Start Transmission. Gundanium Peace 0.0.20. Loading...
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Quatre's bewildered expression turned to a frowning one the men told their story, what little story they had for him, anyway. Like many colonists, they had family on Earth when the colonies called for a full enforced quarantine. However, unlike most, they felt the colony should have stepped in to help stop Earth's self annihilation. Beyond their own story, there was very little that they knew. They had only received two transmissions from Earth in the last four years. The first had been to inform them of their contact's movement to the west side of the North American continent. The second was to tell them to seek out the remaining Gundam pilots - to bring Heero Yuy's body back to space. According to the men, it was his wish to be 'buried' in space. After that, there were no more transmissions. Marshall didn't know whether his contact was dead, or could simply not find any communications equipment that had power or that had not been corroded by time, explosive dust, or nuclear fallout.
"Have you any proof? Anything at all to prove you are who you say you are, and that Heero is truly dead on Earth?" Quatre glanced towards the men, already knowing that they were speaking the truth. He had heard only the vaguest rumours about the happenings on Earth, and these men supposedly were part of the organization that leaked the hearsay. But what did they want from him, when there was no way to get to Earth? What did they hope to gain?
Marshall started, "Please, Mr. Winner, call the fifth Gundam pilot - ex-Gundam pilot. We have not been able to reach him through our station on L5. We would like to speak with him also. I will try to explain further what is happening here, and I do not wish to explain it two times."
"Why are you telling me this? How do you know that I won't turn you in to the Council Tribunal?"
"We haven't got much of a choice. You Gundam pilots, our Earth-side leader felt that you are Earth's last hope for salvation."
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"And so it begins."
The Corporal looked to Duo, nearly expressionless, but still thoughtful, as if debating the best way to tell a child his father has died. "We blindfolded you for several reasons. We have a temporary hideout in these caverns and I need to be sure our place here is protected. Two, your eyes will have difficulty adjusting outside. There is ground up dust, sand, and radioactive debris throughout the atmosphere in this area. Most of us are unaffected by this now, but I couldn't have you blinded before you even came to us. And lastly, the soldier's disease. Again, I think that we here are immune, but I don't know about you. I have some people here who believe the surest and quickest way to get the disease is as it absorbs through mucus. Others believe it is airborne and enters the body through open eyes and wounds. Know one knows for sure how it's spread, though, so it didn't hurt to take precautions with our... newest guest.
That answered your first question. As for question two, I thought that was clear enough already. Your friend, Yuy, is dead. His single expressed wish to us was that his body be returned to space for a space burial." She sat back in the banged-up wooden chair and placed her feet on her desk, rocking the chair back and forth on its two hind legs. As she sat patiently waiting for his reply, or perhaps not caring if he replied at all, Duo looked her over once more. She was unusually healthy looking compared to the others he had seen. He wondered if she received extra rations for her 'leadership'. These people were all the same. Her clothes were ragged and the inch-thick silk cloak she wore looked as if it had seen better days. He could still see bullets embedded in it, as if were an armour of some sort. A curved sword rested at her side, unsheathed and slipped through her belt. He didn't know a damned thing about swords, but he guessed it looked lethal enough. And then the gun she had, a much older make than he had seen before, it had no electronics that he could make out. But then he seemed to recall something about the Earth losing its ability to create power. Come to think of it, no one had any electrical equipment around here, and torches lighted the place.
Duo let his gaze roll off of the woman and ran it around the room. This second look-over involved more than just seeking out weapons and escape routes, though. The ceiling was pretty high, thirty or forty feet, and it wasn't built, but a natural cave ceiling. It seemed someone had made this base from the inner linings of a mountain, only building up what was needed. The rest of the room was plain though, the man made walls were an old cracking concrete, showing more than just a decade worth of neglect and aging. The Corporal and her men seemed to have bunked up in an old underground fortress. He didn't like it here, he decided. Not at all.
"So let's make this happen, babe. Let's grab Heero and get me off this rock."
"Ah, and therein lies the problem. The shuttle that sent you crash landed." She replied, still annoyingly unaffected by the whole situation.
"So, get another one or fix this one. Hell, gimme some parts and tools and I'll fix this one."
"There are no parts, or tools, or fuel to replace that lost in the eventual explosion. And there are certainly no other shuttles. The shuttle you came here on was supposed to be able to withstand the entry, but it was still experimental. You can't leave unless another shuttle lands with the ability to take back off."
"You're freaking kidding me. I was told the cloaking device on the shuttle was experimental, not the WHOLE FREAKIN' SHUTTLE." She looked to him, then stood up and motion for him to follow. Unsure of what was going on, and suddenly too tired to care, he got up and followed. Walking out of the room, she nodded to Asosa, who stood at the entrance. "Asosa will show you to a place to sleep. Asosa, see if you can't get him some food from Snuff. And tell the men we're marching tomorrow."
The Corporal turned to Duo once again, looked him over, and nodded. With a sharp turnabout, she returned to the room they had just left, and Asosa began to walk down the hall.
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"So, why exactly is she the head of this group? And a corporal above a major, especially such a nice guy like yourself?" Grinning, Duo stopped before the door of the room that Asosa had led him to.
"I told you. 'Corporal' is just a title." The tall, regal black man nodded his head towards the room. "You better get rested. I'll have Snuff bring you in something in a bit." And with that he closed the door the room, locking it with a quick snip, and leaving Duo a prisoner in a place he didn't know, with people he didn't know, for reasons he didn't know. He plopped to the cot. Folding his hands behind his head, Duo waited and thought.
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End Transmission.
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Quatre's bewildered expression turned to a frowning one the men told their story, what little story they had for him, anyway. Like many colonists, they had family on Earth when the colonies called for a full enforced quarantine. However, unlike most, they felt the colony should have stepped in to help stop Earth's self annihilation. Beyond their own story, there was very little that they knew. They had only received two transmissions from Earth in the last four years. The first had been to inform them of their contact's movement to the west side of the North American continent. The second was to tell them to seek out the remaining Gundam pilots - to bring Heero Yuy's body back to space. According to the men, it was his wish to be 'buried' in space. After that, there were no more transmissions. Marshall didn't know whether his contact was dead, or could simply not find any communications equipment that had power or that had not been corroded by time, explosive dust, or nuclear fallout.
"Have you any proof? Anything at all to prove you are who you say you are, and that Heero is truly dead on Earth?" Quatre glanced towards the men, already knowing that they were speaking the truth. He had heard only the vaguest rumours about the happenings on Earth, and these men supposedly were part of the organization that leaked the hearsay. But what did they want from him, when there was no way to get to Earth? What did they hope to gain?
Marshall started, "Please, Mr. Winner, call the fifth Gundam pilot - ex-Gundam pilot. We have not been able to reach him through our station on L5. We would like to speak with him also. I will try to explain further what is happening here, and I do not wish to explain it two times."
"Why are you telling me this? How do you know that I won't turn you in to the Council Tribunal?"
"We haven't got much of a choice. You Gundam pilots, our Earth-side leader felt that you are Earth's last hope for salvation."
------
"And so it begins."
The Corporal looked to Duo, nearly expressionless, but still thoughtful, as if debating the best way to tell a child his father has died. "We blindfolded you for several reasons. We have a temporary hideout in these caverns and I need to be sure our place here is protected. Two, your eyes will have difficulty adjusting outside. There is ground up dust, sand, and radioactive debris throughout the atmosphere in this area. Most of us are unaffected by this now, but I couldn't have you blinded before you even came to us. And lastly, the soldier's disease. Again, I think that we here are immune, but I don't know about you. I have some people here who believe the surest and quickest way to get the disease is as it absorbs through mucus. Others believe it is airborne and enters the body through open eyes and wounds. Know one knows for sure how it's spread, though, so it didn't hurt to take precautions with our... newest guest.
That answered your first question. As for question two, I thought that was clear enough already. Your friend, Yuy, is dead. His single expressed wish to us was that his body be returned to space for a space burial." She sat back in the banged-up wooden chair and placed her feet on her desk, rocking the chair back and forth on its two hind legs. As she sat patiently waiting for his reply, or perhaps not caring if he replied at all, Duo looked her over once more. She was unusually healthy looking compared to the others he had seen. He wondered if she received extra rations for her 'leadership'. These people were all the same. Her clothes were ragged and the inch-thick silk cloak she wore looked as if it had seen better days. He could still see bullets embedded in it, as if were an armour of some sort. A curved sword rested at her side, unsheathed and slipped through her belt. He didn't know a damned thing about swords, but he guessed it looked lethal enough. And then the gun she had, a much older make than he had seen before, it had no electronics that he could make out. But then he seemed to recall something about the Earth losing its ability to create power. Come to think of it, no one had any electrical equipment around here, and torches lighted the place.
Duo let his gaze roll off of the woman and ran it around the room. This second look-over involved more than just seeking out weapons and escape routes, though. The ceiling was pretty high, thirty or forty feet, and it wasn't built, but a natural cave ceiling. It seemed someone had made this base from the inner linings of a mountain, only building up what was needed. The rest of the room was plain though, the man made walls were an old cracking concrete, showing more than just a decade worth of neglect and aging. The Corporal and her men seemed to have bunked up in an old underground fortress. He didn't like it here, he decided. Not at all.
"So let's make this happen, babe. Let's grab Heero and get me off this rock."
"Ah, and therein lies the problem. The shuttle that sent you crash landed." She replied, still annoyingly unaffected by the whole situation.
"So, get another one or fix this one. Hell, gimme some parts and tools and I'll fix this one."
"There are no parts, or tools, or fuel to replace that lost in the eventual explosion. And there are certainly no other shuttles. The shuttle you came here on was supposed to be able to withstand the entry, but it was still experimental. You can't leave unless another shuttle lands with the ability to take back off."
"You're freaking kidding me. I was told the cloaking device on the shuttle was experimental, not the WHOLE FREAKIN' SHUTTLE." She looked to him, then stood up and motion for him to follow. Unsure of what was going on, and suddenly too tired to care, he got up and followed. Walking out of the room, she nodded to Asosa, who stood at the entrance. "Asosa will show you to a place to sleep. Asosa, see if you can't get him some food from Snuff. And tell the men we're marching tomorrow."
The Corporal turned to Duo once again, looked him over, and nodded. With a sharp turnabout, she returned to the room they had just left, and Asosa began to walk down the hall.
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"So, why exactly is she the head of this group? And a corporal above a major, especially such a nice guy like yourself?" Grinning, Duo stopped before the door of the room that Asosa had led him to.
"I told you. 'Corporal' is just a title." The tall, regal black man nodded his head towards the room. "You better get rested. I'll have Snuff bring you in something in a bit." And with that he closed the door the room, locking it with a quick snip, and leaving Duo a prisoner in a place he didn't know, with people he didn't know, for reasons he didn't know. He plopped to the cot. Folding his hands behind his head, Duo waited and thought.
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End Transmission.