6. A load of watermelon:
(Note: In case you don't understand the title – and you probably don't – do not worry, for it will be explained later on in this chapter.)
First impressions can be quite important – or misleading. When Rama's story first came to light, it seemed inevitable that someone had to be punished. But as events unfolded with Treize's 'friendly' call, and the 'pleasant' intercourse between H and his two trainees, it became clear that someone was going to be grievously hurt. The injustice had to be removed. Then it transpired that they had to wait before serving justice. The reason was an onna, and Lady Une at that.
It was simply too huge an injustice to be allowed.
For the reasons above, a certain Chinese pilot by the name of Chang Wufei was currently looking like a steam engine standing still with a load of coal burning ferociously inside it.
Saying that he was angry was certainly an understatement of an age, and his comrades were not blind to the fact. Heero moved beside the seething 05, while Quatre sensed the urgency of extracting facts as quickly as possible. The scientists were not that foolish, either, and it was H who answered their last questions.
"How the hell did he come out of the battle alive?" questioned Duo, gesturing at Treize.
"Good question," began H, receiving four pairs of withering glares, with one emerald glower thrown in for good measure. "General Treize wasn't in the Tallgeese to begin with."
"So that's why the Tallgeese was so passive," mused Quatre. "I thought I couldn't feel him in battle because of the Zero system... And why was that so?"
"Some of those who founded the Warhorses were former Pro-Treize soldiers," replied H. "The plans to rule after White Fang was defeated began directly before the last battle. They wanted General Treize to lead them."
"And?" pressed Wufei in a calm voice. Currently, his want to find out what was going on was the only thing that stopped him from charging.
"Believe it or not, their plans were even worse than those of White Fang's. I knew that they would get... persistent if I refused, and so I told them to wait till the final battle was over," answered Treize.
"So you staged your death on the battlefield to rid yourself of their persuasion," supplied Quatre hurriedly before Wufei could explode. This day was SO full of injustice.
"Yes," said Treize, catching the diplomatic urge to continue their 'conversation' without an exploding Wufei interrupting. "When White Fang was defeated, they decided to launch their plans, but they took a step I had not anticipated: they contacted Lady Une. Naturally she refused and urged them to forgo their scheme, but they took her with them. She is currently in one of their main bases, unharmed as our spies report."
"Does she know that you weren't on the battlefield?" asked Trowa.
"Yes, but she was the only one who did."
"Then how did you pull that stunt?" said Duo, puzzled.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without the help of the scientists," replied Treize.
"Okay, we're done," said Quatre briskly. The next few minutes involved the pilots wrestling Wufei out of the room and all the way to their private chambers.
oo00oo
"INJUSTICE! WHY did you stop me?" snarled Wufei at his comrades.
"Believe me, Wufei, I would have gladly helped you, but now isn't the time," said the blonde wearily.
"So what do you think?" questioned Trowa.
"They're right: we can't do anything unless we get Une out of there, though that's not going to be easy," said Heero.
Wufei, having seen sense in what they were saying, decided to join in the discussion. He pointed at the middle of the 3-D map before them.
"It's the heart of their organization. It's bound to be heavily armed," he noted.
"Can't we just take our Gundams and barge in there?" asked Duo.
"The Gundams are not finished yet," said Samra, coming into the room. "It'll take some time before they're done."
"And we can't wait too long, or else they'll start a full-scale attack. Besides, a Gundam raid would be too obvious; we won't be able to get Lady Une out of there," added Quatre.
"WHY do we have to save that weakling onna?" argued Wufei.
"If you ask me, we're siding with the lesser of two evils," remarked Trowa.
"So what do we do now?" said Duo with a sigh.
"Well, they still haven't finished the preparations of this army, and I need to think about it. The Maganacs are helping the engineers finish the work. We have nothing to do till we have a plan," answered Quatre, shrugging.
"Very well," said Samra, turning to leave. "I'll be with the workers."
"Why do I get the impression that she ran out of here?" asked Duo.
Quatre laughed softly. "If Samra didn't have something to do while she's in this state, you'll have a very sorry H in that lab."
"Good point," said Wufei, going to vent some anger in his room.
"I'll try finding more at the network." Heero turned and followed Wufei.
A few minutes later found Duo wandering in the corridors by himself. Trowa had gone to rest, and Quatre was apparently busy somewhere. The braided American was left by himself to brood over what had gone between them and the scientists. Though he would die before admitting it, Shinigami knew that it was a sticky situation. Heero and Trowa were right: they had to get Une out of there. But Wufei wasn't wrong: they were going to face heavily armed bases – and Quatre was right as well: they couldn't wait long. Duo hated it when they were all right at the same time; it made things so confusing. He wondered how their blonde strategist was faring.
But after all, it was Quatre, and a year of fighting alongside the Arabian had taught him not to question what zero four could do (yes, I know it's reeally biased – but hey, I'm the author here!). Rather, time would tell, and, personally, he was in no hurry.
A loud clunk nearby jerked him out of his reverie, and Duo found that he had walked into a hangar of sorts. A spanner lay a few feet away from him; it had apparently fallen from one of the many ledges propped around the mechas.
"Duo!" a familiar voice called. Rama climbed down the machine nearest to Duo, looking worried. "I'm sorry, Duo, did it hit you?"
"No, don't worry," he assured cheerily handing her back the tool. "What are you doing up there anyway?"
She shrugged, accepting the spanner. "I'm helping Samra check the finished mechas. One nut was being stubborn up there when the thing slipped."
He nodded, climbing the thing with her. "You're good at this," he remarked as he watched her commence work again."
"I had a lot of training about this, and Samra helped as well," she replied, struggling with the unyielding metal.
"Here, let me help."
An hour later found both braided ones sat side by side, having finished the work. Sipping on a cold mint drink, Duo tried in vain to ignore the question nagging persistently in his mind. Finally, he gave in.
"Rama, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah..."
"Well... what do you think of war? You know, fighting and stuff?"
She shrugged. "Battikh." Apparently, she found that a sufficient answer. However, her companion did not.
"What?"
"It –" Her answer was cut short by a loud call from the other end of the hangar.
"Rama! Are you done yet?" the girl by his jumped and cast an apologetic look at Duo.
"Sorry, I have to go. See you around, Duo."
Duo stared blankly at her retreating figure. What did that word mean? He was very much surprised, but he intended to find out.
oo00oo
Duo found the giant hammering viciously at a sheet of metal, endeavouring to put it in place with the greatest amount of force possible without destroying the machine. Considering that five very unwanted persons were currently roaming the Maganac base like they owned it AND the Lightning Baron's superior himself, Rashid was actually showing a great deal of self-control.
His spirits were a little dampened, nevertheless he asked the question in a tolerably Duo-manner.
"Hey Rashid, can I ask you a question?"
"Yes, Master Duo."
"What does 'battikh' mean?"
Sparing him a glance, Rashid gave the hint of a shrug and went back to his work.
"Watermelon," was all he said.
...
"Very talkative, these people," muttered Duo to himself. He resorted to roaming the corridors once more, more confused than he had originally been. HOW could war be a fruit? It was downright puzzling, and Duo wasn't the type who stood puzzles and kept quiet.
He suddenly stopped in the middle of a stride and mentally banged himself on the head for not thinking of it before. He turned round abruptly and headed, not at all slowly, to Quatre's room.
"What is it, Duo?" asked Quatre as his braided friend entered before he even answered the knock.
"You have to answer a question of mine, or I'll go crazy," stated Duo as-a-matter-of-factly.
The blonde, relieved to have something to do other than think about the blasted situation, looked at him expectantly.
"WHAT does the word 'battikh' mean?!" he asked eagerly.
To his surprise, Quatre looked highly amused and laughed softly.
"Where did you hear that, Duo?" The braided teenager narrated the conversation between him and Rama, as well as Rashid's strange explanation.
"She has a point," mused Quatre as he listened. An irked Duo with eyebrows high, induced him to continue. "Battikh literally means watermelon, as Rashid said. But in some dialects of Arabic, like that of Egypt, it can mean crap."
Duo blinked, "Crap?"
"Yes, now come, they want us," he added, gesturing at a beeping panel in the room.
...
"New reports have reached us," began J. "The Warhorses are likely to attack in a week from now. Retrieval of Lady Une must be done very soon. A fleet of fighters is now ready; use them well. The Maganacs are fully armed. This is where they hold her."
A map projected before them, showing doubled security. 70% of the bases were armed moderately and were now surrounding the main base from all sides. AND the Gundams were not ready yet.
"Rama had a good point," remarked Duo. "This is one load of watermelon alright."
--end of chapter six—
Author's Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters do not belong to me.
Author's notes:
Not much to say... I hope the explanation was clear. Additional thanks to weissangel24, you're the best. Next chapter, our blonde does some serious thinking, incorporating the fastest animal on earth. Anyone knows who that is? Besides, he's going to have a long conversation with one of the pilot. I haven't decided who yet, though I'm thinking of Wufei. Any suggestions?
And yeah, I've begun to write Wufei. Please be kind enough to drop a note. I want to know if this is being read.
To the readers and reviewers: many thanks. See you soon.
Free Skylark. 13 August 2004.