***@***@***@***(~)

The Last Mission

Midnight of Shadows

***@***@***@***(~)*March 1 A.C. 199

            The room was anything but welcoming.  Steel walls reflected the harsh white of the florescent lights even as the cool black tiles absorbed it.  The slow whirring of the ceiling fan created shadows as it distorted the constant source of light.  A lone figure sat at a table in the middle of the room, his frame hunched over the metal table.  The slight heaving of his shoulders gave signs that he was alive despite the lack of noise.  The creaking of the door alerted him to the presence entering the establishment. 

            The young man's stony Prussian blue gaze followed the figure as it made it's way across the room to sit itself in the chair opposite of him.  The figure, a man, reached inside his pocket and pulled an object out, slapping it carelessly onto the table as if it meant nothing.  The young man reached out and picked up the object, or rather, a photograph.   

            "Heero Yuy, your new assignment is to capture this girl.  She goes by the alias of Tsukino, Usagi, a 17-year-old independent living on Earth.  I can't disclose our reasons for wanting the girl exactly, but once we have her, we will have the ultimate weapon, and nothing will stand in the way of the Science Corp getting what we want.  I know I said you wouldn't have any more missions after the Peacecraft excursion, but I promise you, this will be the last one.  All you have to do is capture and deliver; I'll handle the rest.  Do you accept?"

            Heero directed his dispassionate gaze to the picture in his hand, a photo of a beautiful seventeen-year-old girl.  Her crystalline blue eyes sparkled with joy and happiness, innocence there yet to be tarnished.  Sunlit golden hair was wrapped in twin buns with golden streamers descending down her back to her knees.  Creamy peach skin glowed with life and vitality.  For all the world, she appeared to be the average teenage girl, one who had little to worry about except passing school and surviving another day of life.  What kind of weapon was she?  One had to wonder how the Science Corp could want someone such as her.

            Heero's expression softened a little as he gazed at the beauty he'd been ordered to capture.  Yes, she would be his last mission.  He'd make sure the cycle of missions and wars ended after her.

            Looking up into the unctuous face of his mentor, Heero uttered the two words he knew Doctor J wanted to hear.

            "Mission Accepted."

***@***@***@***(~)*