Hey everyone, this is my first stab at a fan fiction and the opening chapter is basically introducing the new bad guys. The Gundam Pilots will appear but not in this chapter I liked the ending as it was.
Please be kind with reviews/opinions. I'm always open to view on how to write better ... ejnoy!
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It was 4:15 in the morning Earth Standard Time and Lieutenant Rickard Salase was on his way to the bridge to begin his night shift in charge of the freighter Kyzag. The truth was the Kyzag had done the Moon-Mars run many times but this was the first time that Salase would be in sole command of the ship It was a graveyard shift but he didnt care because it was essentially his first command. Every second braught him closer to the bridge and the command chair for the first time, he couldn't say he wasn't nervous but who wouldnt be. The supplies being carried to the terrorforming project on Mars wern't vital but for six hours he would be in charge of a ship of 37 crew.
Finally he reached the bridge to relieve a Lieutenant he didn't recognise as they worked different shifts.
"Morning Lieutenant.. errr, I'm sorry I know your face but we havent really met, I'm Erricson" the man said while performing a salute. Salase did his best to return the gesture but the bridge's confined space made it a little tough to perform a perfect parade ground salute.
"Salase, good to meet you. I'm here to relieve you is there anything to report?"
"Nothing. Oxygen recycler is working, engines are working within specs and were are about to enter the asteroid belt, the navicomp has plotted course for us so you shouldnt need to change it. Right good luck, I'm off for some sleep"
And with that Lieutenant Erricson floated out the door, his momentum carrying him down the corridor in the zero gravity of the ship. Hearing the pressure door seal behind him with a familiar hiss of air, Salase's sences were hightened as he was determined to remember everything about this his first command, the stale smell of the recycled air mixed with the noticable body oder that either Erricson or one of his predicessors had left behind. Salase slid into the lether command chair and strapped himslef down feeling pride at what he had achieved in his 25 years of life, and he was determined to enjoy the next few hours, even if nothing did happen. The fact that he and the rest of the crew would be dead within the next ten miniutes had never occured to him.
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Several thousand kilometers ahead of the freighter Kyzag, hidden amonst the debris of that formed part of the asteroid belt, were 5 Aries class mobile suits, completly powered down running nothing but minamal life suffort systems to keep their pilots alive. At the head of this wing was a another suit, painted completly black and slightly smaller than her wingmates but similar in design. The black paint had earned her pilot the callsign "Blackknight" 3 years ago during the last war. Her pilot was a veretran of some of the most feirce battles of the Oz wars including the pitched battle at Luxemborg and the final assault on the White Fang in orbit over Earth. Dispite this the Black Knight knew he was a mystery to the five men in his wing, but they had been assigned to him and he would command them. Truth be told an assault on an escortless freighter didnt need 6 Mobile suits it only needs 2 at most, 1 to shoot and the other to confirm the kill. But 6 were assigned to be sure there were no complications.
"Black Knight, Omega 2. Target spotted. Target ID confiermed as Independant freighter Kyzag, registered with Winner Corperation. Omega wing standing by to attack on your order, Omega 2 out."
In fact Black Knight had spotted the transport long before his wingmen, his ships advanced equipment able to operate far beyone the capablities of the Aries' that sat on his wing. His black ship might look like an Aries but it was very different in its capablities. This ambush would serve firstly to once again embarris the Preventers, the police force of the Earth, moon, the colonies and the projects around Mars. The Preventers were an insult to many who had faught in the Oz wars but Black Knight never had a love of politics. He was a professional soildier and knew nothing else, wars and combat were his way of life and he believed them to be the only thing he knew how to do. The attack on the freighter Kyzag would also serve to test their new weapon.
"Black Knight to omega wing stand by, wait for the freighter to get closer, power up on my command." each pilot in omega wing flicked their radio on briefly then back off again, creating a click over the radio that signified they had recieved and understoond the order, Black Knight heard 5 sucessive clicks in his ear acknowlaging his whole wing was ready. Everything was ready and all the eyes of omega wing were watching their leader, and Black Knight had his eyes firmly on rapidly approaching freighter Kyzag.
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Without warning the sirens on the Kyzag's bridge were ringing in Salase's ears. The ship had suddenly detected mobile suits power up in close proximity to the ship and missiles were already detected swaming into the port side of the freighters hull. The force of the impact was enough to start the frieghter rolling slowing and had no doubt caused considerable damage to the freighter's hull. Quickly flicking up the damage overview of the ship Salase could see the full horror of what had happened. The volly of missiles had ripped into midships, exposing the crew quaters to space, as well as large chunks of the the cargo hold. He knew most of the crew would have been killed while they slept but he couldnt worry about that. Thumbing the right panel of the command chair he activated the defence turrent on the frieghter. It wouldnt be enough to stop the attack but it might hold them off long enough to get help. The noise of the cannon wurring into life and fireing at the unknown attackers didnt help calm the young lieutenant's nerves as he quickly sent off an SOS in all direction and on all frequencies. There was nothing now but to let the battle that raged around him settle itself.
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"Black Knight, Omega 3, transport suffered damage to the crew quaters and cargo hold, she still has primary power and life support"
"Balck Knight, Omega 2, turrent defences detected and coming online!"
"What are they targeting Omega 2?"
"You're closest sir"
His mobile suit started to sound a familiar warning tone, the turret was indeed locking onto him. Applying full power and swinging his suit into a tight left turn, Black Knight swung further into the the asteroids, the turret tracking him all the way. The warning tone hit a higher pitch as the turrent started to fire several hundred rounds persecond at him, most of whcich were left in the wake of his ship, the turrnet unable to keep up with the rapidly chaging motion of the its target. Many of the shots impacted asteroids and the ensuing debris only making it harder for the turrent to find its target.
"Black Knight to Omega wing, bracket the target left-right, go now" The calmness in his voice evedant to those under his command and it was rapidly becoming clear that he had been under fire many many time before. They might have known little else about him but Omega wing could see he knew what he was doing, drawing the turrent fire to the front of the freighter while they all attacked from the back. Five clicks over the radio again told Black Knight his plan was being put into effect.
He had to concentrate on flying, not only was the turret still making a concerted effort to shoot him down but any impact with the rocks around him, no matter the size, would cause massive damage to his mobile suit due the the speed he was going. The Aries mobile suit was designed for speed and its armour was only a few inches thick in places. However his suit was no ordinary Aries class suit, designed for stealth it had even less armour than its big brother but had any number of other system upgrade, including a better top speed and far greater manoverablity. The smaller suit twisted and turned manically, dodging from one large rock to another, never flying in a straight line for more than a second. The pilot could hear the titanium around him groaning at the strain he was putting it under but he knew from experience that while his mobile suit would bend, it would never break.
"Omega three through five knock out the engines, Omega two break off and hit that turret" Within seconds of the order the gun on the freighter was destroyed by a single missile and her engins rendered inactive by another missile salvo, the Kyzag's already slim chances of survival had now fallen to zero. Black Knight swung his suit toward the freighter in time to see a further missle volly slam into the back of their target, molten metal being thown in all direction, and a bright orange glow erupted out of the ship as atmosphere poured out into space before being set ablaze.
The comm units crackled into life, but he didnt recognise the voice as once of his own.
"This is the Winner Corporation Freighter Kyzag, our defences are destroyed and our engines are out. We surrender, I repete we surrender, you can have our cargo, just leave the rest of my crew alive, please I beg you!" The man was young, panic evedant from the shaking in his voice. In the background there was alarms going off and other paniced voices. No doubt the remaining bridge crew were trying desperatly to regain control of the ship, which was slowly, almost majestically, rolling and spinning completly out of control.
Thumbing in Omega wings frequency Black Knight opened up a communications channel to his wingmates, "Good job omega wing. Best clear out and RTB, I'll take care of the rest." Five clicks once again told him that all his wing survived and were returning to base. He changed to the secondary frequency and opened up comms again. "Black Knight to Uniform 1, I'm lighting the fuse and locking on target, moving in."
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Blood streamed down Salase's face but he didnt wipe it away as his left arm and been removed when the panel next to him exploded and his right hand was clutching the stub in a attempt to stem the bleeding. His vision was blurred but it looked like the mobile suits were moving away. The raidar tracking system was about the only thing still working on his bridge, probably one of the few functional systems on the entire ship and it deffinalty showed five of the attackers moving away. The sixth attacker had landed on top of the transport and was likely trying to take any cargo that had not been destroyed before it too started moving away at high speed.
Salase let out a sigh, he had survived, unlike most of his crew. He then realised he was still broadcasting to all ships in the area. "To all unknown mobile suits, thank you for ..." but he paused before finishing his sentance, the sirens in the back ground were still going off but that noise was be drowned out by a rumbling from within the ship. He could hear what sounded a little like water rushing down the air ventilation system. He paused to look to the vent shaft at the back of the small command deck in time to see flames leap out towards him and engulf his bridge, the fire itself was so hot it was igniting all the air around it, causeing a leathal chain reaction and a tide of fire that rolled toward him in the zero gravity. Salase let out a scream that was muffled by the flames surrounding him and jumping down his throat. He could feel the burning both inside and all aound him, for a moment he could even smell his own burning flesh as wave after wave of fire struck his body. All that was left was to wait for the release from pain that was death.
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The scream over the radio was horrorfing to listen to as the transport dissolved into an orange glow, and then there was nothing left. The superstructure was still intact for the most part but there was no way anything could have survived and there was no sign of any life pods. The scream had probably shaken his wingmates but for Balck Knight it was something he had heard many many times before. He didnt enjoy it, but after hearing it so much it just brushed off him. Although he knew this remorslessness was bad he just couldnt seem bring himself to care about the 38 lives he had snuffed out because that was nothing compaired to the number of people he had killed in the past wars. He wouldnt lose any sleep tonight.
"Black Knight to Uniform 1, fire testing complete. Weapon test sucessful, there nothing left out here, well nothing to speak of anyway. Also I monitered a distress signal right after our initial volly so I imagine someone will find the remains in ten or twelve hours as planned."
To the right of his cockpit a window opened up showing his commanding officer, Colonel Pearce, he didnt know his fist name. In fact the Black Knight knew next to nothing about Pearce, which worried him. Pearce opened his mouth to speak in his soft deep tone.
"Well done Major, we monitered the explosion and will go over Omega wings filght recorders when you return. Also good job on letting that distress call get out, when they find this ship there will be questions why the Preventers failed to protect it, and thats the tenth such incedent in two months. Sooner or later they will be forced to provide escorts, there by stretching them too thin an unable to protect our next set of targets"
"I understand the plan sir, I understood it when you explained it to me the first time. How long are you going to have me hitting soft targets sir?"
"Are you not comfortable attacking civilians Major? That seems very odd given your ... background"
That brief pause before he said background sent a shiver ran down spine of the Black Knight. He couldnt know, how could Pearce possibly know about him? Hes bluffing he has to be, there is no way he could have found out who he really is. Even if Pearce did know of his assignment in special forces he couldnt know what he had done both during and before the Oz war. Black Knight regained his composure in a split second, and put his poker face back on.
"I feel my experience could be put to better use elsewhere sir"
"So do I. RTB, clean up and I'll have your new assignments when you hand in your report. I promise you that this next batch are a little more suited to your talents."
"And what perticular talents would you be refering to sir?"
"See you in a few hours Major. Pearce out". And with that the window closed. It was still unclear how much Pearce knew about Black Knight as the Colonel handn't riasen to the bait.
Pearce was no fool. This hit and fade campaign was designed to discredit the Preventers, but to what end? Pearce had been gathering veterans from the last war carefully, slowly building up military resources like mobile suits. He had nowhere near the number of suits used in the Oz and White Fang war, but in a world of pacificism there was nothing to stop him except the Preventers.
The wreckage of the Kyzag and the death of her 38 crew will be seen as a tragedy on Earth, but what really worried the pilot of the black mobile suit is that he knew that another war was coming.
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"Ms Noin this is the sixth attach this month, are the Preventers concerned that this is the start of a campaign or do you still maintain this is still just random acts of piracy?"
Noin hated her new assignment. She was press officer for the Preventers, a job up untill recently that hadn't been too difficult. Prviously it was the case that only ten or so reporters would attend her daily briefings, but now the room was full, camera crews craming into the back of the room. The flashing camera lights taking photos didnt help her nausia but the old soldier soldierered on.
"We are exploring the possiblity that this could be related to previous attacks however we investigate all possiblities as a matter of course." There, she had answered the question without saying anything compromising. This game of cat and mouse the reporters played with her ran on every time she held a press briefing now, every reporter in the room trying to get her inot a position where she would give something away or mis-speak. But Noin was too good at what she did for that, well she had been too good so far, she only needed to make one big mistake and it would end her.
"Thank you everybody next briefing in two days"
Every reporter in the room rose to their feet trying to bait her into a last miniute question but he simply shut them out and walked back to her office. She was exhaused and it was still only 10 am.
Turning the final corner she came to her office door to be greeted by two tall men in black suits with sunglasses, standing either side of her door. As she approached the door one backed off and the other opened the door for her, she entered her office and found hereself face to face with Quatre Winner. 'well that explains the bodyguards outside' she mused to herself.
"Hello Miss Noin, you did very well in your briefing today" She couldnt help the broard smile that was on here face, it was always a pleasure to see him, even during the dark times during the war he radiated an energy that was infectious.
"Quatre! How are you? And please dont tell me you came here to review my performances infront of the members of the press" Her smile forcing him into a small laugh. But this was forced laughter and she knew it. As good friends as they were Quatre Winner was head of one of the 100 biggest grossing corporations in populated space and just didnt have time for social calls. The young man's tone changed, his whole body suggested he didnt want to be here but because of the attack yesterday morning he had to be, it was one of his company freighters that was attacked.
"Please sit down" Noin indicated to the chair on the opposite side of her desk, before she made her way to her own seat. "This is about the Kyzag yes?" She knew although he really wanted to chat he couldn't afford to do anything but get straight down to business.
"Yes. Your briefing and the Preventers official line is that this was a pirate raid."
"Correct" she was still in her job. Quatre was a friend but she couldnt just go handing information out, no matter who it was. Quatre paused a second before starting again.
"Miss Noin you and I both know that isnt correct. The Kyzag was destroyed by a new weapon, something too advanced for pirates to develop."
Noin stared at Quatre for a second, she had never released that in her briefing, and the findings of the team that found the Kyzag was classified.
"Quatre how did you find that out?"
"It was one of my company ships. It wasnt difficult to get my own people to investigate the salvaged wreckage after your people had finished."
Noin wondered if it was possible to deflect his question but she couldn't find a way. She might as well tell him the truth, it seemed he already knew it.
"Well you are correct, the freighter was destroyed by a new weapon. It not like any weapon developed during or before the war. We dont know how they did it but they managed to superheat the atmosphere inside the Kyzag and ..... somehow get it to combust. We know its new because we just dont have that kind of technical knowlage available to us, all we have is 10 wrecked ships, 4 of which show damage consistant with that of the Kyzag"
The young man oposite lowered his head and let out a breath of air, giving Noin a view of his blond crown. He then raised his head and started to stand up.
"Wait .. Quatre are you going already? Why not stay, I can take an early lunch. Wufei isnt here he is on deep space patrol but.." but she was cut off by Quatre's raised hand.
"I'm terrably sorry Miss Noin, but I cant. I only came here to tell you what my people had found, but you knew it already. I came personally because I didnt want it intercepted over an open channel, and I didn't want to enturst the information to anyone else. I need to go back and set things in motion."
"Set what in motion Quatre?"
A pause again, but this one was different.
"Nothing, I'm sorry, look when Wufei gets back send him my best, he or you are always welcome to take leave at one of my houses on the L4 or Earth."
"Thanks but the attacks mean I wont be on leave for a while, and Wufei hasnt taken leave since he started." Noin had noticed Quatre try to cover up that slip he made. It was kind of slip the press tried to get her to make.
"Anyway, its wonderful to see you are well Miss Noin." Quatre said with a wide smile before dissappearing from the office, flanked by the men in black who were still waiting outside the door. He didnt even give her the chance to reply. Clearly something was playing on his mind. He had a strong character but it was obvious when he was under stress, which was most of the time given his job.
What did he mean by "set things in motion"? Dispite her denying repetidly in the press room it didnt take a tactical genius to figure out that this wasnt just pirates, and Quatre was in fact a tactical genius. The attackes were coordinated, using high grade ordinance and possibly even mobile suits. This was a serious situation being covered up, all the Preventers on deep space patrol were searching for information but none had reported finiding anything of substance, even the normally sharp Wufei was coming up empty.
Noin opened up her email and dispaired at the 117 new mails in her inbox. She could do nothing about the attacks untill more information came to light so for now she settled down to answer one of her many emails.
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Major Page was en route to the bridge of Colonel Pearce's command ship, the mobile suit carrier 'Thunderchild'. Reutning the salute of yet another junior officer he didnt recognise he floated into the lift to take him to the bridge, the doors shutting behind him with a snap hiss. The bridge was in fact in the centre of the ship and not on the top, where it was exposed to enemy fire. Seconds later he pushed himself out onto the command deck of the Thunderchild. It was maybe 30 feet square, which was luxuary comapired to most space capital ships. The complex bridge equipment and their operators around the edges of the room with command chair in the centre, this is where Pearce directed battles and operations, but this time the chair was occupied by one of Page's least feviorate people in the universe, what made it worse was he out ranked the Major and hated him with equal passion.
Lieutenant Colonel Dessan rose his out of his chair and floated infront of the Major who promptly saluted, not wanting to cause a scene infront of the rest of the bridge crew. As much as he haded Dessan the chain of command needed to be respected, although how he ever got awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel was beyond Page.
"Major"
"Colonel" He wasnt a full Colonel, but it was too much of an effort to refer to him by his full rank. The two men waited patiently for the other to speak.
"Is there something I can do for you Major Page? and stand easy, you look ridiculous"
"I'm here to present my report of the weapons test to Colonel Pearce"
"He's busy. I'll give it to him later." Dessan outstretched his had to take the datapad but Page didnt move from his position at attention.
"I'm sorry sir I was ordered to present this to the Colonel himself". At this point some of work on the bridge stopped as the birdge staff looked towards to to very senior officers in the centre of the room having another one of their well known "disagreements".
Before another word was spoken a slid door in the corner of the bridge opened and a young blonde man emerged. Page recognised him but couldnt put a name to the face, he was acting as Pearce's personal aid. The man floated over to the Major and stopped himself by grabbing on to the command chair.
"Major Page, the Colonel will see you now sir" He said by, beckoning him into the room he had just come out of.
"Thank you Lieutenant..." Page quickly glanced at the mans name tag on his left chest, "Saunders. If you will excuse me Lieutenant Colonel"
"Of course but I'd like to speak to you about your recent conduct after you are finished Major"
"Yes sir" Matt Page had no intention of speaking to Dessan longer than he needed. Pushing off the command deck's floor he angled toward Colonel Pearces' office and rounded into the door, shutting it behind him.
He turned toward the desk in the middle of the room and pushed gently off the door. Behind the desk sat Colonel Pearce, strapped into a black leather command chair, much like the one on the bridge.
"No need for formalities Major, sit yourself down" Pearce indicated to the chair closest to Matt, who obliged by sitting himself down and strapping in so he didnt float away. Without a word Matt handed over his data pad to the Colonel, who accepted and started to read over it.
The Colonel was an old soldier, his face a bearing of a number of minor scars on his right cheek from one of what was probably hunderes of battles of the past. He wasnt an old man, probably around 40 years old, but he was already starting to show signs of gray hair around the sides of his short crop cut. It was said that you could see if someone was a warrior just by looking at them, they way they talked, how they stood and how they acted as if a firefight could start at any moment. Pearce had these quilities, its what stood him apart from Dessan back on the bridge.
"Execlent work as always Major, the mission was a complete sucess in all areas."
"Thank you sir" Page had decided to say as little as possible, this would force Pearce to show what he knew by making him do the lion's share of the talking. It was an old intelligence trick but the old ones normally always worked.
"How are you feeling Major?"
"Just fine sir"
There was a pause, Pearce clearly surpsised at the Major's brief response and then uncomfortable scilence.
"I'm fine too Major thanks for asking"
"Thats good to hear sir"
There was another pause but longer this time, Pearce trying to work out what was going on in the head of the man opposite him.
"You have another bust up with my second in command?"
"No sir" Matt was lieing, it wasnt a serious argument, not like the ones he and Dessan have had in the past, but it was known that Page and Dessan didnt see eye to eye on anything, clearly even Colonel Pearce knew.
"Why dont you like Mr Dessan? Please answer freely"
"The mans a cock sir"
"Well at least I've got you speaking now and that cant be the only reason you dont like him"
"He has no experience in real combat sir, hes been flying a desk his whole career."
"And how would you know that Major?"
Matt was furious at himself, 'DAMN!! I cant believe I walked into that' . The truth is some time ago Matt had managed 'aquire' access to the personl biography's of all the officers and crew under Pearce's command, but it was an offence to have done so, it was tantemout to spying. Pearce obviously detected Matt's internal panic and stepped in.
"Dont worry Major, I know you sliced into the personel files, the truth is I would be dissappointed if you hadn't managed to break in to the computer system within your first week on board. Tell me did you read my file?"
"No sir, it had been removed from the system a few miniutes before i manged to get in" Page had relaxed slightly, but it was clear that Pearce had been watching him very closly.
"Yes I decided that you don't need to know about me fully just yet. I on the other hand know all about you. Major Mathew Lee Edward Page, formaly of Allinance Intelligence, Special Operations Division. You were assigned to the division that was responsible for the alliances 'black bag' jobs., the kind of jobs the alliance wanted achived but couldnt admit to, we are talking about kidnapping, murder, mass murder, theft and the deploying of chemical and biological weapons. By the way feel free to stop me if I get any of this wrong."
The colour had long since drained out of Matts face.
"Where did you get my file?"
"While you were trying to get into my personal files on the computer, I piggybacked your connection and managed to get into yours, well the copy of your Alliance Intelligence file you keep on that data core hidden away in your mobile suit that you think nobody knows about. Made for interesting reading." Perhaps it was still a bluff, an effort to draw Page out of his hole and tell the Colonel more than he knew. Page stayed silent to try to get the Colonel to reveal more. Peace clearly not happy with no response pressed the issue.
"I knew the Alliance's methods were questionable but I had no idea. Tell me Major how many civilians have you killed in the past?"
"I'm not ashamed of my past, I did what was required at the time so its impossible to judge me by today's standard, I followed my orders. I cannont allow you to publish any of the files relating to Alliance Special Intelligence. Im the only one of my division left but some of those who I worked with had families who are still alive and they would be under threat of retribution attacks if the truth were to be known. I want that file back give it to me now." Matts voice was calm and level, however he was ready to reach for his sidearm at a moments notice, he also wasnt going to take no as an answer. To the Major's surprise the man opposite him picked up a data disk and floated it towards him which Matt caught and placed in his pocket. Matt looked back to the Colonel, still seated at his desk with a dead pan expression. Matt also looked relativly relaxed but was ready to pull his sidearm if this was a trick, many people would have grevences towards the Alliance military for what they did before the OZ war. Many of the more henious crimes aganist civilians were committed by the men and women of Special Intelligence and blamed on terrorists. If just one of those crimes had killed someone close to Pearce he could want personal revenge, but an attack or exchange of gunfire never came.
"I have no interest in the famlies of dead service men and women Major, but i do have an interest in you and your ablities. That data disk also contains information on your next assignments. Certain individuals have become a problem for me so before we can proceede openly I would like these people to disappear. Like I told you before, these assignment are more suited to your talents and experience."
The Major was fixed on Pearce, trying to figure out what his next move will be. It started to make sense now, Pearce couldnt keep the Major there if he wanted to leave but Pearce still needed Matt's skills to achieve whatever it was he was after. This was a demostration, trying showing Matt that he could trust Pearce.
"I'll follow my orders, but we dont talk about this again. Those men and women are dead so how about I follow my orders you to let the dead stay dead."
"Agreed, but remember Major that I managed to hack your codes and did it without you knowing, your not dealing with another man who spent his life flying a desk. Dismissed" And with that Pearce turned his head to his personal computer and started to type something onto his screen.
Page didnt salute but just turned around, pushed off the chair and floated to the exit. "Oh one more thing Major. I did study your file in detail, your combat record is exceptional. Decorated any number of times for bravery and valour in both mobile suit and non-suit combat. Your are one of a select few to be awarded more then one Spec Ops. Service Medallion, which is the highest award a spec opser like yourself could achieve. Your report describes you as 'fearless', but how would you describe yourself?"
Page couldnt escape how this was a stupid line of questioning, but answered anyway, still determined to give nothing away, it was just his nature to be secrative. "The fearless are merely fearless sir. People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave."
Peace let out a small laugh, "A LaFond-Lewis quote"
"Yes sir"
"So you do not fear death, thats good for a man in your position but I do hope you are not in a rush to end your life, there is still much left for you to accomplish." Page didnt answer, he simply turned away and floated to the door to let hims self out. He didnt have time for pyscological games right now. He also ignored Dessan on his way off the bridge. That man would have a go at him later but it didnt matter, no doubt he would rant on endlessly about the chain of command, either way Page didnt want to be lectured by that cheap hack. Returning to his quaters he plugged the data disk into his work station to look over his new missions.
Scrolling down the list Page could see the Colonel had done his homework, the file listed 5 assassinations, 2 acts of covert sabotage of Preventer hardware and 1 abduction and the time stamp gave him 2 months, not nearly enough time to finish all of it. He had alot to think about, not least of which was the "troubleshooting" list he had just been ordered to carry out best get down to work.
First up on the assassination list was Preventer's Commanding Officer Une.
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Done!! Hope you liked the start, if you want more then hit review :) Also if you think I could do something better or if Ive got it just wrong somewhere then tell me. Should I bother to carry this on??
Please be kind with reviews/opinions. I'm always open to view on how to write better ... ejnoy!
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It was 4:15 in the morning Earth Standard Time and Lieutenant Rickard Salase was on his way to the bridge to begin his night shift in charge of the freighter Kyzag. The truth was the Kyzag had done the Moon-Mars run many times but this was the first time that Salase would be in sole command of the ship It was a graveyard shift but he didnt care because it was essentially his first command. Every second braught him closer to the bridge and the command chair for the first time, he couldn't say he wasn't nervous but who wouldnt be. The supplies being carried to the terrorforming project on Mars wern't vital but for six hours he would be in charge of a ship of 37 crew.
Finally he reached the bridge to relieve a Lieutenant he didn't recognise as they worked different shifts.
"Morning Lieutenant.. errr, I'm sorry I know your face but we havent really met, I'm Erricson" the man said while performing a salute. Salase did his best to return the gesture but the bridge's confined space made it a little tough to perform a perfect parade ground salute.
"Salase, good to meet you. I'm here to relieve you is there anything to report?"
"Nothing. Oxygen recycler is working, engines are working within specs and were are about to enter the asteroid belt, the navicomp has plotted course for us so you shouldnt need to change it. Right good luck, I'm off for some sleep"
And with that Lieutenant Erricson floated out the door, his momentum carrying him down the corridor in the zero gravity of the ship. Hearing the pressure door seal behind him with a familiar hiss of air, Salase's sences were hightened as he was determined to remember everything about this his first command, the stale smell of the recycled air mixed with the noticable body oder that either Erricson or one of his predicessors had left behind. Salase slid into the lether command chair and strapped himslef down feeling pride at what he had achieved in his 25 years of life, and he was determined to enjoy the next few hours, even if nothing did happen. The fact that he and the rest of the crew would be dead within the next ten miniutes had never occured to him.
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Several thousand kilometers ahead of the freighter Kyzag, hidden amonst the debris of that formed part of the asteroid belt, were 5 Aries class mobile suits, completly powered down running nothing but minamal life suffort systems to keep their pilots alive. At the head of this wing was a another suit, painted completly black and slightly smaller than her wingmates but similar in design. The black paint had earned her pilot the callsign "Blackknight" 3 years ago during the last war. Her pilot was a veretran of some of the most feirce battles of the Oz wars including the pitched battle at Luxemborg and the final assault on the White Fang in orbit over Earth. Dispite this the Black Knight knew he was a mystery to the five men in his wing, but they had been assigned to him and he would command them. Truth be told an assault on an escortless freighter didnt need 6 Mobile suits it only needs 2 at most, 1 to shoot and the other to confirm the kill. But 6 were assigned to be sure there were no complications.
"Black Knight, Omega 2. Target spotted. Target ID confiermed as Independant freighter Kyzag, registered with Winner Corperation. Omega wing standing by to attack on your order, Omega 2 out."
In fact Black Knight had spotted the transport long before his wingmen, his ships advanced equipment able to operate far beyone the capablities of the Aries' that sat on his wing. His black ship might look like an Aries but it was very different in its capablities. This ambush would serve firstly to once again embarris the Preventers, the police force of the Earth, moon, the colonies and the projects around Mars. The Preventers were an insult to many who had faught in the Oz wars but Black Knight never had a love of politics. He was a professional soildier and knew nothing else, wars and combat were his way of life and he believed them to be the only thing he knew how to do. The attack on the freighter Kyzag would also serve to test their new weapon.
"Black Knight to omega wing stand by, wait for the freighter to get closer, power up on my command." each pilot in omega wing flicked their radio on briefly then back off again, creating a click over the radio that signified they had recieved and understoond the order, Black Knight heard 5 sucessive clicks in his ear acknowlaging his whole wing was ready. Everything was ready and all the eyes of omega wing were watching their leader, and Black Knight had his eyes firmly on rapidly approaching freighter Kyzag.
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Without warning the sirens on the Kyzag's bridge were ringing in Salase's ears. The ship had suddenly detected mobile suits power up in close proximity to the ship and missiles were already detected swaming into the port side of the freighters hull. The force of the impact was enough to start the frieghter rolling slowing and had no doubt caused considerable damage to the freighter's hull. Quickly flicking up the damage overview of the ship Salase could see the full horror of what had happened. The volly of missiles had ripped into midships, exposing the crew quaters to space, as well as large chunks of the the cargo hold. He knew most of the crew would have been killed while they slept but he couldnt worry about that. Thumbing the right panel of the command chair he activated the defence turrent on the frieghter. It wouldnt be enough to stop the attack but it might hold them off long enough to get help. The noise of the cannon wurring into life and fireing at the unknown attackers didnt help calm the young lieutenant's nerves as he quickly sent off an SOS in all direction and on all frequencies. There was nothing now but to let the battle that raged around him settle itself.
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"Black Knight, Omega 3, transport suffered damage to the crew quaters and cargo hold, she still has primary power and life support"
"Balck Knight, Omega 2, turrent defences detected and coming online!"
"What are they targeting Omega 2?"
"You're closest sir"
His mobile suit started to sound a familiar warning tone, the turret was indeed locking onto him. Applying full power and swinging his suit into a tight left turn, Black Knight swung further into the the asteroids, the turret tracking him all the way. The warning tone hit a higher pitch as the turrent started to fire several hundred rounds persecond at him, most of whcich were left in the wake of his ship, the turrnet unable to keep up with the rapidly chaging motion of the its target. Many of the shots impacted asteroids and the ensuing debris only making it harder for the turrent to find its target.
"Black Knight to Omega wing, bracket the target left-right, go now" The calmness in his voice evedant to those under his command and it was rapidly becoming clear that he had been under fire many many time before. They might have known little else about him but Omega wing could see he knew what he was doing, drawing the turrent fire to the front of the freighter while they all attacked from the back. Five clicks over the radio again told Black Knight his plan was being put into effect.
He had to concentrate on flying, not only was the turret still making a concerted effort to shoot him down but any impact with the rocks around him, no matter the size, would cause massive damage to his mobile suit due the the speed he was going. The Aries mobile suit was designed for speed and its armour was only a few inches thick in places. However his suit was no ordinary Aries class suit, designed for stealth it had even less armour than its big brother but had any number of other system upgrade, including a better top speed and far greater manoverablity. The smaller suit twisted and turned manically, dodging from one large rock to another, never flying in a straight line for more than a second. The pilot could hear the titanium around him groaning at the strain he was putting it under but he knew from experience that while his mobile suit would bend, it would never break.
"Omega three through five knock out the engines, Omega two break off and hit that turret" Within seconds of the order the gun on the freighter was destroyed by a single missile and her engins rendered inactive by another missile salvo, the Kyzag's already slim chances of survival had now fallen to zero. Black Knight swung his suit toward the freighter in time to see a further missle volly slam into the back of their target, molten metal being thown in all direction, and a bright orange glow erupted out of the ship as atmosphere poured out into space before being set ablaze.
The comm units crackled into life, but he didnt recognise the voice as once of his own.
"This is the Winner Corporation Freighter Kyzag, our defences are destroyed and our engines are out. We surrender, I repete we surrender, you can have our cargo, just leave the rest of my crew alive, please I beg you!" The man was young, panic evedant from the shaking in his voice. In the background there was alarms going off and other paniced voices. No doubt the remaining bridge crew were trying desperatly to regain control of the ship, which was slowly, almost majestically, rolling and spinning completly out of control.
Thumbing in Omega wings frequency Black Knight opened up a communications channel to his wingmates, "Good job omega wing. Best clear out and RTB, I'll take care of the rest." Five clicks once again told him that all his wing survived and were returning to base. He changed to the secondary frequency and opened up comms again. "Black Knight to Uniform 1, I'm lighting the fuse and locking on target, moving in."
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Blood streamed down Salase's face but he didnt wipe it away as his left arm and been removed when the panel next to him exploded and his right hand was clutching the stub in a attempt to stem the bleeding. His vision was blurred but it looked like the mobile suits were moving away. The raidar tracking system was about the only thing still working on his bridge, probably one of the few functional systems on the entire ship and it deffinalty showed five of the attackers moving away. The sixth attacker had landed on top of the transport and was likely trying to take any cargo that had not been destroyed before it too started moving away at high speed.
Salase let out a sigh, he had survived, unlike most of his crew. He then realised he was still broadcasting to all ships in the area. "To all unknown mobile suits, thank you for ..." but he paused before finishing his sentance, the sirens in the back ground were still going off but that noise was be drowned out by a rumbling from within the ship. He could hear what sounded a little like water rushing down the air ventilation system. He paused to look to the vent shaft at the back of the small command deck in time to see flames leap out towards him and engulf his bridge, the fire itself was so hot it was igniting all the air around it, causeing a leathal chain reaction and a tide of fire that rolled toward him in the zero gravity. Salase let out a scream that was muffled by the flames surrounding him and jumping down his throat. He could feel the burning both inside and all aound him, for a moment he could even smell his own burning flesh as wave after wave of fire struck his body. All that was left was to wait for the release from pain that was death.
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The scream over the radio was horrorfing to listen to as the transport dissolved into an orange glow, and then there was nothing left. The superstructure was still intact for the most part but there was no way anything could have survived and there was no sign of any life pods. The scream had probably shaken his wingmates but for Balck Knight it was something he had heard many many times before. He didnt enjoy it, but after hearing it so much it just brushed off him. Although he knew this remorslessness was bad he just couldnt seem bring himself to care about the 38 lives he had snuffed out because that was nothing compaired to the number of people he had killed in the past wars. He wouldnt lose any sleep tonight.
"Black Knight to Uniform 1, fire testing complete. Weapon test sucessful, there nothing left out here, well nothing to speak of anyway. Also I monitered a distress signal right after our initial volly so I imagine someone will find the remains in ten or twelve hours as planned."
To the right of his cockpit a window opened up showing his commanding officer, Colonel Pearce, he didnt know his fist name. In fact the Black Knight knew next to nothing about Pearce, which worried him. Pearce opened his mouth to speak in his soft deep tone.
"Well done Major, we monitered the explosion and will go over Omega wings filght recorders when you return. Also good job on letting that distress call get out, when they find this ship there will be questions why the Preventers failed to protect it, and thats the tenth such incedent in two months. Sooner or later they will be forced to provide escorts, there by stretching them too thin an unable to protect our next set of targets"
"I understand the plan sir, I understood it when you explained it to me the first time. How long are you going to have me hitting soft targets sir?"
"Are you not comfortable attacking civilians Major? That seems very odd given your ... background"
That brief pause before he said background sent a shiver ran down spine of the Black Knight. He couldnt know, how could Pearce possibly know about him? Hes bluffing he has to be, there is no way he could have found out who he really is. Even if Pearce did know of his assignment in special forces he couldnt know what he had done both during and before the Oz war. Black Knight regained his composure in a split second, and put his poker face back on.
"I feel my experience could be put to better use elsewhere sir"
"So do I. RTB, clean up and I'll have your new assignments when you hand in your report. I promise you that this next batch are a little more suited to your talents."
"And what perticular talents would you be refering to sir?"
"See you in a few hours Major. Pearce out". And with that the window closed. It was still unclear how much Pearce knew about Black Knight as the Colonel handn't riasen to the bait.
Pearce was no fool. This hit and fade campaign was designed to discredit the Preventers, but to what end? Pearce had been gathering veterans from the last war carefully, slowly building up military resources like mobile suits. He had nowhere near the number of suits used in the Oz and White Fang war, but in a world of pacificism there was nothing to stop him except the Preventers.
The wreckage of the Kyzag and the death of her 38 crew will be seen as a tragedy on Earth, but what really worried the pilot of the black mobile suit is that he knew that another war was coming.
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"Ms Noin this is the sixth attach this month, are the Preventers concerned that this is the start of a campaign or do you still maintain this is still just random acts of piracy?"
Noin hated her new assignment. She was press officer for the Preventers, a job up untill recently that hadn't been too difficult. Prviously it was the case that only ten or so reporters would attend her daily briefings, but now the room was full, camera crews craming into the back of the room. The flashing camera lights taking photos didnt help her nausia but the old soldier soldierered on.
"We are exploring the possiblity that this could be related to previous attacks however we investigate all possiblities as a matter of course." There, she had answered the question without saying anything compromising. This game of cat and mouse the reporters played with her ran on every time she held a press briefing now, every reporter in the room trying to get her inot a position where she would give something away or mis-speak. But Noin was too good at what she did for that, well she had been too good so far, she only needed to make one big mistake and it would end her.
"Thank you everybody next briefing in two days"
Every reporter in the room rose to their feet trying to bait her into a last miniute question but he simply shut them out and walked back to her office. She was exhaused and it was still only 10 am.
Turning the final corner she came to her office door to be greeted by two tall men in black suits with sunglasses, standing either side of her door. As she approached the door one backed off and the other opened the door for her, she entered her office and found hereself face to face with Quatre Winner. 'well that explains the bodyguards outside' she mused to herself.
"Hello Miss Noin, you did very well in your briefing today" She couldnt help the broard smile that was on here face, it was always a pleasure to see him, even during the dark times during the war he radiated an energy that was infectious.
"Quatre! How are you? And please dont tell me you came here to review my performances infront of the members of the press" Her smile forcing him into a small laugh. But this was forced laughter and she knew it. As good friends as they were Quatre Winner was head of one of the 100 biggest grossing corporations in populated space and just didnt have time for social calls. The young man's tone changed, his whole body suggested he didnt want to be here but because of the attack yesterday morning he had to be, it was one of his company freighters that was attacked.
"Please sit down" Noin indicated to the chair on the opposite side of her desk, before she made her way to her own seat. "This is about the Kyzag yes?" She knew although he really wanted to chat he couldn't afford to do anything but get straight down to business.
"Yes. Your briefing and the Preventers official line is that this was a pirate raid."
"Correct" she was still in her job. Quatre was a friend but she couldnt just go handing information out, no matter who it was. Quatre paused a second before starting again.
"Miss Noin you and I both know that isnt correct. The Kyzag was destroyed by a new weapon, something too advanced for pirates to develop."
Noin stared at Quatre for a second, she had never released that in her briefing, and the findings of the team that found the Kyzag was classified.
"Quatre how did you find that out?"
"It was one of my company ships. It wasnt difficult to get my own people to investigate the salvaged wreckage after your people had finished."
Noin wondered if it was possible to deflect his question but she couldn't find a way. She might as well tell him the truth, it seemed he already knew it.
"Well you are correct, the freighter was destroyed by a new weapon. It not like any weapon developed during or before the war. We dont know how they did it but they managed to superheat the atmosphere inside the Kyzag and ..... somehow get it to combust. We know its new because we just dont have that kind of technical knowlage available to us, all we have is 10 wrecked ships, 4 of which show damage consistant with that of the Kyzag"
The young man oposite lowered his head and let out a breath of air, giving Noin a view of his blond crown. He then raised his head and started to stand up.
"Wait .. Quatre are you going already? Why not stay, I can take an early lunch. Wufei isnt here he is on deep space patrol but.." but she was cut off by Quatre's raised hand.
"I'm terrably sorry Miss Noin, but I cant. I only came here to tell you what my people had found, but you knew it already. I came personally because I didnt want it intercepted over an open channel, and I didn't want to enturst the information to anyone else. I need to go back and set things in motion."
"Set what in motion Quatre?"
A pause again, but this one was different.
"Nothing, I'm sorry, look when Wufei gets back send him my best, he or you are always welcome to take leave at one of my houses on the L4 or Earth."
"Thanks but the attacks mean I wont be on leave for a while, and Wufei hasnt taken leave since he started." Noin had noticed Quatre try to cover up that slip he made. It was kind of slip the press tried to get her to make.
"Anyway, its wonderful to see you are well Miss Noin." Quatre said with a wide smile before dissappearing from the office, flanked by the men in black who were still waiting outside the door. He didnt even give her the chance to reply. Clearly something was playing on his mind. He had a strong character but it was obvious when he was under stress, which was most of the time given his job.
What did he mean by "set things in motion"? Dispite her denying repetidly in the press room it didnt take a tactical genius to figure out that this wasnt just pirates, and Quatre was in fact a tactical genius. The attackes were coordinated, using high grade ordinance and possibly even mobile suits. This was a serious situation being covered up, all the Preventers on deep space patrol were searching for information but none had reported finiding anything of substance, even the normally sharp Wufei was coming up empty.
Noin opened up her email and dispaired at the 117 new mails in her inbox. She could do nothing about the attacks untill more information came to light so for now she settled down to answer one of her many emails.
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Major Page was en route to the bridge of Colonel Pearce's command ship, the mobile suit carrier 'Thunderchild'. Reutning the salute of yet another junior officer he didnt recognise he floated into the lift to take him to the bridge, the doors shutting behind him with a snap hiss. The bridge was in fact in the centre of the ship and not on the top, where it was exposed to enemy fire. Seconds later he pushed himself out onto the command deck of the Thunderchild. It was maybe 30 feet square, which was luxuary comapired to most space capital ships. The complex bridge equipment and their operators around the edges of the room with command chair in the centre, this is where Pearce directed battles and operations, but this time the chair was occupied by one of Page's least feviorate people in the universe, what made it worse was he out ranked the Major and hated him with equal passion.
Lieutenant Colonel Dessan rose his out of his chair and floated infront of the Major who promptly saluted, not wanting to cause a scene infront of the rest of the bridge crew. As much as he haded Dessan the chain of command needed to be respected, although how he ever got awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel was beyond Page.
"Major"
"Colonel" He wasnt a full Colonel, but it was too much of an effort to refer to him by his full rank. The two men waited patiently for the other to speak.
"Is there something I can do for you Major Page? and stand easy, you look ridiculous"
"I'm here to present my report of the weapons test to Colonel Pearce"
"He's busy. I'll give it to him later." Dessan outstretched his had to take the datapad but Page didnt move from his position at attention.
"I'm sorry sir I was ordered to present this to the Colonel himself". At this point some of work on the bridge stopped as the birdge staff looked towards to to very senior officers in the centre of the room having another one of their well known "disagreements".
Before another word was spoken a slid door in the corner of the bridge opened and a young blonde man emerged. Page recognised him but couldnt put a name to the face, he was acting as Pearce's personal aid. The man floated over to the Major and stopped himself by grabbing on to the command chair.
"Major Page, the Colonel will see you now sir" He said by, beckoning him into the room he had just come out of.
"Thank you Lieutenant..." Page quickly glanced at the mans name tag on his left chest, "Saunders. If you will excuse me Lieutenant Colonel"
"Of course but I'd like to speak to you about your recent conduct after you are finished Major"
"Yes sir" Matt Page had no intention of speaking to Dessan longer than he needed. Pushing off the command deck's floor he angled toward Colonel Pearces' office and rounded into the door, shutting it behind him.
He turned toward the desk in the middle of the room and pushed gently off the door. Behind the desk sat Colonel Pearce, strapped into a black leather command chair, much like the one on the bridge.
"No need for formalities Major, sit yourself down" Pearce indicated to the chair closest to Matt, who obliged by sitting himself down and strapping in so he didnt float away. Without a word Matt handed over his data pad to the Colonel, who accepted and started to read over it.
The Colonel was an old soldier, his face a bearing of a number of minor scars on his right cheek from one of what was probably hunderes of battles of the past. He wasnt an old man, probably around 40 years old, but he was already starting to show signs of gray hair around the sides of his short crop cut. It was said that you could see if someone was a warrior just by looking at them, they way they talked, how they stood and how they acted as if a firefight could start at any moment. Pearce had these quilities, its what stood him apart from Dessan back on the bridge.
"Execlent work as always Major, the mission was a complete sucess in all areas."
"Thank you sir" Page had decided to say as little as possible, this would force Pearce to show what he knew by making him do the lion's share of the talking. It was an old intelligence trick but the old ones normally always worked.
"How are you feeling Major?"
"Just fine sir"
There was a pause, Pearce clearly surpsised at the Major's brief response and then uncomfortable scilence.
"I'm fine too Major thanks for asking"
"Thats good to hear sir"
There was another pause but longer this time, Pearce trying to work out what was going on in the head of the man opposite him.
"You have another bust up with my second in command?"
"No sir" Matt was lieing, it wasnt a serious argument, not like the ones he and Dessan have had in the past, but it was known that Page and Dessan didnt see eye to eye on anything, clearly even Colonel Pearce knew.
"Why dont you like Mr Dessan? Please answer freely"
"The mans a cock sir"
"Well at least I've got you speaking now and that cant be the only reason you dont like him"
"He has no experience in real combat sir, hes been flying a desk his whole career."
"And how would you know that Major?"
Matt was furious at himself, 'DAMN!! I cant believe I walked into that' . The truth is some time ago Matt had managed 'aquire' access to the personl biography's of all the officers and crew under Pearce's command, but it was an offence to have done so, it was tantemout to spying. Pearce obviously detected Matt's internal panic and stepped in.
"Dont worry Major, I know you sliced into the personel files, the truth is I would be dissappointed if you hadn't managed to break in to the computer system within your first week on board. Tell me did you read my file?"
"No sir, it had been removed from the system a few miniutes before i manged to get in" Page had relaxed slightly, but it was clear that Pearce had been watching him very closly.
"Yes I decided that you don't need to know about me fully just yet. I on the other hand know all about you. Major Mathew Lee Edward Page, formaly of Allinance Intelligence, Special Operations Division. You were assigned to the division that was responsible for the alliances 'black bag' jobs., the kind of jobs the alliance wanted achived but couldnt admit to, we are talking about kidnapping, murder, mass murder, theft and the deploying of chemical and biological weapons. By the way feel free to stop me if I get any of this wrong."
The colour had long since drained out of Matts face.
"Where did you get my file?"
"While you were trying to get into my personal files on the computer, I piggybacked your connection and managed to get into yours, well the copy of your Alliance Intelligence file you keep on that data core hidden away in your mobile suit that you think nobody knows about. Made for interesting reading." Perhaps it was still a bluff, an effort to draw Page out of his hole and tell the Colonel more than he knew. Page stayed silent to try to get the Colonel to reveal more. Peace clearly not happy with no response pressed the issue.
"I knew the Alliance's methods were questionable but I had no idea. Tell me Major how many civilians have you killed in the past?"
"I'm not ashamed of my past, I did what was required at the time so its impossible to judge me by today's standard, I followed my orders. I cannont allow you to publish any of the files relating to Alliance Special Intelligence. Im the only one of my division left but some of those who I worked with had families who are still alive and they would be under threat of retribution attacks if the truth were to be known. I want that file back give it to me now." Matts voice was calm and level, however he was ready to reach for his sidearm at a moments notice, he also wasnt going to take no as an answer. To the Major's surprise the man opposite him picked up a data disk and floated it towards him which Matt caught and placed in his pocket. Matt looked back to the Colonel, still seated at his desk with a dead pan expression. Matt also looked relativly relaxed but was ready to pull his sidearm if this was a trick, many people would have grevences towards the Alliance military for what they did before the OZ war. Many of the more henious crimes aganist civilians were committed by the men and women of Special Intelligence and blamed on terrorists. If just one of those crimes had killed someone close to Pearce he could want personal revenge, but an attack or exchange of gunfire never came.
"I have no interest in the famlies of dead service men and women Major, but i do have an interest in you and your ablities. That data disk also contains information on your next assignments. Certain individuals have become a problem for me so before we can proceede openly I would like these people to disappear. Like I told you before, these assignment are more suited to your talents and experience."
The Major was fixed on Pearce, trying to figure out what his next move will be. It started to make sense now, Pearce couldnt keep the Major there if he wanted to leave but Pearce still needed Matt's skills to achieve whatever it was he was after. This was a demostration, trying showing Matt that he could trust Pearce.
"I'll follow my orders, but we dont talk about this again. Those men and women are dead so how about I follow my orders you to let the dead stay dead."
"Agreed, but remember Major that I managed to hack your codes and did it without you knowing, your not dealing with another man who spent his life flying a desk. Dismissed" And with that Pearce turned his head to his personal computer and started to type something onto his screen.
Page didnt salute but just turned around, pushed off the chair and floated to the exit. "Oh one more thing Major. I did study your file in detail, your combat record is exceptional. Decorated any number of times for bravery and valour in both mobile suit and non-suit combat. Your are one of a select few to be awarded more then one Spec Ops. Service Medallion, which is the highest award a spec opser like yourself could achieve. Your report describes you as 'fearless', but how would you describe yourself?"
Page couldnt escape how this was a stupid line of questioning, but answered anyway, still determined to give nothing away, it was just his nature to be secrative. "The fearless are merely fearless sir. People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave."
Peace let out a small laugh, "A LaFond-Lewis quote"
"Yes sir"
"So you do not fear death, thats good for a man in your position but I do hope you are not in a rush to end your life, there is still much left for you to accomplish." Page didnt answer, he simply turned away and floated to the door to let hims self out. He didnt have time for pyscological games right now. He also ignored Dessan on his way off the bridge. That man would have a go at him later but it didnt matter, no doubt he would rant on endlessly about the chain of command, either way Page didnt want to be lectured by that cheap hack. Returning to his quaters he plugged the data disk into his work station to look over his new missions.
Scrolling down the list Page could see the Colonel had done his homework, the file listed 5 assassinations, 2 acts of covert sabotage of Preventer hardware and 1 abduction and the time stamp gave him 2 months, not nearly enough time to finish all of it. He had alot to think about, not least of which was the "troubleshooting" list he had just been ordered to carry out best get down to work.
First up on the assassination list was Preventer's Commanding Officer Une.
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Done!! Hope you liked the start, if you want more then hit review :) Also if you think I could do something better or if Ive got it just wrong somewhere then tell me. Should I bother to carry this on??