleep. He walked into Emma's room, and tapped her gently on the arm. She'd obviously already been awake, as she sat up straight away and followed him out of the room. As soon as they were ready, they met with the Doctor in the hangar. The time was now 6.30am. The Doctor seemed preoccupied. Trensa was the first to say something.
'What's wrong?' The Doctor looked up at him, and his face twisted into a sad smile.
'There have been certain....developments.' said the Doctor, and quickly explained what had come to pass.
Emma looked shocked, and although Trensa's face remained impassive, Emma could tell that he was shocked too.
'Who is this guy? Otashkin Wakenoi? You've said that he's a friend, but....' she let the inquiry hang in mid-air.
'Otashkin Wakenoi, or Otashki, as he prefers to be called, is one of my oldest and most trusted friends. He's commanded this article so that the public will believe that Hayley Reo is dead, and therefore, Oz will not bother to look for her.' The Doctor drew breath. 'Anyway, after today, she'll be under my watch, so we needn't worry.'
Emma and Trensa exchanged looks, then Trensa said, in a surprising gentle voice, 'Do you really think she'll show up today? I mean, give her a break, her entire family's just been murdered.'
The Doctor gave Trensa a look.
'I think you'll discover Hayley to have a much stronger character and force of mind than you expect, Trensa, my boy.'
**
Hayley heard the unmistakable clatter of booted feet returning in her direction, and raced into the Green. Once there, she swung herself easily into a tree. She waited there, still as a statue, until the soldiers had passed. Then she settled down to wait.
**
Trensa blinked as they stepped out into the sunlight. Emma noticed, with a pang of sadness, how his face seemed to have become set in one expression. She wondered if this was the change in Trensa she had foreseen. She walked next to Trensa as they walked towards the Green, and the Doctor followed a short way behind, so as to seem that he wasn't with them, however, when they had entered the Green, they could join up again, as they could not be seen.
**
Hayley knew that someone was coming long before she heard anything. She froze again, and was careful not to cause any vibrations, which may cause leaves to fall, and betray her position. After a second or two, she heard a boy's voice, and he didn't sound too friendly.
'She's not here Doctor, come on, we're wasting our time....'
Hayley was torn. She couldn't decide whether or not to make her presence known, or remain in hiding, after all, how did she know that these people were Them?
A girl's voice joined him. 'Doctor, if I was her, I'd be scared. How can we let her know that it's okay to come out?' An old man shuffled in Hayley's view. Although she could hear the younger people's voices, the man was the only person she could actually see. She watched as he smiled, and reached in his pocket. Hayley froze for what seemed like the tenth time. Was he going to reveal a gun? Was he an Oz agent after all? Or....
Emma blinked as the Doctor pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. He unfolded it carefully, and took it in his right hand. Trensa caught her eye and gave her a look which quite clearly said, Do you have a clue what the hell is going on? She shrugged at him.
Hayley was stunned. Now she understood what Otashki had meant. The violet handkerchief, it was some kind of code. She trusted Otashki, wherever he was, and so made her next decision. She bent forward and dropped out of the tree, landing almost soundlessly behind the boy who'd spoken first out of them. He spun around, and there was something about him that told Hayley his first reflex would have been to shoot her, had he had a gun. However, he didn't seem to have one. Lucky. Hayley straightened slowly, and Emma noticed that although she was very pale, she showed no other outward signs of fear. She wished someone would break the silence. After what seemed like forever, the Doctor cleared his throat. When he spoke, he sounded uncharacteristically tired.
'You have no idea how relieved we are that you could make it here, Miss Reo, in light of your recent loss..' He looked at her steadily. She didn't blink or turn away, and remained silent. Emma walked forward, and Hayley looked at her. This girl couldn't be much older than she was.
'Miss Reo, please enlighten me...' she began. She had a voice that was pleasant to listen to, Hayley noted, '....why did you come out of hiding?' Hayley looked at the Doctor. Then she replied.
'One of the last things Otashki taught me was that you can never be sure of a stranger's intentions, unless he's carrying a purple handkerchief.' Hayley looked at Emma, who looked totally confused, and continued, 'I didn't understand him then, but now I realise that the handkerchief is some kind of signal between members of Otashki's organisation.' She looked at the Doctor. 'Sir, are you Doctor Judas Olivier?' The Doctor looked up quickly.
'Very good Hayley. Yes, yes I am.' He took her arm and began to guide her back the way they'd come. 'I know that you are after answers, and we will be more than glad to provide them, after you have proven yourself to us.' Hayley stiffened, then nodded.
'I'm ready,' she said, and waited. She didn't have to wait long. Her eyes focused instantly as the boy reached for his pocket. She panicked suddenly. Did they think that she was some kind of commando? She may have been clever and brave, but she'd never received any combat training, except...
Trensa levelled the gun he'd just revealed at her, but she was no longer there. He looked confused, and then focused on the Doctor. He grinned.
'Don't tell me she's got you beaten, Trensa?' Trensa spun around, and Hayley was there, but how? She drew her own gun and put it to the side of his head before he could dodge. He showed no signs of fear, and didn't even swallow involuntarily. For a second, no one moved. At length, Hayley removed her weapon. Trensa instantly swung his weapon at her head, hoping to knock her out, but found his wrist gripped painfully hard. He gritted his teeth and broke away. He turned to where she'd been and again she was gone. He suddenly felt the cold nose of a gun jab him in the back of the neck. He put his gun sullenly on the ground, and Emma retrieved it.
'I'm not yielding this time.' said Hayley. Surprisingly, there was no longer any malice in her voice. It was calm. Trensa almost smiled.
'Well done Hayley! You're learning fast! You are exactly who we were looking for!' The Doctor smiled again, but Hayley didn't return the expression at first, but then it suddenly dawned on her that these people were now the only people in the Earthsphere whom she could trust. A slow smile began to form on her face, and the Doctor was glad.
**
Hayley followed Trensa down into the recesses of the school corridors. looking all around her. She was beginning to feel like nothing could surprise her anymore. Trensa and herself had become separated from Emma and the Doctor, but strangely, she didn't feel afraid of this strange boy. They'd got off to a rough start, but she knew that things would improve. Trensa led the way into a large open space, which, Hayley didn't realise, was the dark hangar. Emma watched from the observance room as they made their way blindly towards the totally invisible mecha. Hayley was walking confidently, despite the fact that she couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, Trensa stopped walking.
'This is where we stop.' he said, un-conversationally. Hayley raised an eyebrow, a move that sadly couldn't be seen by Emma or the Doctor.
'Oh.' said Hayley, in a carbon-copy tone. This was heard by Emma, who promptly folded up laughing. God, two peas.
Trensa looked at her. Was she making fun of him? In the darkness, he could make out the smile on her face, and incredibly, it made him want to smile too. He'd never met anyone who'd had that kind of effect on him. He suddenly had a strange premonition that he was going to enjoy being part of this team. And he couldn't remember the last time he'd used the word "enjoy".
'Lights please.' said Trensa, and Emma complied by flicking the relevant switch. Hayley looked up at the enormous machine, and gulped. She struggled to find her voice.
'What is it?' she asked, but the voice of the Doctor echoed over the com. system.
'That will be answered in due time. For now, I am in no hurry to try and explain the situation to you, so you must find out what you need to know from Emma and Trensa.' The system cut out. Hayley blinked.
**
Half an hour later, Hayley, Emma and Trensa were sat together in a small room situated close to the main hangar. Emma finally concluded what she'd been saying with, '...and that's about it. Got it?'
She'd been speaking non-stop for twenty-five minutes. Hayley felt as though her brain was being toasted. Vengeance? Mecha? Operation Umbra? These words filed themselves into her brain, but it took a few minutes to sift through all of what had been said. A wave of relief washed over her. She now understood who Oz were, and her relationship with them. She was ready to fight. She suddenly noticed that Emma was looking at her questioningly. She realised that she hadn't said a word for around five minutes. She was about to reply when Trensa spoke.
'Give her a minute Ems, it's a lot to take in.' Emma stared at him. That wasn't a very Trensa-ish thing to say. She could tell that he really respected this girl. Hayley looked at Trensa, and gave him a very subtle look, which said, Thanks.
**
A couple of minutes later, they met with the Doctor in the hangar again. It was eleven o' clock. The Doctor patted the side of Espion with his left hand. Clink, Clink.
'Are you ready to begin, Hayley?' asked the Doctor, 'because we're all very excited about this suit, and we've had to wait for you, you know.'
'Wait for....oh.' Hayley remembered now that Emma had said that the suit in the hangar was the one that would be given to the "new arrival". That was she. Hers? This? She reached out with her hand and touched the mecha, and instantly, there was something else there. Something that spoke to her, and said, Hurry up, I'm waiting ...
She wasn't afraid anymore. She understood the idea of things belonging even when no money had changed hands, like the child belonging to the mother. This suit belonged to her. She reached her thoughts into it and activated it easily, and heard Emma and Trensa gasp as the huge eyes suddenly glowed green, and the heavy head began to rise slowly away from the floor. The Doctor clapped, and Hayley stopped and looked at him. He walked towards her.
'This is more than I expected from your first try. You are very powerful indeed. However we can't risk letting you pilot Espion properly until A, we have somewhere safe for you to practice, and B, we are sure that you can...' He stopped speaking. Espion's head had begun to rise again, and one or it's hind legs lifted off the ground. The Doctor shook his head, and when he spoke again, his voice was shaky.
'Activating it is one thing Hayley, but this...' He watched as Hayley took her hand away from Espion's side, and it continued to fidget. Emma watched in amazement. Then she looked at the Doctor.
'Will my suit be able to do that?'
'It's not a question of the suit, Emma, it's a question of the pilot.' Emma looked confused.
Hayley looked at the Doctor again, and her eyes were bright.
'I hope I'm good enough Doctor,' she said.
'You three are now the only hope the Colonies have for retribution,' said the Doctor gravely. 'If anything ever happens to you, your suits will be buried, and we shall not acknowledge that you or your suits ever existed.'
Emma gave a low whistle. 'But what if we come back?' she asked.
Six Months Later
'Hayley! Get here now! Mobile Suit Leo squadron closing fast! Get out there!' Trensa's usually calm voice echoed over the com. system. Hayley and Emma met each other in the corridor as she was sprinting toward her mobile suit. Emma flashed her a smile, which Hayley returned, and then she vaulting the railing and dropped to the hangar floor. The Leos were attacking to try to avenge losses sustained during Hayley's last mission.
Around three months ago, the Doctor had made the decision to move their base of operations. The new location was so secret that even Emma sometimes forgot where it was. Hayley dashed across the floor of the hangar and quickly climbed up the side of Espion's left leg using chinks where gundanium plate met gundanium plate as hand and toeholds. She pressed her hand against the Spanscan lock on her mecha's hatch; it bleeped and admitted her. She swung her self easily into the seat and closed the hatch. Instantly, a picture of Trensa appeared on her screen.
'Eww, that's ugly.' teased Hayley, and Trensa made a face, then was serious.
'They're approaching on bearing Zero One Zero.' said Trensa.
'Almost head on? That's weird. Anyhoo, I've gotta stop'em, so, speak to you later.' She flicked various switches, and Espion came to life. The hangar shook as the mobile suit walked out. As soon as she was clear, she grabbed a lever near the ceiling and pulled. Instantly, the pattern of Espion's leg movements changed, and it began to move more quickly. Trensa watched from the hangar in awe.
'How does it do that?' he asked. The Doctor looked up.
'What?'
'Stay upright, and not crash when she pushes it into a jog.'
'It has a very good balance centre, and Hayley has good balance too. That's about it.' said the Doctor. Trensa grunted.
Hayley had once let him have a go at piloting Espion, but when he'd tried to jog, the mech's legs had got tangled and he'd fallen over. Hayley had done her best not to laugh at the sight of the huge mech on its back, with its legs thrashing around, but she'd failed.
Lights began to flash on the radar. Espion didn't show up because of what it was made of, but the enemies showed up clearly. Emma picked up the mike.
'Turns out there's two squadrons, 'Ley. The other's approaching on bearing One Three Seven. If you're quick, you should be able to finish with the first before the second lot arrive.'
'Roger.' said Hayley, and turned Espion towards the approaching Leos.
**
'Was that received by all units? Let the Leos attack first, there's only one of them, over.'
The radio of his Leo crackled.
'Received, Mauve Leader, we'll hold back our Aries troops, over.'
Fiko Roshi gripped the main control stick of his Leo, and moved it forward on the bearing he had been assigned to. He felt great trepidation about the mission he was about to embark upon, despite his confident talk. He had heard things about the suit he and his men were about to face, and they scared him. How could a suit with only a beam sabre destroy an entire Leo com. system manufacturing plant? He didn't know, but it had, about a month ago. He ground his teeth a few times, and tried to push the stories he'd heard about this suit out of his mind, but it was no good.
People were saying that this mecha didn't show on radar because it was made out of some metal that could only be manufactured on the colonies, what was it called? Oh yes, Gundanium. People called this thing a Gundam, which seemed to set it apart from all their mobile suits. That name seemed to elevate it above simply being a machine. Fiko shook his head. Just a machine, just a machine, with a human pilot. Humans weren't perfect. He knew that. His mission was to stop, no, destroy this Gundam. Gundam Alpha. That was its codename. He was thought gabbling now, and he knew it. Concentrate on the mission, soldier, he told himself firmly. Gundam Alpha, destroy. Right. Alpha? Did that mean there was a Beta or Delta? More!? More of these? Stop it. Right now.
He and his unit rounded the side of a low hill they'd been using as cover, unaware that Espion had seen them coming, and was waiting.
**
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%