Title: Soldier's Daughter

Rating: PG

Warnings: Very slight mention of yaoi, some violence

Spoilers: Gundam Wing

Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing. How many times must I say that people?

AN: I think I should warn you that I've chosen to use the gundams from the show rather than the movie just because I like them better.

Soldier's Daughter: Chapter Four

For the longest time I stood before this mobile suit. Of all things to find here, this was the most unexpected. Shaking my head, I finally broke my almost-hypnotized stare. This caused me to notice something I had missed.

The hatch was open.

'It couldn't hurt to have a look at the inside of this war relic.' I thought as I cautiously climbed in and settled in the pilot's seat. I felt at home here, in a way.

I lightly ran my hands over the controls. They felt strange and familiar at the same time. Suddenly, the screen on my left lit up. I cursed as I realized that I had accidentally hit something. Looking around quickly, I checked if anything else had started up, but only the screen had been activated.

I turned back to the screen to see not a view of the hanger, as I thought it would be. What it showed was a side view of what was a raging battle. I watched it unfold as if spellbound.

The suit must have been right in the thick of it because the view on the screen changed very quickly. I started when I heard Uncle Duo's and Uncle Wufei's voices ranting and yelling at their enemies.

During the still moments, I caught sight of a couple of mobile suits similar to this one. One was red and orange, the other blue and white. There were also several Leo and Taurus suits. I flinched as one that had been very close, exploded. I guessed that the Taurus' and Leo's were fighting against this suit and the others.

"There's about 400 suits left, but the base needs to go as well." Uncle Trowa's quiet voice reported.

"Mission accepted. Cover me." My heart leapt at my father's voice, but I also felt a slight tremor in me at his absolutely dead tone. I had never heard him speak that way while he was alive.

This must have been his suit because the screen stopped jumping around. I flinched when the screen flickered as beam cannon shots hit the suit. They didn't seem to slow it down. The suit stopped moving, even though the cannons still fired at it, and I could see a bit of the base on the screen.

"Heero! Get out of there!" I dimly heard Uncle Quatre say as more shots were fired. Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion and the base was engulfed in a fireball. Then the screen went fuzzy followed by a hard crunch and the sound of Dad coughing.

"I'm sorry, Relena..." he choked out. Now he sounded like the father I knew. I could hear my uncle's trying to contact him, but they sounded faint as I watched the static and listened to my dad's coughing voice. "Odin... Annel... so sorry..." And then silence. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sat in mute horror.

This wasn't just any tape I had seen.

That had been my father's death.

"Annel?" I gasped quietly and turned to see Uncle Duo standing in the hatchway. My eyes narrowed as I felt hurt-anger. They had lied.

"Why were we not told the truth?" He stared at me with wide eyes, looking quite taken aback by my glare and cold question. After a few seconds, Uncle Duo managed to answer.

"Well, because... No one is supposed to know. Look, I'll explain everything to you now, ok?" Uncle Duo offered his hand to me. "Come on." I ignored it as I got out and stood on the open hatch.

"You haven't been on a 'business trip,' have you? That was a mission you were on." I spotted a black mobile suit. As I jumped back onto the catwalk I said, "So that's Deathscythe Hell." It wasn't a question, but he answered anyway.

"Yeah, that's my gundam. I don't know how Wing ZERO could still be here. It was pretty much destroyed during that battle." Uncle Duo started to pull me towards the elevator. "We'll get your things and I'll explain when we get home."

I dug my heels in and said, "No. I'm staying here." He turned and gave me a very stunned look.

"Excuse me?" he stammered. "What do you mean, you're staying?" Before I could answer a beeping came from Deathscythe's cockpit. "Hold that thought." Uncle said as he climbed into his mobile suit. I stood on the catwalk in front of the hatch to listen.

"Oh, hey Quatre. I found Annel. She..."

"Where are you, Duo?" Uncle Quatre interrupted. "We've had a problem."

"At the Sank Kingdom. What's the matter?"

"We destroyed the base, but a contingent of mobile suits were able escaped and are heading in your direction. Trowa and I are following, but you'll be able to head them off before they reach the city."

I stopped listening after that. Getting back into Wing ZERO, I knew I had to do something to help my uncles. I heard Uncle Duo call my name as the hatch closed. Not sure how I knew what to do, I quickly started up the gundam and opened the hanger doors. The sensors showed in which direction the mobile suits were coming from and I took off towards them.

'Why the hell am I rushing off to battle when I don't even know how to fight in one of these?' But as I finished that thought, a bright yellow glow filled the cockpit. Immediately my mind was shown strategies and tactics I could use. A strange calm settled over me as I engaged the first of the oncoming suits as if I was watching the battle from afar.

I was vaguely aware of two other suits, the orange one from the tape and a gray one, as well as Deathscythe Hell, during the battle. Ignoring them as Uncle Duo tried to explain why I was there, I attacked the next rank.

As the first few exploded, I saw a flash of someone's face, too quickly to identify. It started happening again and again. Each time the flash was longer. I began to recognize the people in them. The whole time I never stopped fighting. It was like I wasn't in control of myself any more.

"Duo, do you know if the ZERO system is still in that thing?" Uncle Trowa's voice penetrated the calm surrounding me. His question stopped me from panicking.

'ZERO system? Could that be what's causing these images?' I wondered as the face of a grade three teacher I didn't like flashed by. I finally noticed that with every flash there was an explosion and I realized each person was someone who had hurt or tried to hurt me.

Just as the concept came to mind, I saw my parents' faces in the next flash. I jerked back in the seat, trying to recoil from that image.

'Nonononono!' my mind ran in circles and I froze. "I did not just destroy my parents. They're already dead." I heard my thoughts voiced. "Dad died in a fight seven years ago and Mom died four years ago in her sleep, so stop it ZERO. Just... just STOP IT!"

At those last words, the yellow glow vanished. I sat panting for air as I looked around. The battle was over, only a few bits and pieces were left of the enemy mobile suits. I spotted my uncles' gundams on the ground waiting for me.

As I headed Wing ZERO towards them, the yellow light reappeared. Without giving it a chance to catch me again I said, "Those are my uncles. I will not fight them, so back off ZERO." Immediately the glow went out.

I took a deep breath as the suit landed. Three windows popped up on the screen in front of me. Each of my uncles' faces had a different expression. Uncle Quatre had a mix of anger and worry, Uncle Duo looked plain pissed off, and Uncle Trowa was unreadable.

I met them with a look of calm defiance. I realized what I did had been completely foolish, but I wasn't going to apologize for it. Uncle Duo was the first to speak.

"What were you doing? You could have been killed! Are you as psychotic as your father? Why did you do that?"

"Because I had to. Because you needed help." I interrupted, my words breaking him off mid-rant.

"Annel, do you realize the danger you put yourself in? Duo's right. You could have been killed." I could hear the anger under the concern in Uncle Quatre's voice. "Do you understand?"

"Yes I do." I calmly answered. "But I wasn't going to sit around when you needed help."

"We shall continue to discuss this, but perhaps, not in the open." Uncle Trowa shifted his eyes pointedly to the side, I guess at the images of Uncles Duo and Quatre on his screen.

"Well, the nearest cover is..." A fourth window appeared, interrupting Uncle Duo. This one showed Uncle Wufei, though he didn't seem to notice me.

"If you three are done down there, L2 is being attacked."

"What!" all three of my uncles exclaimed. Again I felt frozen to my seat.

"And I got a message from your family, Maxwell. Odin was taken just before the attack."

I felt a wash of guilt spread through me. 'If I had been there, could I have stopped them from taking Odin?' I wondered. Then the sensors of my mobile suit directed my attention to a small shuttle entering the atmosphere. I felt, without a doubt, my brother was on it.

A detached part of me whispered an idea. My uncles would not like it, but it might be our only choice. Steeling myself, I explained it to the others.

"You go to L2 and stop the attack. I will get Odin."

"Annel, wait..." Uncle Trowa began before I continued over him.

"No. They'll be expecting the three of you to go save the colony before it's destroyed. And as far as anyone knows, Wing ZERO was destroyed seven years ago. Whoever these people are, they won't be expecting me to come and rescue my brother." I left before they could think of any reasons for me not to go. We could hash it out later if this was a good idea or not.

Following the lock on it, I went after the shuttle I had spotted. I was not going to let the bastards who took him, get away with it.

Was that a cliffie? I think Nightfall has been a little too much of an influence on me. Sorry if this chapter was kinda short but I couldn't help it. I hope to get the next one out soon, but I type slow.

Ja ne

Rainlight