AN: Chapter 19, all right! This is going to be full of action and suspense. I hope that you enjoy as this story is beginning to finally wrap up! Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters.
"Relena, please we must be going or you shall be late for the most important meeting of your life!"
"I'll be there in one moment, Milliardo!" shouted the young woman as she stared at herself in the mirror for one final time. She was tired, nervous, and anxious. This meeting with the ESUN might either make or break her. Either way, it would take its toll on her mind and body. Breathing deeply and making sure that she looked presentable and professional; Relena left the mirror of the vanity in her hotel room and walked into the hallway where Zechs, Heero, Quatre and Trowa all awaited her.
They had arranged on an escort plan to and from daily activities. Zechs and Quatre walked ahead of everyone, Zechs pretending to escort Mr. Quatre Winner, a representative of Colony L4. In truth, both were protecting the Foreign Minister should someone try to attack from ahead. Trowa took his place next to Relena and always made sure to gently grab hold of her arm while escorting her outside and in throngs of people. Two other Preventers always walked along side of him and Relena. Finally, Heero made of the rear of the moving party. His eyes scanned all about them, looking for any enemy who would dare try to harm the young woman he had vowed to protect. His dangerous eyes darted here and there like a hawk swooping down for its prey. At times like these Heero Yuy became unemotional, unreadable, destructive, and lethal: the Perfect Soldier.
As they left the hotel reporters reeled outside by the awaiting limo, screaming for Relena to answer their questions. All the Vice Foreign Minister could do at that time was politely excusing herself as she was late to the conference.
During the limo ride, all were silent. Relena looked at the window the entire way, wringing her hands in a handkerchief. She was nervous. Trowa and Quatre watched as the young woman tried to maintain her composure. Quatre looked to Trowa with troubled eyes. Trowa simply nodded his head in reassurance that all would be well. The blonde haired pilot did his best to relax. Zechs also stared out the window for the majority of the ride. His mind was on many things, he couldn't quite pick one to focus on. His wiped the sweat that was beginning to form on his brow. Heero just sat there, he eyes focused on Relena who did not seem to notice his fixating gaze and that point.
As they pulled up to the large building where the meeting was to be held, Relena gasped as she saw hundreds of reporters and people lined up for her arrival. It was insane. People shouting and flashing their cameras at the limo, screaming questions at the young woman before she could even step outside the car door.
A thump on the trunk of the car caused Relena to jump. The occupants of the car looked to see a man trying to break the bulletproof glass of the rear window to get into the car. Heero grabbed Relena and pulled her next to Quatre and Trowa. He watched the man carefully, and Zechs made a call on his wrist COM. Immediately, some Preventers pulled the pursuer off the car, while some others cleared a path for Relena to walk through to the building.
Zechs and Quatre stepped out of the car first. Trowa then followed and turned to offer his hand to Relena,
"Breath Relena, here we go, just take my hand," said the usually silent pilot.
Relena nodded and accepted his hand and stepped out of the limo, followed quickly by Heero.
Camera, flashes were blinding everyone as they made their way to the building. The shouts of the reporters as well as protestors were inevitable, as they filled everyone's ears. Heero shot a few deadly glances towards several reporters who dared come too close to the Vice Foreign Minister. They cowered back at the cold Prussian blue stare.
Finally they reached the main entrance of the building. Relena was escorted unharmed into a large auditorium, where the first part of the conference was to take place. She, and several other ESUN members, had to give speeches regarding the crisis at large. Then, the political parties would be moved to a large meeting room to try and discuss methods for peace with little debate as possible.
Heero and Trowa stood with Relena onstage as Zechs took his place, with several other Preventers, in the wings of the stage, on balconies, and at entrances and exits to the auditorium. Quatre took a seat in the audience, towards the front, just like many other ESUN delegates, and colonial representatives. Quatre scanned the crowd, looking for unfriendly faces. His gaze suddenly rested on Bret Mavica, the suspected ESUN member from Earth was seated in the front row. Along side of him was Representative Clemens, the two men looked as if they were in conversation with each other.
Quatre looked up on stage and caught Trowa's eyes. His motioned with his head to look towards the front. As the silent pilot did so, he too saw what Quatre had seen. He nudged Heero gently to look also. Heero nodded and motioned for Trowa to step off stage into the wing to inform Zechs. Trowa walked away quietly.
"Heero is something wrong?" asked Relena nervously from her seat.
"No, Relena, everything is fine, focus on what you are here for. We will take care of everything else."
Relena nodded her head. She glanced offstage to the right wing to see her brother and Trowa conversing quickly. Zechs nodded his head and Trowa moved away back on stage to stand behind Relena once more. She watched as Zechs slowly peeked his head out to look in the audience. She followed his gaze to a man with dark raven hair. She felt her heart skip a beat as she saw Bret Mavica staring up at her darkly. Heero noticed her uneasiness and did the first thing he could think of to get her mind off of things.
"Relena, it's time for your speech."
Relena jumped slightly but then nodded her head and took a deep breath, trying to maintain her focus. She put on her political mask and approached the podium. She lightly touched the dove pin that had been given to her as a way to keep track of her whereabouts. It was now one of her many security blankets. The people looked to her as the Dove of Peace. The pin, although it had been a burden of annoyance at first, now reminded her of how important she was to the people. It gave her some sort of strength.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen…" began the young Vice Foreign Minister.
Preventers…
Lady Une, Sally, Noin, Wufei and Duo all watched Relena speak on a large television in a lounge. They were silent. Duo sat by himself in the corner of the room. Hilde had not yet awaken and his mind was elsewhere. Still he tried to focus and listen to what Relena had to say. He had to get his mind off of things.
Suddenly, Howard and Rashid burst into the room, out of breath, panting like dogs.
"The warehouse on L1 has just been destroyed by mobile suits!" cried Howard "There is a whole army flying towards the Earth. There's nothing we can do! We are trying to get them onto the communicator to try to negotiate with them."
The others needed nothing else to be said. They ran out of the room in a hurry.
Wufei and Duo reached the docking bay. They quickly changed into their fly suits and jumped into the Gundams Shenlong and Deathscythe. Duo looked about as he saw both Preventers and Manguacs preparing for battle.
"Let's go!" cried Duo darkly as he powered up his Gundam.
"Maxwell, be smart," said Wufei over the communicator. "Don't let your anger control you."
"I've got everything under control."
"Chang, Maxwell, be careful out there," said Lady Une on the communicator. "I've sent Noin and some of the Manguacs out to help you. I want you to focus on that group of suits that are heading for Earth; we must stop them at any cost. They've done enough damage to the innocent."
"No problem," said Duo through gritted teeth. "Shignami is back!"
The band of mobile suits approached the enemy. The war was about to begin. Noin gave out orders in her Taurus having her team surround the enemy and fall into formation. She and her team would do the best they could to defeat the enemy. But in her heart she knew that the Gundams would destroy anything that lay in their path. The army they were up against was no match for two of them.
Duo and Wufei gripped the controls of their mobile suits. They were adjusting to the familiar feeling they always had when they sat in the cockpit. Even though it had been a long time, memories swept through their bodies as all their training began to kick in. To be a Gundam pilot meant that you never forgot what you had learned. You had to remember to survive. Both of them smiled to themselves as they felt their fighting skills return to them.
"Here we go!"
The battle began. The mobile suits fired at one another as the Preventers attempted to protect the Earth. Duo and Wufei jumped into the fray, the massive Gundams overpowering anything that stood in there way. Duo swiped through three suits with his scythe. He felt good. He loved the power and the control he felt inside his Gundam. He watched as Wufei overtook one of his opponents. Duo felt a surge of energy burst through him.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Shignami is back and everyone knows you don't mess when death comes calling!"
"Maxwell, be careful!" cried Wufei as he took out an enemy suit heading straight for his fellow pilot.
"Chill Wu-man. This is kid's stuff."
"Maxwell I swear…"
Noin jumped in on the communicator, "Heads up you two. We have about thirty more enemy suits closing in on us from behind. We get through them we complete the mission."
"Mission accepted," said Duo mocking Heero's deep voice.
"Maxwell…" warned Wufei.
"Jesus, chill out! Let me have a little fun and get the hell off my back!"
"Killing yourself won't make things better, it won't help her any."
Duo's eyes grew dark and cold. "Leave Hilde out of this. This has nothing to do with her. What do you care about my life anyway? Besides we have a mission to complete."
"Then complete the mission and save the games for later," replied Wufei sharply.
Duo didn't reply as his anger began to rise within him. What did they know? Did they understand what he was going through? He would rather die fighting than die being lonely for the rest of his life. After all she may not even wake up right. Duo shook his head. No, Sally had said that she would wake up it just may take some time. But for Hilde to never be the same person ever again was something he couldn't bare and he had brought it upon her. If he had only been watching her more closely…
Duo fired now at his enemies blindly. Several times he almost hit some of his fellow Preventers. Noin warned him through the communicator to control himself but he no longer cared. A Gundam pilot took orders from no one other than themselves or another Gundam pilot. That was how it was.
Finally Wufei, cut down the last enemy suit. He sighed in content at the feel of battle. It was a feeling that was an addiction and he often found himself yearning for it from time to time.
Suddenly Noin voice came on the communicator, "We've got a problem! Commander Une just reported a fleet of mobile suits heading straight for colony L1. They are going to attack! L1 is where Relena and the others are!"
"Why are they heading towards the colonies? They are supposed to be attacking Earth!" cried Duo. They would never make it in time. The location of the Preventers was a fair distance form the colonies and the enemy had had a jump start.
"We've must go!" cried Wufei and he maneuvered Shenlong towards the direction of L1. The small band of mobile suits filed out in hurry, led by the massive Gundams.
ESUN Committee Meeting…
Heero and Relena both felt uneasiness as they sat through the committee meeting. Heero peered about the conference room, searching for some kind of a threat. He could tell Relena was uncomfortable; she was shifting in her seat from time to time, nervously, secretly praying that all would work out in the end. Heero glanced over at Bret Mavica, who had been keeping his gaze on Relena for the past couple of hours. The thought made Heero feel something in the pit of his stomach. He shrugged aside any further thinking however, when a small debate erupted between two ESUN members.
Relena called for order and calm was restored once more. It had been a long nerve-racking day. She was tired but she dare not show it to anyone. The only one who could probably tell anyways was Heero. They had spent so much time together in the past few weeks it was hard not to pick up on one another's personal preferences and feelings. Relena mentally kicked herself and tried to keep her focus on the situation at hand. This was no time to be thinking about Heero Yuy, even though he was standing right behind her, guarding her, and keeping her safe.
"Everyone knows that the colonies have wanted independence from the beginning!" cried one delegate.
"Yes and everyone also knows that the Earth is ignorant and wants nothing but power!" cried another.
The argument continued on and on and Relena tried helplessly to control each angry ESUN official. So far things were getting no where. Relena's mind began to wonder once more about failure and what it would mean. She had nothing left to fight with.
"Please remain calm! We are getting no where with senseless arguing!" cried Quatre. "I believe the Vice Foreign Minister has a few words."
All eyes focused onto the young woman. Relena stood to address the committee once more,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I know that no one in this room is really in favor of war. Those who are should not even think to consider themselves ESUN delegates. Our job is not to start a war but to stop it before it can begin. Have we all forgotten about that? Have we all forgotten who we really are? If we have then we are all nothing but power-hungry ignorant people. Peace is what we have come here to discuss. I understand that emotions are running high and that there has been a lot of hurt spread within the past few months. But please, I am asking you all, we must try to achieve peace before the innocent suffer and die, and the world we all know, cease to exist."
Eyes of the officials looked shamefully upon the table. She spoke the truth, she always had. Relena was never known for ever telling a lie. Quatre smiled to himself inwardly. He knew that all she had needed was a chance to speak up. Now perhaps they would get somewhere.
"What of this so called peace?" cried a deep voice. "Your peace, Minister Darlian, has been a failure from the beginning! The colonies will never corporate at this point!"
Relena looked sharply at Senator Mavica. She turned her head sharply as Quatre jumped from his chair.
"Hold your tongue, Senator. If it wasn't for the Vice Foreign Minister, the peace we have known for several years would not have existed at all!"
"Go ahead Mr. Winner and stand up for her! From what I hear you two have become awfully close in the past few weeks. Its clear to see why she may favor the colonies over Earth!" shouted Mavica.
Quatre fumed with anger and Trowa placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"Go ahead Mr. Winner. We shall see what the Vice Minister really feels…"
"Stop it, this is childish!" cried Relena. "My friendship with Mr. Winner is no concern of yours nor does it affect the relationship I have with the Earth or the colonies." Murmurs rose throughout the room.
"Forgive me Miss Darlian," said Mavica as he bowed slightly. "I did not mean to insinuate about you and Mr. Winner." The raven haired man stared at Heero suddenly. "I suppose you are even closer with your bodyguard with all the time you spend together."
Heero placed himself in front of Relena immediately. There was no need for this man to pry into Relena's personal life in front of all these people. He glared at Mavica furiously with his Prussian blue eyes. He felt Relena tense up behind him as she grabbed his shirt gently.
Heero could feel the stares of the people in the room upon them. For the most part everyone was silent except for the occasional whisper. Heero saw Trowa leave the room out of the corner of his eye. He spoke slowly to the man before him, his voice barely above a whisper,
"Your behavior here is juvenile and unacceptable," stated Heero coldly. "I must ask you to leave peacefully. You will be escorted from the room if you wish to keep this up."
Again, Heero saw Trowa reenter the room with Zechs and two Preventers. They began to approach them.
Bret Mavica glanced over his shoulder at Zechs and the Preventers. He smiled grimly and shook his head.
"I know who you are Heero Yuy, and I will do as you say."
Heero felt Relena grip him even tighter at those words but he remained impassive.
"Who are you?"
"They are coming Heero Yuy. They are coming sooner than you think."
Heero stared at the man. He began to feel a small tremor on the ground. Slowly he could tell it was growing stronger and stronger. Heero took his eyes off of Mavica and backed away. He looked about the room. The others were beginning to feel the vibrations as they grew stronger and closer. Heero grabbed Relena's hand and pulled her across the room to stand next to Trowa, Quatre, and Zechs.
"Yuy..." began Zechs.
"Move…now!" cried Heero. The small band ran towards the door just as an explosion was heard. The people in the committee room panicked and began to run about in terror. Heero took a final glance behind him to see Bret Mavica standing calmly in the crowd, watching them move like a hawk.
Heero pulled out his gun. They were in the hallway now and they looked, for the first time, out of the windows to the world outside of the building. People in the streets were running and screaming in terror and large mobile suits paraded through the streets. Heero nudged Trowa and Quatre as a group of a hundred or so men, dressed in uniforms, began to enter the building which they were in. They were armed and ready for battle.
Relena clung to her brother as he called for backup. Several Preventers came immediately to their side. One reported that others had posted themselves through out the building. Relena watched in terror as the mobile suits opened fire on the colony.
She said nothing, she was too scared to move or speak. She just watched quietly as she held Milliardo's hand, while he and Heero tried to discuss a safe way to exit the building.
"We've got to get Relena out of here. Nothing else matters but her safety right now," said Milliardo.
"We must think quickly, those soldiers are entering the building," cried Quatre as he watched them file in.
"I saw an exit inside of the auditorium we were in earlier. If one of us could get Relena there we might have a chance," said Trowa quietly.
Heero thought for a moment.
"Zechs, you and your team of Preventers stay here with Quatre and cover for Trowa, Relena, and I while we make our way to the auditorium. It's just down the hallway. Trowa leave now so that you may exit and find us a car. Wait for us until we all arrive safely. If you have waited for longer than ten minutes and everyone is not accounted for… I want you to leave."
Trowa nodded his head slowly in understanding. He then took off down the hallway his gun in hand. He disappeared to the left as he made his way down another hallway to the auditorium.
"All right move!" cried Zechs to his team. They all ran in front of Heero and Relena and positioned themselves in various places ahead of the auditorium doors. Heero waited as Relena said goodbye to Milliardo.
"Go with Heero now. He will get you out of here."
"I know Milliardo, take care of yourself; I don't know what I would do without you."
Doors ahead of them that had been barricaded by the Preventers earlier, which allowed access to the hallways they were in, began to bang loudly. Relena turned her head sharply at the noise.
"They're coming!" cried Quatre. He grabbed a gun and hid himself behind a pillar. Zechs pushed Relena towards Heero,
"Go! Yuy get her out of here!"
Relena looked at her brother longingly not knowing whether or not she would ever see him alive again. She glanced quickly at Quatre and caught his eye. She then felt herself being pulled by Heero down the other hallway. Just as they left, they could hear the shots ringing out behind them.
AN: That's it the best is yet to come. Hope you are enjoying this all! Email WildRose1404earthlink.net