(Ch. 6)

1800 hours . . .

"Thank you all for coming on such a short notice." Lady Une began the meeting. "As of now, I can tell you all of two things that-"

"Yeah, sure thing Lady Une," spoke Duo. "But aren't we missing someone?" Duo received an annoyed look from Wufei, but Duo took it all so courteously by sticking out his tongue.

Not paying attention to the childish acts, Lady Une continued in a saddened tone. "That's one of the two things that I called you all hear for."

Hearing this, Duo and Wufei both gave their full attention to Lady Une. The tension in the air growing, everyone became tense to brace themselves for what Lady Une was about to say.

"Lieutenant Colonel Heero Yuy was reported killed in action on his last mission." Lady Une waited for this new information to set in. It wasn't until a little while that someone spoke up.

"This, this just can't be!" shouted Duo. "How could this have happened! He's the 'Perfect Soldier' for God sakes!"

"He's not indestructible Duo." Came Trowa's calm voice. "He's human, just like the rest of us."

Duo lowered his face into his hands, having a hard time accepting the fact that his best friend was actually gone. "Heero . . . I can't believe it buddy."

Quatre got up from his chair and walked over to Duo, placing a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner. "It's alright Duo, we all feel the same way." He comforted, and then addressed Lady Une. "Have you told Relena yet?"

Lady Une looked up to match Quatre's gaze. "Yes, I told her soon after." Quatre nodded.

"Alright." Wufei finally spoke. "Let's get down to business. What mission was Yuy sent on and what are we dealing with."

Regaining her composure, Lady Une began explaining Heero's mission and what was the current status on the newfound enemy.

"Heero was sent on a mission to an asteroid near the planet Mars to destroy what we've figured out to be a base of the recently discovered resistance force. We thought that it was a base containing their mobile suits, but we came to find out from a number of sources that it was not. It was a base where men were being trained for what we expect as another war."

"And all those people were, were killed with Heero?" Quatre asked, shocked.

"Yes, Quatre." Came Lady Une's answer. "The one thing that we've been able to avoid for the past three years."

"Did Heero know of this?" Quatre asked again.

"No, he didn't." she replied gravely. "We've just discovered it after Heero had . . . completed his mission"

Quatre nodded and dropped his pursuit. He was never one who could really accept the fact of many people dying, even in times of war.

Lady Une then continued. "It has been believed that this organization has been established for as long as about one year. We were not aware of them until last month. They're numbers have increased tremendously since then, and this problem is increasing rapidly each day."

"What information do we have on these guys?" Inquired Trowa.

"Basically all that we have is that these are old soldiers from Oz and that they believe strongly in their leader. His name is Zavien Knight. He's just another one of those people who want to take over all of mankind and rule the world and the colonies. He has a sufficient amount of people under his control already, and has mobile suits within his hands to play his game."

"Do we know of any other location that they are stationed at?" asked Wufei.

"No, not yet."

Duo suddenly shot up from his chair and slammed his fists on the table. "Damn it! Then what the hell do we do!" he screamed, catching everyone off guard.

"For now all we can do is just research for any new information and wait for their next move." She answered calmly.

Duo closed his eyes to quell his uneasiness then sat back down in his chair.

"Alright," Quatre began. "I'll get my sources on this situation to see if we can get anything at all. Right now we could use all the help we could get. I'll also look out for anything suspicious that might be going on in outer space."

Trowa nodded then spoke up. "I'll do some undercover work."

"I'll watch things on earth and see if I can find anything." Wufei spoke.

"I guess that just leaves me to do all the hacking then." Duo stood up and started his way out of the door.

"Duo," called Quatre. "Are you going to be alright?"

Duo only turned to look at his friend, then turned around and walked back out. Quatre was about to go after him, but Trowa stopped him.

"It's alright," Trowa assured. "Just give him some time."

Quatre only looked down in defeat and hoped Trowa was right.

A woman of a small, but strong build walked briskly down the dim hall. She had a manila folder in hand, and had a somewhat of a determined yet angered expression pasted onto her face. With her brows marred lower than usual, one could see that things were troubling her greatly, and it wouldn't be a good idea to get on her bad side at the moment.

"I take it the meeting did not go well." A light voice said, glancing at the lady approaching.

"No, it did not Jeri." The lady replied, stepping into the light. Her voice was cold and hard. "Come, I need you to assist me in a few things regarding our, 'pressing' issue."

Nodding her head, Jeri stood up from her seat and followed her superior into her office, a coffee in hand. This was going to be one long night.

"As you know, we have lost our top officer on a mission that should have benefited us greatly by its completion. But as things currently stand, it has only brought our attention to the darker side of it, revealing a much bigger problem."

Setting her coffee on a table to the side, Jeri took out her note pad and pen, ready to take down notes for her up coming orders, just as the other occupant in the room took her seat at her desk. Jeri watched as the woman flipped open her lap top and went through the current information that she had stored, as well as a few schematics for top priority operations.

"It has come to our attention that the mission that the Lieutenant Colonel was sent on was a complete failure even though it was successfully completed. Many men were killed in this objective of destroying the appointed base, but it was nothing more than a training facility for soldiers in Zavien's army. We were given inaccurate," she paused, then began again in a much more aggressive and louder tone. "No, bullshit information. It cost the lives of not only Heero Yuy, but many men as well. Ever since our organization started, we haven't killed one person nor lost one soldier, until now. People just have the damn nerve to go ahead and sacrifice people's lives with out a second thought! Can't they even give a thought to how much one's life is, how priceless it is to live their own life? What the hell do these people hope to achieve!" She slammed her fists down upon her desk furiously to emphasize her point.

For the first time since Jeri became her employer's personal secretary/assistant, never has she ever heard her raise her voice and loose her cool demeanor. It was quite a shock for her, seeing this side of her boss. It was as if a cold-hearted personality had sprung up from the fiery depths of Hell.

"Lady Une . . . "

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself, Lady Une apologized to Jeri for loosing it like that.

"It's just that, I feel as if Heero's life was sacrificed for no reason at all. That it was all just in vain. No one should have to die like that. And no one's life should be taken just because some," Lady Une would have cursed again, but took a moment to reconsider her words. " . . . moron wants to use them as a decoy just so he can get what he wants; total domination over all of mankind."

Hearing these words, Jeri knew that Lady Une would do anything in her power to stop this mad man, and that the orders that she would be given and information that would be shared between them was "top-secret." This came along with her job and her being a Preventer. She had a duty to fulfill to not only Lady Une, but also the people of the earth and colonies.

"Lady Une, what is the status of the situation so far, and what orders am I to be given."

"It's simple, the rest of the gundam pilots have taken on jobs to get more accurate information on this new threat. Duo Maxwell has taken up the hacking of systems, Trowa Barton is working undercover, Quatre Winner said he would do everything possible on finding things out in space, and Wufei Chang has undergone the task of taking care of earth's sector. They are all to report to me ASAP if they find any valued information. I'll be sure to fill you in on the details that are given to me."

Scribbling down a few notes, Jeri took time to soak in this new info and what things that she could do. Seeing as to everything being pretty much taken care of already, Jeri began to ponder on what assignment she would be given.

"Lady Une, if the gundam pilots have already taken up all areas that need to be covered, what is there to be done besides trying to find this man, Zavien's location, and over look the situation of mobile suits for our own possible use?"

Lady Une smirked at that. She anticipated this. 'Always on top of things, huh Jeri,' Lady Une thought. It was the reason why she hired Jeri as her own secretary. She needed another good mind like her own to help her while in such a crisis as this.

"Not only do we have to do that and get every able bodied person to pilot a mobile suit, but we must find his main base, source of supplies, and Zavien himself."

Nodding her head, Jeri finished off her notes and was about to leave the room to start on her assignment. But then Lady Une called her back.

"And one more thing, Jeri. I believe there's a rat somewhere in the Preventers' complex and personnel. I want you, and no one else, to find this traitor and bring him to me. I do not like people who play games with me."

Giving a curt answer to Lady Une, Jeri picked up her now cold coffee, and headed out the door.

"I trust you know everything on the latest news." Said a rich feminine voice.

"Hmn, so you knew that I was here all along." This time a deep, somewhat gruff voice came from the darkness of the room.

"You didn't try that much to conceal yourself in that corner there. I saw you right when I walked in."

"Seems I did a pretty good job considering your friend Jeri there didn't notice me at all. Besides, that was the total intent."

"Ha, you're getting rusty at this. What happened to all that training? Don't tell me it's all going to waste now."

'Hmn . . . not one bit.' He thought. "Let's get down to business, Lady Une."

"Very well. What is your report that you have for me?" Lady Une stood and looked out her glass window.

Barely stepping out from his position, he told Lady Une what had happened in a grime tone.

"This is disturbing news. Keep a closer eye on the Vice-Foreign Minister. I don't care how you do it; just get the job done, so long as things don't get too complicated. As for the break in within her apartment, right now there's a lot of missing pieces to this puzzle. It could have been any regular assassination or burglary attempt, but I think that it was Zavien's doing. We'll send in a team to look for any clues." Lady Une waved her hand as in signal that the Lieutenant was dismissed.

"Oh, and just one more thing before you go." Hearing him shift, Lady Une turned to face him. "Don't feel guilty over it."

"Over what, ma'am?"

"Lying. It's apart of this job and apart of your mission, Lieutenant." Lady Une saw his expression, knowing that he still did not feel a bit eased. "It's alright. Knowing her, she'll find out things that we never possibly could think she would. But if and when she does, don't worry. She's a very forgivable person. And knowing you and your persistence with Miss Relena, I'd say that she will definitely forgive you, Hiragi."

" . . . you know too much."

Smirking at the last comment, Lady Une watched as Lieutenant Hiragi Kinomoto exited out of her private office.

Author's Note: so what do u think of Hiragi? review plz!