Codename: Lightning
A Shin Kidou Senshi Gundam
W fanfic by Preventer Void
Chapter 6: The Fall
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is. After a year and a half of waiting, the next chapter of Codename: Lightning. Firstly, I wish to apologize to all the people I left hanging; I just hope that nobody went and gave up on me for taking so long. If y'all will allow me a bit of hubris, I'd like to think that the delay was worth it. You see, with all the time I had to think things over, I revised the plot of the fic for the better. Looking back, I'm wondering why I thought the original plan was a good idea...
Anyway, let it additionally be noted that in light of these plot changes, I have gone back and revised the first five chapters of the story. Some changes are simply corrections to grammar and spelling, while others are major plot changes which will be dealt with as the story progresses. If you aren't in the mood to re-read the whole story, just skim over it; you can probably get the general idea. Well, I've kept you waiting long enough...enjoy the story!
A faint feeling of warmth washed over Relena's face like a gentle wave rolling over the beach. She groaned and attempted to ignore it, but with it came light, shining against her eyelids and forcing her to wake up and acknowledge the new day. Tempted to just call in sick, she rolled over to wrap her arms around Heero's chest...and felt nothing. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at his side of the bed. It was completely unoccupied, even though the clock radio on the nightstand said it was 7:04. Sitting up, the young woman stretched to get the life back in her now-active muscles, then looked back at the clock. Sitting on top of it was a piece of paper folded into an inverted V, her name written on it in his distinctly plain handwriting. Yawning, she reached over and took the note, unfolding it before reading.
"Relena: Went in early to get some work done. See you when you get there. -H"
Sighing, she dropped the paper in the trash can as she made her way into the bathroom to shower up. As the warm droplets pelted her bare skin, she closed her eyes and reflected on the recent events. What should have been an easy transition into a new life turned out to be chaotic. She wondered if she could have chosen a worse possible time to join Preventer. With this unseen enemy growing more and more aggressive, things weren't looking good. Of course, that was her train of thought before she had seen how horribly the Gundams had fared against the new model Virgos. Howard had estimated that it would take roughly two weeks to upgrade the existing MS and three to build hers from scratch...in that time, any number of things could happen. Deep down inside, Relena felt more dread than she had ever felt before. Usually, the Gundam Team would be able to pull through, no matter how dark things looked. But now...
"If I think like this any more, I'll end up depressing myself," Relena said to herself as she stepped out of the shower stall and wrapped a white towel around her slender form. Yes, there may have been some bad moments, but so far this had been one of the best experiences in her life. She was happy with her new job, people respected her for her skill and intelligence rather than her name, she was treated as an equal...but most importantly, the man she loved had finally admitted his feelings. Afraid that telling him would ruin the close relationship they had, she had hidden her love away since the day she found him washed up on the beach. Well, she thought to herself, things are different now. No more disrespect, no more horny jackasses pinching my butt, no more condescending old men...
But something in her mind was arguing. You were better off before, it said. You're living in a fantasy world. This is just a pathetic cry for help by a frightened little girl. Just go back to being a politician, you'll never make it as a soldier.
"No," she countered out loud, "I'm happy now. This job, these people, and him...everything is right. This is what it should be. Besides, as a politician, all I could do to vent was to squeeze that little sandbag. Now, I'm paid to shoot at people." Chuckling at that last comment, she pulled the familiar navy jacket on over the olive green blouse and scooped up her car keys. Resolving to pick up a bite to eat on the way to work, she headed out. As she walked through the parking lot towards her car, she couldn't contain the almost wicked smile that spread across her face. The car in question was a sporty, sleek, cherry-red number that she had gotten in a rather unusual way. When Zechs had realized that he would need a larger vehicle for his larger family, he had sold Relena his sports car so she'd have something to drive. Climbing inside, she started the electric motor up with a soft purr and headed off.
Glancing down at her radio's clock, Relena saw that it was 7:42. Then she saw the gridlock on the main roads and groaned. Couldn't this stupid colony go a single day without a traffic jam? "That's it, I'm taking the secret way to work." Pulling off from the morass, she started down the series of side streets that she had learned to use in such cases. As she turned onto Fifth Street, she saw a man carrying an elecar's power cell. Deciding to play the Good Samaritan, she pulled up next to him.
"Need a ride to the service station?" she asked.
The man nodded, his annoyance apparent before he ever said a word. "Yeah, I have a meeting with the boss today to discuss getting a raise, and my car dies. Sometimes I wonder if the world has it out for me."
The young woman smiled. "I know that feeling. C'mon, I'll get you there."
The man sat in the passenger seat, holding the cell in his lap. The service station was only about five minutes away, but to expect someone to walk the distance twice and still get in to work on time was madness. Relena sighed. If she ended up late, she'd just explain the situation to Lady Une. It wasn't like they would fire her for being helpful, right?
After picking up a new cell, they drove back to the man's car. Allowing her ego to get the better of her, Relena smirked when she saw the well-worn luxury sedan. Not everyone could have a sweet ride like hers. Stopping the car, she got out to help the man install the new power cell.
"Well," she said, "that ought to do it."
The man sighed in relief. "Thank you. You have no idea how much easier this makes things for me."
"No...problem?" Relena headed back for her car, confused by that last comment. Something felt wrong about the way he said "easier"... What did that mean?
Then she felt a sharp prick in her neck. She tried to see what it was, but a pair of strong hands forced her into a car as she felt the world grow sluggish and blurry. Before she even had time to curse her own carelessness, she was unconscious.
"Wait, Howard! I changed my mind!"
Heero rolled his eyes as Duo ran by the break room, clutching a piece of paper firmly in his hand. He wondered how many times the braided boy had changed his Gundam's design. Probably more than he changed his underwear, he thought with a snide smirk.
"How many times has he altered that thing?" Trowa asked into the silence that fell after the sound of Maxwell's footsteps faded away.
Wu Fei let out a derisive snort as he sipped his coffee. "Probably more than he changes his underwear."
After a second, the two of them both looked at Heero, who was leaning against the wall and looking listless. He snapped out of his reverie when he realized that he was being scrutinized. "Uh, yeah?"
"You just missed a prime opportunity to take a potshot at Maxwell. Are you feeling okay?" inquired Wu Fei.
Heero looked at the clock. It was 11:53. "Yeah, I'm fine." Without saying anything else, he started off for his office. But ever persistent, Trowa and Zhang followed.
Trowa was the first to say anything. "Care to talk about it?"
"...She's late."
"Give the girl a break," Wu Fei replied. "She's only human. Maybe she felt like staying home. Maybe she felt sick."
The Perfect Soldier shook his head. "She would have called. Besides, she usually wakes up at about seven. Here it is, almost noon, and I haven't heard a word from her. I think I have the right to be worried," he finished as he opened the door to his office.
Wu Fei glanced up at the ceiling and saw a veritable army of pencils sticking out of the corkboard panels. "You need a hobby. Or maybe a solitaire program on your computer."
Not saying anything else, Heero sat down at his desk. His two companions paused as they tried to think of something to say, but came up with nothing. They turned to leave, only to almost literally run into...
"Zechs?" the three Gundam pilots asked together.
The former OZ ace nodded to his three former rivals. "Lady Une's called a meeting. She says there's something important we all have to see."
Trowa looked at Heero. "Shall we?"
"Go ahead," he replied, "I'll catch up." As the three left the room, Heero started really worrying.
With an annoyed groan, Nichol glared at the lunchtime traffic that was keeping him from getting back to work. Right now, the last thing he needed was to come in late again. As much as he hated his job, it was preferable to having no job at all. Now he almost regretted going a few blocks away to go to the Night Owl Café for his own lunch. Like the boss would need any excuse to fire him, considering the way the crippled Alliance veteran looked down on him for being a former OZ officer.
Just as the sign lit up with the image of a stick figure walking, a slick black limousine pulled up to the curb, blocking the crosswalk. The other people waiting to cross with Nichol threw curses at the limo's driver, whether or not he heard them. One of the passengers' windows rolled down, but nobody stuck his head out. Instead, all that came from inside was a disembodied voice. "Lieutenant Nichol Cage?"
Nichol let out an angry grunt. "Sorry, wrong guy."
But the voice persisted. "No, you're him. I recognize the temper. Get in."
"Look, whoever you are, I'm not about to lose my job just because some rich snot in a limo wants to exchange pleasantries with me. Now if you'll excuse me..."
The door opened, blocking his path and revealing a man with swept-back blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. "Just get in. I guarantee you won't regret it."
"I don't even know why I'm doing this..." Feeling as if he weren't in control of his own body, Nichol slid into the limousine and took a seat across from the man, who wore an expensive Italian suit. The limo started up and rolled down the road. For his part, the former OZ lieutenant folded his arms across his chest. "Well?"
The blonde man offered Nichol a cigarette, but he declined, so he just lit one for himself. He rolled the flavorful smoke around in his mouth before letting it out through his nose. "Before we begin, a question. We all know that OZ lost the Eve War not to White Fang, but to those Gundam brats. Why do you think that was?"
Nichol sighed as he looked out the window, watching the people on the street. "If you ask me, it was because we had a leader like that antiquated Treize Khushrenada. Thinking that we should give those little brats a fair chance...we were fighting a war, not having a friendly game of polo," he said, placing a mocking tone on the last part. "He and his supporters really got on my nerves with their noblesse oblige attitude."
"And I agree wholeheartedly," the blonde man said with a smile. "To them, the whole goddamn war was nothing more than a fencing match. And you, my friend, were one of the few with the foresight to fight the war intelligently. You were court martialed for attempting to fire on Lady Une, but I know the truth. I know that was the only way to deal with the former Alliance soldiers hiding out at D123. I also know that you were the only one who didn't trust those pampered little brats in Prize to take care of MO-V. If we had listened to you, odds are we would have had weapons which would have exceeded the Gundams."
That last part caught Nichol off-guard. "How do you know about that? The only person who knows anything about that is Lowe Sernan, and he's..."
"...With Preventer now, along with Zechs Marquise, Rosshe Natono and even Lady Une. So how fair is it that the one OZ soldier who actually tried to fight the Gundams correctly is now stocking the shelves at a warehouse club with a former Alliance man holding the whip, while the people who couldn't see past the ends of their noses are in charge of protecting the world? If you ask me, it's proof positive that there's no justice in the world."
Nichol shook his head. "Friend, you just put words to everything I've felt for the past four years. But there's nothing I can do about it."
The smile that crossed the blonde man's face would have looked at home on a shark's. "There is. I'm reviving OZ. None of this Regency romance novel bullshit that Treize and his buddies force-fed us. My OZ is going to be a real military, with the weapons and the will to take charge where the Alliance failed. And I want a smart, level-headed man like you working for me."
"You speak nicely enough, but how do I know you're telling the truth," the former lieutenant said as he scrutinized the man making him such a tantalizing offer. Nichol was reminded of the old phrase, If it looks too good to be true...
But at the same time, there was something distinctly familiar about this man's face. He had platinum blonde hair, combed back with all but two thin strands falling over his forehead. His face was square-jawed and masculine. But the most distinctive feature was without a doubt his eyes. The pure blue orbs had, when you looked deep into them, a distinctly malevolent glare, the same hooded glare that a bird of prey sent the poor, defenseless little creature it was swooping down upon. Then he noticed that the man had ever-so-slightly forked eyebrows...
The mystery man continued on, unabated. "I promise I'm telling the truth, because..."
Ten minutes later, the limo dropped Nichol off in front of the warehouse club where he worked. He stopped and turned to shake hands with the blonde man. "What do I do first?"
"Just wait. You'll receive an Email from 'Prince' in a couple of days with instructions. But if you'll excuse me, I have some other business to attend to." The door slammed shut and drove off, making its way back into the traffic-choked streets. With new resolve, Nichol headed into the building. He was going to go in there and tell Anderson to shove it, because now he had a much better job: revenge.
Lady Une looked around the room expectantly. She looked twice more, as if her eyes had missed something initially, but she didn't seem to find what she was looking for. "Would someone be kind enough to tell me where Void and Lightning are?"
"Heero said he would catch up," Trowa said with an expectant glance towards the door. "As for Relena, we think she's staying home sick today."
The Preventer commander sighed. "Well, we can't be expected to wait around all day. Howard?"
With a smile, the Hawaiian-shirted man popped a disc into the computer at his seat and started searching it. "Could someone get the lights?" When Duo turned the dimmer down, he opened a file. The ceiling-mounted projector flared to life, displaying a Mobile Suit's design schematics on the screen set into the wall. Leaning back in his chair, Howard smiled. "Anyone care to take a guess at what this is?"
Rosshe leaned forward in his seat to get a better look. "The basic body shape resembles the Geminass, but that head..."
"...The head looks more like the Earth Federation's GM series, or the Atlantic Alliance's Dagger series," finished Zechs. "Are you trying to tell us that..."
Grinning, Howard cut him off. "...This, boys and girls, is the GG-01MS Gunguard. As you may have guessed, it's a mass production version of the Gundam. More specifically, it's a mass produced G-Unit. While its standard form is fine for dealing with anything that might come up in the course of a Preventer's job, the Gunguard has been designed to be equipped with various mission packs, based off of your Gundams, that let it specialize in specific forms of combat."
As he continued speaking, the old engineer pressed the Enter key, cycling though images of the different variations. "There's the space-use Gemini Gunguard, the ground combat Sand Gunguard, the aerial Wing - which is actually based off of both Wing and L.O. Booster - Wing Gunguard, the amphibious Lapius Gunguard, the assault-type Heavy Gunguard, the stealth/sniper Scythe Gunguard, and the close combat Dragon Gunguard. We hope that these machines ought to put us on a more equal footing with the new Virgos."
At this point, Wu Fei spoke up. "How are we going to make these machines? The Gundanium we requisitioned was only enough to upgrade our Gundams and to build Mrs. Zero."
Lady Une chuckled at the unofficial nickname for Relena's Gundam. "You're right. Well, since it's not such a good idea to use Serpents against machines that are completely invulnerable to ranged weapons, I've ordered the other branches to liquidate their Serpents and use the Neo-Titanium for the armor materials. It's not as good as Gundanium, but it's much more economical and it's what we have handy. Besides, Doctor Howard insists that it won't matter."
"Indeed it won't," he continued. "Taking a page from the Gundam engineers' book, the Gunguard's shield integrates Planet Defensor technology, giving them the same degree of protection that Deathscythe's wings offer it. It'll have to do."
Trowa chose that moment to speak up. "What about Sandrock? I know Quatre's retired from piloting..."
"Actually," Lady Une interrupted, "when he heard about the UN Senate granting us the materials we requested, he called up and said that if we needed him, he'd be more than willing to help. In fact, he already sent along a design for the new Sandrock, based off of some of the historical data."
Duo laughed leaned back in his chair. "Seems ironic...the latest, most advanced MS the world has ever seen are going to be relying on tech that hasn't seen action for several hundred years."
Before anyone could reply, the distinctive buzz of a cell phone vibrating broke in. An annoyed look on his face, Zechs reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. Quickly apologizing to his co-workers, he flipped it open and said "Hello."
There was a tense pause as everyone saw Zechs' face grow confused. "I'm sorry, officer, but that's not my car. I sold it to..."
The realization struck him at the same instant it came to Trowa and Wu Fei. Zechs slapped the phone shut. "The sports car's anti-theft system has been activated. Something must have happened to Relena."
Jumping to his feet, Duo started for the door. "I gotta stop Heero before he does something stupid!"
"Don't bother," Wu Fei said as he rose from his chair. "He's already gone."
The first thing Relena heard upon waking up was the sound of footsteps echoing through an empty room. She could feel the rope binding her hands behind her back, as well as the blindfold covering her eyes, blocking her vision. As the sound of a pair of mens' voices became distinct, she lowered her head and pretended to be unconscious.
As the footsteps stopped, she could tell that the two men were standing over her. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her by her ponytail and jerked her head up as another hand pulled the blindfold off. Quickly adjusting to the light, she realized that she was in what looked like an abandoned warehouse, with only a little light streaming in through a cracked window. The two men were wearing battered camouflage fatigues and each had a pistol belted on his waist. The blonde-haired man, who was the one holding Relena's ponytail, laughed. "It's funny...Preventers act like they own the whole damn planet, but when you bring them down a couple of notches, they're as useless as babies."
Relena, despite the pain, rolled her eyes. "Does beating on a weak little girl with her arms and legs bound make you feel like a big man, or are you just a total dick?"
With an angry growl, the blonde man grabbed her by her throat and started squeezing. "You do NOT wanna piss me off. I lost my brother to you little bastards, and I'm not about to miss an opportunity like this..."
"Coward..." Relena managed to cough out. "You're doing this because you know I could beat you in a fair fight."
The man glared at her for a second, then pulled out a knife and began cutting the ropes that bound her. His partner tried to stop him, but the first man shoved him aside.
"You're crazy! If the boss finds out..." said the other man.
"To hell with that bleeding-heart case!" yelled the first. "He doesn't understand what it's like to lose a family member."
Relena shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry about your brother, but if he hadn't taken up arms in the name of a misguided cause..."
"Shut up, you little...!" The man wheeled on her, hand flying towards her face for a slap.
Her hand flashed up and stopped his in mid-flight. "And now it begins."
She thrust her knee upwards, impacting with the man's stomach. He doubled over, giving her the perfect opportunity to knee him straight in the nose. Clutching at his now-broken member, he stumbled backwards. Leaping out of the chair, Relena rolled forward and performed a foot sweep that sent the man onto his back. Without losing any momentum, she landed the hard rubber heel of her shoe on his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Turning, she looked at the second man.
"I really don't want to fight you," he said as he held up his hands placatingly.
"I understand," she replied, "but I'll still have to knock you out to make sure you don't go running to tell your boss."
"Too late, I'm afraid."
Relena and the second soldier turned in perfect unison. Standing in the doorway was a man in his late forties or early fifties, whose scruffy brown hair hid brown eyes and a handsome, angular face. He drew a pistol from his hip holster and leveled it at her. "Nothing personal, miss, but I'm just doing my job. I'm afraid this guy here," he said with a nod towards the unconscious soldier, "disobeyed orders, and I'm very sorry for that. We actually have a room prepared for you."
That was one of the last things she expected to hear. "Wait, you said..."
"...That we have a room for you," he answered with a nod. "I may be kidnaping you, but I certainly don't get any jollies torturing a young woman. If you'll come this way..."
The still-conscious soldier looked over at his companion. "What about...?"
The boss looked over at Relena's would-be assassin and frowned as if he had bitten into a lemon. "We'll deal with him later. For now, leave him."
The two men, using their guns to keep her in line, lead Relena to another section of the warehouse. The leader opened a door that was marked "Supervisor" and nodded for her to enter. When she did, Relena saw that the room had been made over into a semi-comfortable environment, complete with a bed, nightstand, table, and a door that presumably lead to a bathroom. After following her into the room, the man closed the door behind him. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about," he said as he reholstered his gun.
Pulling out the chair at the table, Relena sat down and nodded. "And that is?"
The man smiled. "It's been too long, Princess. How are you?"
With an angry yell, Heero threw the overall-clad man across the warehouse and into a pile of empty steel drums. As the clanging subsided, he could still hear the man faintly groaning. Hurrying over to the pile, the Perfect yanked him out by the collar of his shirt and flung him against a new white car that was nearby. Still running on adrenaline, he went over, grabbed the man by the neck and started squeezing.
"That was strike two. One more and I really get pissed."
The man stammered as blood streamed down his face. "Look, I don't know nothin'! We found the car on the side of the road and picked it up, that's all!"
The Preventer didn't even need his psychic powers to tell that the man was lying. "Do I even have to say it? That was..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Heero could sense a heavy object descending towards his head. Partly blinded by rage, he only managed to turn around before it hit. The thick bottle shattered against the side of his head, sending glass shards in every direction and making him drop the mechanic. Staggered, he stumbled away from the two men as he heard the sound of a gun cocking. "You're in over your head, kid."
A gun went off, but nothing happened. Recovering from his daze, Heero saw the gunman holding his hand and looking at the door to the warehouse. A familiar voice came from the figure silhouetted by the light. "No, I'd say you boys are."
Before the second gunman could do anything, the figure dashed in and nailed him with a jumping kick, sending him sprawling. The man Heero had been squeezing for info started to make a run for it, but the figure scooped up a nearby wrench and threw it like a boomerang, nailing the mechanic in the back and knocking him down. After securing the two men with zipties and making sure that they weren't going anywhere, Duo went over and offered his hand. "Nice performance. I'd give it a 10 for complete bad-assery, but about a 1.2 for cleverness."
Still fuming, Heero swatted the braided boy's hand away and stood on his own. "Go screw yourself."
"No thanks, it's more fun when you can share the joy with someone else," came Duo's flippant reply.
"I didn't ask for your help OR your lip," Heero continued. "I don't need either." Without so much as a backwards glance, he stalked towards the door.
The self-proclaimed Grim Reaper sighed and shook his head. "I'll regret this in the morning," he thought to himself. Then, after steeling himself, he grabbed Heero by the shoulder, spun him around, and threw a punch that connected solidly with his chin. Despite the lackadaisical attitude Duo usually showed around the office, he did in fact work out regularly; a fact that Heero learned first-hand when the blow threatened to break his jaw.
Recovering quickly, the young soldier grabbed his friend by the jacket and slammed him against the nearest object, which happened to be a workbench covered with tools. "What the hell is your problem!"
In the past, Duo would probably have quailed under a glare like that. Right now, however, he had a damn good reason to stand firm. "The only problem I have right now is that one of my friends is acting like a complete and total asshead, and I'm going to have to be the one to tell the woman who loves him that he got killed by some street thug with a switchblade."
Stunned at the notion that Duo would actually stand up to him, Heero let go of his jacket and took a couple of steps back. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Fixing his jacket, Duo glared at his fellow Preventer. "Look at yourself...you're running around the colony, acting like a bad comic book character. You seem to think that you're the only one who cares or can do anything, but you've obviously forgotten that you're part of a team, and that we're all out here just like you...the only difference is that we haven't resorted to dangling people off of buildings to get our information."
Heero grunted unhappily. "I don't have time for this. Relena's in danger, and if you're going to waste my time with this crap..."
Shaking his head, Duo grabbed Heero's shoulder and held up his other hand, displaying a gold wedding band. "I understand what you're going through. If somebody grabbed Hilde, I'd probably be doing what you're doing right now. The difference is that people EXPECT me to do stupid things. You're the level-headed one, so why in God's name aren't you acting it! If you keep on like this, then you aren't going to do her any good. What you need to do right now isn't to beat the snot out of anyone you think has information, you need to start acting like your old self a little more."
For several seconds, nothing happened. Heero felt something warm running down his temple. Reaching a hand over, he touched the area, then pulled it back in surprise and pain. His fingers came away with blood on them. He thought back and realized that he had almost died. His anger vanished like a shadow at noon. All of a sudden, he felt something else; an icy sensation in the pit of his belly. Chills wracked his spine. It took him a minute to realize that he was afraid. "I..."
Duo set a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, I don't mean that you should become Mister Emotionless or anything, just that you ought to step back and look at things more rationally."
"That's not it," Heero said slowly. "I'm...scared."
Those two words were enough to make the Braided Death jump, letting out one of his trademark noises of surprise. "You're scared?"
Taking a slow breath, Heero nodded. "I am. I'm scared that I'll never see her again and that it'll be all my fault."
"Don't worry about that," Duo said as he recovered from his initial shock. "That's one thing that everyone who's ever been in love feels at one time or another. The thing that makes you one of the luckiest bastards in the Earth sphere is that the woman you're talking about is so totally head-over-heels for you that you never have to worry about losing her. Right now, though, she's waiting for you to go and help her out. So quit acting nuts and go."
Slowly, Heero nodded. "Yeah. Just...do me a favor first?"
Something sprang back into Duo's mind, making him wince. "You're not going to hit me, are you?"
"No, I deserved that one. Just pass a message along to Lady Une. Tell her that I think Dorothy might be involved somehow."
Duo blinked in surprise. "Dorothy?"
"I know it may seem unrealistic, but she's the only Romafeller connection we have, and after Dekim lost, she basically went into seclusion. It may sound like a witch hunt, but right now we don't have much to go on."
"Yeah, I get you." Putting a hand in his jacket pocket, Duo handed Heero an earpiece. "You may need this. Good luck out there."
As he headed out of the warehouse, Heero looked over his shoulder. "I don't believe in luck, remember?" Not waiting for a response, he walked out and started his search anew.
Relena looked at the older man and found herself completely stunned. "Excuse me? Do I know you?"
The man feigned injury, stumbling back against the wall. "That hurts. It really does. You don't remember your old Uncle Ken?"
"Uncle?" the young woman said in surprise.
"Well, not literally," the man answered. "We're not blood relations, but my family was so close to yours that you treated me and my wife like we were."
This conversation was really getting to Relena. She had that odd deja vu feeling in the back of her head, so she didn't doubt the man's veracity. However, she would have known if there were someone who were that close to her. But then something else came into her head. "I think I know why I don't remember...when I was seven, I slipped and hit my head on the side of the bathtub. The doctors were afraid that I might have suffered brain damage from it, but they couldn't confirm anything."
The man nodded slowly. "I see."
Smiling, Relena continued. "But I do believe you. I can tell that you're not lying. So please, could you remind me?"
"Anything you say, sweetie," the man said. "The name's Kenji Nakajima, and for about ten years, I lived in the same neighborhood as the Darlians. The wife and I had a daughter named Hitomi who was a couple of years older than you, and a son named Rei who was about your age." Here, he smiled. "In fact, you two were so close that we all thought you'd end up married."
Relena felt something there. She remembered a pretty seven-year old girl with flowing brown hair, and a young boy with swept-back blonde hair and...no. She shook her head. That wasn't right. For some reason, she couldn't place an accurate image on this child whom she had once been so friendly with.
"Anyway, when you were five, I got transferred to a job in the colonies, so we had to move." Here, Kenji's face hardened. "But things didn't go so well. There was an engine failure and the shuttle exploded. I woke up in a hospital a week later. They said there were no other survivors."
"I'm so sorry," Relena said as she reached out and held his hand.
"There's more to it than that," he said. "It took me a long time, but I figured out that the whole thing was planned."
Relena shivered. "Who would do something like that?"
"Dekim Barton."
She let out an annoyed sigh. "I should have known. I guess you heard that I had my own little encounter with him."
Ken nodded. "Yeah. The old man loved getting revenge, even if it took decades. See, I stumbled across the plans for Operation Meteor a long time before it was ever carried out. When he found out, he reassured me that it was just the mad ranting of someone fixated on revenge, who he had fired and reported to the authorities. For a long time, I believed him. Then I learned the truth, but it was too late. After the explosion, I was told that it was Alliance sabotage, so I became a member of a rebel group. I spent years trying to pay them back for my family's deaths, but the whole time I was playing into his hands."
"I know how you feel," Relena said as she tried to get comfortable.
After a second, he brightened. "So, what about you? Where have you been all this time?"
As she opened her mouth to reply, the door to the room opened and the soldier who hadn't tried to hurt her leaned in. "Sir, our contact wants to talk."
Giving Relena a wan smile, Ken stood and headed for the door. "Sorry, business calls. I'll get back to you in a minute, okay?"
"Alright," she said with a nod. As the door closed, she leaned back on the bed. Even if this was a kidnaping, she felt a lot safer now.
Kenji sat down at the computer terminal and prepared for the worst. From the second he had taken the job to kidnap Lightning, he had had a bad feeling about the guy who ordered the job. It wasn't that he did his best to hide his identity; that was understandable. What bothered him was...
"Do you have the girl?" said his employer, displayed on a video chat window. The lights in the room were dim and he had a voice mask applied, making it nearly impossible to figure out who he was.
Slowly, Ken nodded. "Yeah, I have her. What do you want with her, anyway?"
"Didn't I say 'no questions asked'," the man said quickly. "All you have to know is that there are personal reasons."
"I'd feel a lot better if I knew that nothing bad was going to happen to the girl."
"And I'd feel a lot better if you'd shut up and do your job. Also, there's one little thing..."
That caught Ken's attention. "Yes?"
"As I'm sure you'll know, Preventer will be trying to rescue her. I don't care about any of the others, but Void...if you capture him and bring him to me along with Lightning, you'll get a big bonus."
Ken could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. There was something about this that bothered him. "What's he look like?"
A picture flashed up on screen, showing a young man with tousled brown hair and blue eyes that showed steely resolve. Instantly, Kenji knew his answer.
"No."
The picture faded, showing his employer once more. "What was that?"
"The deal is off," Ken said as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I've been doing things for people like you for too long. Now you want me to hurt a couple of people who never did anything to me, and you aren't giving any good reasons. As near as I can tell, you're just some nutcase who wants something he can't have."
The shadowy man gritted his teeth. "I wanted to do things smoothly, but you leave me no choice. I will get the girl one way or another. This just means that I get to hold on to my money, and that you're going to regret this for the rest of your short life." He cut the connection then, forcing the privilege of the last word.
Heero felt uneasy as the pressurized doors leading from L1-S5406's docking bay to the main colony center. He hated to have to rely upon such sketchy information, especially when someone as important as Relena was on the line...but with so little information, it was the best he had. Preventer's records showed a high number of shuttles headed from L1-O8424, where HQ was located, to here; many had departure times that would allow the kidnappers to escape shortly after the projected time of abduction. Internally, he realized that singling out this colony because there were many shuttles heading to it made little sense; they were just as likely to head to any other colony, near or far. Right now he was just relying upon gut instinct. Using such a cover made logical sense, and his mental abilities had been sending him definite signals. He really didn't like trusting something so empherical, but that was what he had.
Pulling out his standard-issue PDA, he pulled out a map of the colony and began looking for possible hiding places. Heero had at one time or another been to every colony built, but after a while, the residential ones just ran together in his mind, especially if they lacked some distinct feature. S5404, however, was noted for being a transit hub. Most major travel between colonies, or from Earth to the colonies, were routed through this place. The constant activity would provide a good cover, so he figured that the likelihood of the kidnappers having gone here just jumped up a few notches. He was starting to feel better about his hunch now.
Just as he spotted an industrial area that was purportedly abandoned due to the recession, his danger sense went off. The doors to the port opened, revealing a set of rather threatening-looking men. It didn't take a genius to realize that they all probably carried concealed weapons. Even if he hadn't caught on, they pulled out their guns the second they saw his Preventer jacket. Pulling his own gun, he ran for the nearby parking lot as bullets ricocheted off the ground behind him. One of the men cried out, "That's the one! Take him alive or the boss will have our asses on a platter!"
Not stopping to dwell on that thought, Heero saw a man getting ready to board a motorcycle. He dashed over and grabbed the man's arm. "I need this. Call Preventer and we'll reimburse you." Thinking this over for a second, the man nodded dumbly and handed over the keys and helmet. Pausing to put the helmet on and zip up his jacket, Heero turned the engine on and roared off down the road. He didn't think that he'd be alone for long.
After five minutes of riding, he stopped and pulled out the PDA again. It would take him a few minutes to get to the industrial park, but he had a good feeling; this was it. He started off again, and none too soon; he felt that feeling run through his mind again. Looking in the rear-view mirror, he saw a pair of cars racing towards him, swerving in and out of traffic and driving other cars off the road. Several men leaned out of the windows and opened up on him with pistols and machineguns. Heero swerved and darted, attempting to dodge. He muttered a curse when one bullet impacted his left shoulder and another burned by his right side. Unzipping his jacket slightly, he reached inside and withdrew his own pistol before firing off a couple of shots to make the gunmen put their heads down. They reacted just like he expected, allowing him to take careful aim and shoot out the front two tires in the lead car. Turning his attention back to the road, he hit a turn and kept on, hoping that both cars would stop.
One minute later, he got the strongest danger warning he had ever felt. Looking in the rear-view, he saw the second car still following, and a man leaning out of the rear window, a grenade launcher on his shoulder.
"Shit."
Relena peeled back the silver wrapper and took a bite of her sandwich. The nicer of the two rebels - whose name turned out to be Darick, had offered to go out and pick her up some food. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she had asked him to go to her favorite burger place and pick up a chicken, bacon and Swiss sandwich with curly fries and a lemon-lime soda. He returned pretty promptly, but he was staying in the room to watch her.
"You know," she said after she swallowed the first bite, "you don't have to act like I'm going to run. Despite what your friend thought, I'm not stupid."
The young man smiled wanly. "I know, but orders are orders. Besides, I wanted to make sure that I got everything right."
Relena smiled back as she chewed another bite. "Don't worry, you did. And if you don't mind my saying so, this is possibly the nicest kidnaping I've ever been a part of."
Darick shrugged, a little nervously she thought. "Have you really been kidnaped that often?"
"Well, not really, but this is the nicest one."
As he opened his mouth to reply, the door opened. Ken stepped in, looking about as grim as Relena had ever seen anyone looking. Underscoring his displeasure was the fact that he now had a submachinegun slung across his shoulder. He motioned to her. "Come on, let's go."
Taking a second to wipe her mouth, Relena stood. "Are you taking me to whoever hired you now?"
"Actually, no. I'm letting you go."
"What!" The confused sentiment came simultaneously from both Relena and Darick.
Ken shook his head. "Let's just say that I had a disagreement with our employer. I cancelled the contract, but he's going to be sending his men to take you and kill us."
Slowly, Relena shook her head. "What's this all about?"
"I wish I could tell you," he replied, "but he made sure to keep everything a secret. All I know is that he wanted you captured, as well as your friend, Void."
"Heero?" She felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "Why would that person want him?"
Ken shrugged heavily. "Judging by his attitude when he asked, it seems like revenge. Has your boy done anything really bad?"
"Well...he's a Gundam pilot," she said through gritted teeth.
"Ow. I see." Looking outside quickly, he nodded to her. "Well, either way, we ought to get you out of here right away. You can use my car."
As Relena headed for the door, she got that feeling again. Ken seemed to catch on immediately and went out first, his weapon ready. Listening carefully, the sound of faint footfalls came from the east side of the warehouse. Grunting, he leveled his weapon towards the boxes scattered there and began firing. After only a brief burst, he ducked back inside the room. Clearing his throat, he yelled out to the unseen assailant. "You're too late, we already let her go. Guess your boss is shit outta luck."
"Then you're going to tell me where she is, or you'll live to regret it."
Relena gasped. She shook her head at Ken, then went out into the warehouse. "Heero, it's me. Everything is safe. Come on out."
Slowly, a slim figure rose from behind the boxes. He was worn, beaten and a bit bloody; his jacket and slacks were torn, and he was panting slowly. She instantly ran over and embraced him, but soon after pulled back and looked him over. "What did you get yourself into this time?"
Heero grunted. "Being shot at hurts. Having a grenade shot at a motorcycle you're riding hurts even more."
Ken stepped into the room, laughing softly. By instinct, Heero pointed his gun at the older man. "Well, I'll give you one thing, you Gundam pilots are as tough as they say. And you don't have to threaten me with that, I'm going to let you take her away."
Of all the things a kidnapper could have done, that was possibly the last thing Heero expected. "What? Why are you doing that?"
"Well firstly, you can drop the innocent act. I already know who she really is. Regardless, I'm an old family friend, and I value friends over creepy weirdos, even if they're paying me."
Heero nodded slowly. "So you're just going to let us get away? You know what they'll do to you."
"Yeah, I know..." Looking down, Ken shook his head. "Well, I guess it's retribution for everything I've done over the years." He stopped and handed Relena the keys to his car. "Here, get out of here."
Relena nodded and ran off. Heero lingered, staring at the older man. "You should come with us. They'll kill you if they catch you."
"Yeah, well, I'm an old man. You two are still young, so you have a lot more to live for." He reached over and patted Heero's shoulder. "But I except you to take care of her and keep her safe and happy, okay?"
Still looking unsatisfied, he started off, but turned back and looked at Ken. "You'd better not die, you hear me?"
"I'll do my best. If I make it out, you'll be seeing me again." He reloaded his machinegun, then looked back to Heero. "If I don't...I'll tell them that you're alright."
After a frozen minute, Heero smiled. "Take care, old man." He turned and headed off
Ken watched him go, then headed back to get ready. "You too, kid."
Heero got into the car and started it up immediately. When he started off, Relena looked back in surprise. After several silent minutes, she finally said something. "Why are we leaving him behind?"
"Because he asked me to," Heero replied.
"No, that doesn't work. He's an old family friend and I refuse to leave him behind."
Never taking his eyes off the road, he continued. "That man will be sending his men after us. He offered to keep them busy so that we could get away."
Relena felt herself getting angry. She reached over and grabbed his arm. "You don't seem to get it. He's..."
Heero's eyes narrowed. "I know damn well who he is, and it doesn't make this any easier."
"How can you do this to him," she asked as the shock she felt began creeping into her voice.
"Because that's what he wanted." As the car pulled to a stop at the spaceport, he looked into her eyes. "He promised he'd make it out alive, and I believe him. I have to."
Silently, they got out of the car. She had a feeling that things would be very different from this moment on.
Clucking between her teeth, Sally finished bandaging the last of Heero's injuries. "I don't know how you do it, but you do it. Maybe you could give lessons to the rookies."
"There's a difference between being able to withstand pain and actually liking it," he said matter-of-factly.
"Point taken," she said with a faint laugh. "Well, there's nothing major, so you can go home if you like."
On the other side of the room, Lady Une listened as Relena finished explaining the situation. However, as she and Heero had agreed to leave out the biggest details regarding Kenji. When she finished the story, Une nodded. "It's too bad that we couldn't learn more about this mystery man. It would be convenient if he were the one behind the new Virgos, but that's probably too much to ask for. Still, we're going to have to be very careful from now on. If it's not too much to ask, I'd prefer it if you two didn't split up like that again." She stopped and smiled. "But for now, you two ought to get home and get some sleep. After everything you've been through, you deserve it."
"Thanks," Relena said. Heading over to Heero, she took his hand and lead him out of the medical room. On their way out, they passed by an older woman with straight black hair. She looked back at them in surprise. "Say, Reiko...maybe you ought to have Heero stay here tonight."
Relena shook her head. "Thanks, Kirika, but I'd feel better if I took care of him myself. I'm sure you understand."
"I guess so." The older woman watched as the pair left, then went back to her own office. Activating a hidden program on the computer, she typed in a quick message: UNABLE TO KEEP VOID IN BUILDING. After sending it, she shut the computer down and got ready to go home.
On the Senate floor, the man felt his cellphone buzz. Pulling it out, he looked at the window and frowned. Well, you can't win them all, he rationalized. Besides, it would allow him the pleasure of dealing with Yuy personally. Hearing the Vice President begin to wind down, he knew that it was nearly time. A cursory glance of the room revealed that everyone was there. He nodded to the guards standing near either door out of the chamber; they nodded in reply and stepped outside. Slowly, he rose to his feet and started down to the main platform. The Vice President noticed him and banged his gavel. "Mister Williams, please be seated."
David ignored him; if he was going to do this, he was going to get to vent first. Stepping up to the podium, he pushed the Vice President aside, knocking him on his rear. The senators began muttering under their breath at the sight of the young firebrand acting so brashly. He was sick enough of them before, and this certainly didn't help matters.
"Oh, shut up, you overinflated windbags."
That got their attention. The senators quieted down, but they glared angrily at him. He ran his fingers through his slicked-back blonde hair before continuing. "Please, spare me your inane mumbling. I've had to put up with this bureaucratic bullshit for years, and I'm sick of it. Do you want to know why nothing ever gets done around here? It's because you're all too busy caring about your own fat pensions and your own fat asses. It's pretty sad, but I'd expect as much. After all, you were elected democratically by a bunch of people who have no idea of what a decent leader is. Otherwise, they wouldn't have shut Romafeller down in the first place."
That started the senators up again. David glared at them; getting rid of them would be really, REALLY enjoyable. "Give it a rest. And don't give me that 'we're morally superior' bullshit. I know about the secret slush funds, the under-the-table dealings, the mistresses in posh hotel rooms...this pointless little exercise in futility is just proof that real leaders are born, not made. You've just proven that the sheep of the world need a strong hand to guide them, which makes me feel all the better about my decision. Just to summarize, I'm quitting. And nothing could make me happier than never seeing any of your wrinkled, putrid old faces ever again. So get stuffed and go to hell, okay?"
As the senators attempted to protest, David walked briskly out of the room. Closing the doors behind himself, he looked back at the guard. With a grin, the large man wrapped heavy chains around the handles and padlocked them in place. The security radio on his shoulder crackled to life as a man's voice came from the other end. "We're secure here. Sounds like they were trying to get out."
David smiled darkly. "That's the idea. Let's go." He and the guard began heading towards the exit. Pulling out his cell, the now-former senator hit the autodial button and got through in seconds. "The lion roars at sunset."
Several seconds later, the sound of an enormous explosion came from behind, rattling the chains that held the door fast. David wondered if it was humanly possible for anyone to feel as much pleasure as he did now.
Relena snuggled into Heero's shoulder, trying her best not to squeeze any of the wrong places. Since the only reaction Heero gave was one of relaxed happiness, she was pretty sure she had succeeded. Just after getting home, she had wondered if she would even be able to get to sleep; as it turned out, it was a lot easier than she would have imagined. Trying to get all the chaos behind her made for good incentive.
All at once, she felt a horrendous shock to her system, driving her out of sleep. The surprise left her breathless, sweaty and shaking. Heero sat up slowly next to her, seeming to have had the same shock but handling it better. He took one look at her and caught on instantly. "A large group of people just died."
"Not just that," she said as she finally caught her breath. "It was people I know. I don't know who, or how, but I know that I knew them somehow."
Heero picked the remote control off the nightstand and turned the TV on. Despite the late hour, there were reports of the Senate's destruction. Instinctively, Relena pulled herself closer to Heero when she saw the scenes of burned masonry and smoking ruins. He turned to her and put an arm around her waist. "I never thought you would be sad about that place being destroyed."
"I wasn't happy there anymore," she said slowly. "But I certainly didn't want anything to happen to them, especially that..."
He turned the volume up on the TV, staring intently at the screen. The reporter continued on, stopping to read a new report. "Some witnesses report that the attack came from an unidentified Mobile Suit that disappeared shortly thereaf..."
Heero hit the mute button. He looked at Relena and they nodded to each other. She picked up the phone and dialed quickly. Waiting for the call to connect felt like some of the longest moments of her life, but finally, there was a click as the person picked up.
"Hello?" came Lady Une's voice on the other end of the line, obviously pulled out of a sound sleep.
"It's me. Look, I'm sorry, but this is important. The Senate just got blown up, and it sounds like one of those new model Virgos did it."
"What!" In a matter of seconds, all the sleep vanished from Une's voice.
Relena nodded, forgetting the fact that the motion was wasted. "It looks like he's making his move. I think we need to get out of here right now. If he's smart, he'll lock down the colony to trap us, so we need to evacuate ASAP."
"I understand. I'll give the emergency call right away." She hung up quickly. Several seconds later, their phones buzzed impatiently. Heero went over and began dressing quickly as Relena threw some clothes for both of them into a suitcase. After getting everything together, they hurried outside and jumped into her car. The red sports car raced off for the spaceport, both of its occupants staying nervously quiet. Relena glanced over her shoulder and shuddered. A large distortion appeared in the air next to the Preventer building, slowly resolving itself into the blocky shape of a Virgo. A long beam blade ignited, sprouting from the cannon mounted over its arm. The Mobile Doll reared back before swinging its arm downwards, rending the building asunder. She felt the tears come; even if nobody died, seeing that place go down felt like losing a part of herself. Heero reached over and set a hand on her shoulder. She leaned closer to him, trying to forget the fact that she had just seen the world go to pieces before her eyes.