Start Transmission. Gundanium Peace 0.0.20. Loading...
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The jolting woke Duo up, as the shuttle entered the Earth's dust laden atmosphere. A sharp whirring sound began, and Duo guessed that the thick dust had begun to grind up every piece of metal on the plane. He could see through the shuttle's portholes, so thick was the gray volcanic debris. It was amazing that they were even attempting this at all. He knew there were spots in the atmosphere where the ash was almost non-existent. These holes in the dust and atmosphere may have made for hellish living on the surface, but they were much better than flying a shuttle through this. The noise was getting louder, and the remnants of his hangover headache were starting to ignite with pain. Duo forced his mind off the results of last night binge when he felt a presence behind him. Turning to look, he saw an unusually tall and dark man of Asian descent. The man bowed his head to Duo, just before disappearing in a flash of motion. Duo's head was pinned and his eyes blinded by dark cloth before he could remove his seatbelt and get out of the man's way.
"I hope you will forgive this terrible shame, but it is necessary. For our protection as well as yours," the Asian man said with only the faintest tinge of a hard-to-place accent. "You will have the blindfold removed when we reach our destination. From the moment we crash land to our rendezvous, there will always be five of us completely surrounding you. Again, this is for both yours and our protection."
"Why are you so calm about us crashing? And, uh, I don't suppose you would tell me where this 'destination' is exactly, either?"
"We haven't had a successful shuttle landing since the sky was stolen by the ash. And, I am very sorry, but I cannot tell you where we are going."
"M'Kay. Figured as much."
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Two men walked stiffly through the door of Quatre's office. The blonde looked up, instincts warning him, and narrowed his eyes, "There something wrong, isn't there, guys?" he said to the two Maguanacs that had stepped in.
Instead of answering, they stumbled into the room, knocked out by another two men that Quatre did not recognize.
"I apologize for the use of force. You will find that no one has been seriously harmed."
"What exactly is the meaning of this? Your actions will have you in front of a colony tribunal for high treason," Quatre spat his words at the intruders, angry for the breach of peace.
"As I said, we apologize for the use of force necessary, but we needed to speak with you about a matter you might find of interest." The lead intruder stepped around the unconscious Maguanac bodies. Holding out his hand, he introduced himself. "My name is William Marshall. My partner is Timmard McVeen." He gave a slight nervous smile, more a quivering of the lips than anything. When Quatre starred hard into his eyes and blatantly ignored the outheld hand, he frowned.
McVeen spoke up. "We came to give you information. You don't have to listen, but you don't need to be uncivil about it either. We tried official channels to contact you, but you've got more screeners than the damned Colony Council itself."
"Enough, Tim. We have information about some of your fellow Gundam pilots. And we need your help." Marshall looked toward the blonde man for acknowledgement.
"They are 'ex'-Gundam pilots. And I don't suppose I have much choose in the matter, considering you've got the guns."
"You're right, on both counts," Marshall set his gun down on Quatre's desk and motioned for McVeen to do the same. "I'll get straight to the point. The 'former' Gundam pilots, Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell, have returned to the Earth to retrieve Pilot Heero Yuy's body."
Quatre turned a sharp, but bewildered look to the taller man. "What, what exactly do you mean?"
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"If you'll follow me to the Corporal, she is waiting to have a word," Major Asosa spoke, turning towards a short hallway.
As they stepped into the doorway Duo replied, "A corporal? A she? Low rank military personnel giving you orders? And I thought you were the bossman around her. Well, I guess that proves the old saying true: Behind every successful man, stands-"
"-a surprised woman," interrupted another voice.
"Um, well, actually, I was gonna say," Duo turned his head towards the voice of the person who interrupted his quip, only to find a smallish woman surrounded by a dozen or so war-hardened soldiers. Guns were leveled just low enough to be considered incautious, but to the careful viewer, they were just high enough to be immediately effective. "Yeah, well, I was gonna say, uh, just exactly what you said."
"No doubt," the woman deadpanned.
The soldiers lowered their weapons to a relatively relaxed state, following an unseen order from the woman. Well, the slight flicked hand was unseen to all but a trained eye. Duo may not have been a soldier for nearly a decade, but he remember his training well. His attention became immediate as he nonchalantly took in all of his surroundings.
Major Asosa nodded his head towards the woman, "That is the Corporal. Corporal is just a title, not a rank; show both respect and caution when speaking with her."
"Thanks, Asosa. Badger, Treighton, your units are dismissed." As the room cleared, the Corporal focused on Duo. Duo looked her over carefully, just as she searched him over carefully; looking for weapons, strengths and weaknesses, nervousness, anything that would give her a sign of what to expect. After the initial look-over, taking no more than a split second, the Corporal released her rifle, letting it slide down the shoulder strap to her side, and waved for Duo to sit. Duo sat at the same time as she, and began to question her.
"Now that the pleasantries are finished, what the hell am I doing here. Why was I blindfolded the whole way? And just what the fuck is this talk about Heero's body, like he's dead or something?" The woman sighed, her expression never changing as she looked to him.
"And so it starts."
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End Transmission.
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The jolting woke Duo up, as the shuttle entered the Earth's dust laden atmosphere. A sharp whirring sound began, and Duo guessed that the thick dust had begun to grind up every piece of metal on the plane. He could see through the shuttle's portholes, so thick was the gray volcanic debris. It was amazing that they were even attempting this at all. He knew there were spots in the atmosphere where the ash was almost non-existent. These holes in the dust and atmosphere may have made for hellish living on the surface, but they were much better than flying a shuttle through this. The noise was getting louder, and the remnants of his hangover headache were starting to ignite with pain. Duo forced his mind off the results of last night binge when he felt a presence behind him. Turning to look, he saw an unusually tall and dark man of Asian descent. The man bowed his head to Duo, just before disappearing in a flash of motion. Duo's head was pinned and his eyes blinded by dark cloth before he could remove his seatbelt and get out of the man's way.
"I hope you will forgive this terrible shame, but it is necessary. For our protection as well as yours," the Asian man said with only the faintest tinge of a hard-to-place accent. "You will have the blindfold removed when we reach our destination. From the moment we crash land to our rendezvous, there will always be five of us completely surrounding you. Again, this is for both yours and our protection."
"Why are you so calm about us crashing? And, uh, I don't suppose you would tell me where this 'destination' is exactly, either?"
"We haven't had a successful shuttle landing since the sky was stolen by the ash. And, I am very sorry, but I cannot tell you where we are going."
"M'Kay. Figured as much."
------
Two men walked stiffly through the door of Quatre's office. The blonde looked up, instincts warning him, and narrowed his eyes, "There something wrong, isn't there, guys?" he said to the two Maguanacs that had stepped in.
Instead of answering, they stumbled into the room, knocked out by another two men that Quatre did not recognize.
"I apologize for the use of force. You will find that no one has been seriously harmed."
"What exactly is the meaning of this? Your actions will have you in front of a colony tribunal for high treason," Quatre spat his words at the intruders, angry for the breach of peace.
"As I said, we apologize for the use of force necessary, but we needed to speak with you about a matter you might find of interest." The lead intruder stepped around the unconscious Maguanac bodies. Holding out his hand, he introduced himself. "My name is William Marshall. My partner is Timmard McVeen." He gave a slight nervous smile, more a quivering of the lips than anything. When Quatre starred hard into his eyes and blatantly ignored the outheld hand, he frowned.
McVeen spoke up. "We came to give you information. You don't have to listen, but you don't need to be uncivil about it either. We tried official channels to contact you, but you've got more screeners than the damned Colony Council itself."
"Enough, Tim. We have information about some of your fellow Gundam pilots. And we need your help." Marshall looked toward the blonde man for acknowledgement.
"They are 'ex'-Gundam pilots. And I don't suppose I have much choose in the matter, considering you've got the guns."
"You're right, on both counts," Marshall set his gun down on Quatre's desk and motioned for McVeen to do the same. "I'll get straight to the point. The 'former' Gundam pilots, Trowa Barton and Duo Maxwell, have returned to the Earth to retrieve Pilot Heero Yuy's body."
Quatre turned a sharp, but bewildered look to the taller man. "What, what exactly do you mean?"
------
"If you'll follow me to the Corporal, she is waiting to have a word," Major Asosa spoke, turning towards a short hallway.
As they stepped into the doorway Duo replied, "A corporal? A she? Low rank military personnel giving you orders? And I thought you were the bossman around her. Well, I guess that proves the old saying true: Behind every successful man, stands-"
"-a surprised woman," interrupted another voice.
"Um, well, actually, I was gonna say," Duo turned his head towards the voice of the person who interrupted his quip, only to find a smallish woman surrounded by a dozen or so war-hardened soldiers. Guns were leveled just low enough to be considered incautious, but to the careful viewer, they were just high enough to be immediately effective. "Yeah, well, I was gonna say, uh, just exactly what you said."
"No doubt," the woman deadpanned.
The soldiers lowered their weapons to a relatively relaxed state, following an unseen order from the woman. Well, the slight flicked hand was unseen to all but a trained eye. Duo may not have been a soldier for nearly a decade, but he remember his training well. His attention became immediate as he nonchalantly took in all of his surroundings.
Major Asosa nodded his head towards the woman, "That is the Corporal. Corporal is just a title, not a rank; show both respect and caution when speaking with her."
"Thanks, Asosa. Badger, Treighton, your units are dismissed." As the room cleared, the Corporal focused on Duo. Duo looked her over carefully, just as she searched him over carefully; looking for weapons, strengths and weaknesses, nervousness, anything that would give her a sign of what to expect. After the initial look-over, taking no more than a split second, the Corporal released her rifle, letting it slide down the shoulder strap to her side, and waved for Duo to sit. Duo sat at the same time as she, and began to question her.
"Now that the pleasantries are finished, what the hell am I doing here. Why was I blindfolded the whole way? And just what the fuck is this talk about Heero's body, like he's dead or something?" The woman sighed, her expression never changing as she looked to him.
"And so it starts."
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End Transmission.