I want to personally thank RandomPixie, TheEvilAshleyness, Benz, Geminia, inda, and L.A.Une for their reviews. Thank you!
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Drifters
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The cool grass scratched at her skin, as her eyes opened to a vast cerulean canvas above. The sense of serenity never felt so refreshing. The smell of lilacs and violets taunted her perceptions, and she rose from the dew filled field. Could this be it? A land she dreamt of what could have been if wars weren't present. But, that was just ridiculous. She knew deep down in her heart, it wasn't the perfect ideal. Around her, there wasn't a single soul insight. "Where am I?" She hovered her hand over her eyes to keep the glaring sun from blinding her. She trudged further in this strange dreamland of peace.
"Relena, stay with us! Come on!" She slapped the ex-queen's pale face several times in hopes of reviving her. The spacesuit that protected her was burnt at the extremities. "Can you hear me?" The commander shouted over her. She grabbed the oxygen mask and placed it over the young girl's mouth, hoping it would give her some time.
Une dashed back to the controls and put the shuttle into full throttle. She knew seconds mattered now. Already, she could see one of Andromeda's docking station doors open and she glided the craft into the holding area. A team of medics was on deck, and pulled Relena to the infirmary.
The two hours that passed put everyone on the edge. Quatre stood by the infirmary's entrance with his head hung low. Sporadic visions surfaced, but they never revealed any positive outcome. A flash of purple and mystic clouds swirled about. He felt Death's hands linger over the room. The visions were becoming more intense than before.
Duo sat in a row of seats and held a cup of cold coffee. He played over the day's events, seeing if he missed any possible signs that could have prevented any of this from happening. "What did I miss?" His hands crunched into fists.
"We all missed it, Duo." Quatre spoke up, rubbing his forehead after the intense vision. "There just seems no end to it. First, Heero, and now Relena." The two heard a pair sliding doors opened, and saw one of their comrades enter.
"I came as soon as possible," his familiar monotone voice was severe and deep. "Has there been any news yet?"
"Not yet," muttered Duo. "Might as well take a seat."
Trowa preferred to stand and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was in contact with Sally and Wufei, they'll be here in another hour or so. Once everyone is here, we need to set an executive meeting in place with Une. There's something we need to discuss."
"You got that right," again Duo chimed in.
Une looked at her subordinates in a glass room adjacent to the waiting room. She coupled the disk that was found with Relena. It was the key lead now in their mystery of Graves and his transactions within the ESUN. At the same time, she grappled with the veil of silence that Heero had her under since the day of his supposed death. Would it be wise to tell the truth to them? She continued to look through the pane and decided to keep the secret for now. From what she saw in the field, no one could have survived that blast without a life pod. Even with a spacesuit as the sole protection, the extreme cold and unforgiving environment of space would eventually take over anyone's body.
The charge nurse left the room where Relena was situated and headed straight towards Une. "Commander Une."
"How bad is it?" She cut straight to the point.
"She has several first degree burns on her hands, but the main concern for me is the lack of oxygen she suffered. Right now, she's being monitored."
"Very well then. Thank you for the update."
"Do you want me to tell the others?" The nurse gestured towards three Preventers.
"Please that would be helpful. I have more pressing matters to attend to. If they ask, tell them I'll be at my office."
The younger woman nodded in response and entered the glass-enclosed room. At that moment, Une made her get away and focused her attention on the disk that she knew was from Heero. Once she arrived in her room, she immediately popped the disk into her computer and ran a decryption program to access Heero's work. The first pieces of information that began to filter through shocked her as to what he was planning…resurrection of the Zero system. "This is not good." She remained in front of the computer screen, as more files leeched her memory on her laptop.
The seconds elapsed into minutes, and the program continued to run. A knock from her door broke her out of the cascade of files that kept her attention all this time. "Come in," she cleared her dry throat. Five pairs of eyes focused in on her. "I need to tell all of you something I kept this long." Everyone braced themselves for what she had to say. "Heero has been alive all this time." She finally broke the veil of silence that he made her keep for these past two years.
The group heard a Styrofoam cup crack under pressure in Duo's hands. The black liquid seeped through his fingers. "What did you say?" The words tried to register in his mind. The same response was felt through everyone else.
"He made me promise to keep him dead from all of you." Une looked down at the carpet, and retold the story of what happened. "I gave him a drug that put him into cardiac arrest, and after his body was pushed to the morgue, I revived him. From that day on, he was working solely for Relena's protection and for me."
Quatre joined in on the conversation, "It all makes sense now…the increased breaks in foiling assassinations."
"It figures Heero would do something like that," Wufei remained where he stood in the room.
Duo recalled the day's earlier events, "You mean he was there today in that ship with Relena."
"That's correct. I'm afraid he didn't make out of it. I've had officers search for anything, but they came up empty handed."
"Are you sure about that?" Quatre felt an uneasy feeling.
"There were two consecutive searches conducted." Silence embraced the room for a brief moment until Une broke it. She clicked on a remote control and a hologram picture popped up in front of them all. "These are the snapshots that were taken of this prototype suit. We have reason to believe it's linked to Graves." She paused for a moment and clicked up the screen from her computer, "Heero was doing recon on Graves and found several files linking him to this mysterious prototype. From what Heero has recovered, this prototype is using the Zero system. Graves is going to start another war with this and he'll drive the separation between the Earth and the colonies even further."
"Whatever Relena accomplished through the ESUN, it's all in jeopardy now…unbelievable." Sally looked at the image of Graves' prototype.
"But how are we going to stop this mad man from taking over the world?" Wufei was perplexed as to how to topple this goliath in their presence. "We destroyed our old Gundams already. I don't think the current countermeasures from the Preventers will do anything."
"You're right, Wufei." Une clicked on an icon on her computer and pulled up another file. "None of you know about this project, which began right after Relena's ascension as President of the ESUN. For the cliff notes version, there are three Gundams in storage as of now in this colony. They are modified from the original Gundams, but the OS does not involve the Zero system. Combat capabilities include an array of lightweight artillery to varying intensity of the beam sabers. "
"But how can we defeat the Zero system that's installed in Graves' version?" Duo was worried about that particular OS after seeing how it controlled Heero.
"By the looks of today's attack, the intensity of the system is high. I can't say for certain how we're going to destroy the new mobile suit. Once we make our first contact with this suit, we can make adjustments accordingly. If we need to, the Zero system can be installed into the three Gundams if worse comes to worse. We may have to play fire with fire."
"When do we start?" Trowa was already thinking the logistics of future missions.
"As of now," replied Une in her commanding voice, and started to point at each one of them for their orders. "We need to calm the colonists' fears first. Quatre I want you to hold a press conference down in the main atrium. Duo, you monitor the communications between the colony and the earth. If you see any suspicious activity, notify me immediately. Trowa and Wufei, you two will be stationed at the north end, and be in the position to fly out in case we make contact with this new Gundam. And Sally, monitor Graves' moves back at the ESUN. He won't easily recognize you, since you spent most of your Preventer missions out in space. Once we get everything pieced together, we'll bring down Graves once and for all. For now, we have to wait what his next move will be. Everyone got their orders?" Her officers nodded.
"What about the third Gundam?" Duo asked, hoping he would get the chance to get revenge for his friend.
"I'm not letting you fly, if that's what you mean. For three reasons, one, Hilde has informed me of her current condition. Secondly, I don't want our enemy to know we have three Gundams. And three, I'm already breaking the rules of having these Gundams in the first place."
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Quatre stood in front of a small glass podium. The colonists were wondering if the ex-Gundam pilot had answers to their questions. "Hello there," his voice boomed through the microphone. "Earlier today, there was an attack on Ms. Peacecraft's ship by an unknown mobile suit. The Preventers are now investigating the matter to their utmost capabilities." He paused giving him some time to breathe, and see if anyone would interject with a question. His eyes scanned the room, and he continued, "As of now, Andromeda is on lockdown to incoming and outgoing communications. Please bear with us as we continue to do our work. For the colony's protection, there will be Preventers situated in and out of the station. Thank you for your cooperation. I will keep you informed as the situation changes."
A flurry of questions swarmed in front of him, "How is Relena doing?" One of the people from the café asked the vital question.
Automatically he responded, "She's currently unconscious in the ICU. The doctors aren't sure when she'll wake on her own." That was the one and only question he answered. With that, he quickly made his way back to the north end of the colony, where it was almost a ghost town. An eerie outline of a figure on the wall caught his attention. He pulled out a gun from his back pocket, "You there, slowly turn around."
"I didn't mean to wander this far," a boy's voice echoed in the passageway.
Quatre retracted the weapon in front of him, "Why are you here at this end?"
"During the explosion, I just ran anywhere to get away from the panic."
He could tell the boy was telling the truth. "What's your name?"
"Josh," the teenager replied back. "What is down here anyway?"
"I'm not at a liberty to tell you." The Preventer curtly replied. "If I did, I would have to shoot you."
"You're trying to be sarcastic, and it's not working."
"So I have been told before." He looked around the passageway and noticed the lights kept fading in and out. "The power grid must be not up to speed at this part of the colony." Seeing that the teen wouldn't budge from his spot until he told him something, "Do you have any family here?"
"Yeah, they're back at the south end." He looked down at his worn sneakers. "I don't really know anyone here at all. I just got here several days ago."
Quatre realized that the kid wasn't a significant security threat, but he was still weary of breaking protocol and procedures. The blonde pilot looked around to see maybe there was an empty room of something that could divert the teen's attention. "Well you should get back to your parents now, they must be worried sick about you. Right now, the station is on lockdown, and you need to go home."
"I used to have one back on earth," he mumbled. The kid slouched off the wall and made his way back to the main end of the colony.
The Preventer remained at the spot until he was sure the teen was well away from him. He didn't want to jeopardize the location of the three Gundams. For the rest of the dimly lighted hallway, he pulled out a hologram map from his wristwatch. "This should be it," he tapped on a fingerprint scanner.
"It's about time you arrived here." Wufei sat in a seat, next to one of the radars.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Quatre pulled out his flashlight.
"We're trying to get some auxiliary power up and running, but I think someone forgot to wire this part of the colony to the rest." Wufei was annoyed slightly. "We only managed to get the radars online."
Trowa was at a small generator, splicing several wires hoping that it would bring some light into the room. "I think that should do it."
Above their heads, the static sound of electric current hissed, and the lights finally emitted their fluorescent glow.
"Would you look at that?" In front of them, their mecha gleamed in the dim lights. "It just like the old days," Duo placed his hands against his hips.
"It sure does," Quatre took in the quiet moment until a familiar voice brought him out of the moment.
"Cool."
Quatre spun around and saw the teen standing there. "How did you get in here?"
"I just hotwired several wires and got in." Josh didn't pay any more attention to the former pilot of Sandrock. "Are those Gundams?"
Wufei was behind the boy, "Quatre, it looks like you have some explaining to do." The Asian was surprised to see a visitor in the hangar.
"I guess I do." He shrugged and moved towards the boy.
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Back at the debris field, Lyra surveyed the impact from her prototype of the Zero system. Earlier, she hid from the Preventers that surveyed the area to find any clues that would reveal the identity of the attacker. She maneuvered the tiny craft through shards of metal. "Lieutenant Collins sure didn't leave anything to chance." She steered the craft again and banked to the left to see how wide the impact field truly was. To her amazement, it was what she hoped for. The system worked after all. She listened to the incoming satellite feed coming from the earth about the attack on Relena's shuttle. The breaking news will definitely get Graves' attention. She continued to navigate through the strewn shards.
In the horizon, a faint light source pulsated every few seconds. Curiosity got the best of her. She jetted towards the object that was about fifty meters ahead of her. Right in front of her, she realized it was a person. Without any time wasted, she used her ship's retractable arm and pulled the person into the safety of the ship. "Could the blast have caused this to happen?" Lyra played at the thought, as she was heading towards the back of the ship.
A com link interrupted her for a moment, "Lyra, we have a problem." One of her staff members called from the lab. "It's Lieutenant Collins." There was some static interference coming from the line, but she continued to listen. "He docked the prototype in the bay, but once he came out of the cockpit, he suddenly collapsed."
"What? How can that be?"
"We aren't sure what happened. We tried reviving him, but nothing worked. The signs showed he had an arrhythmia."
Lyra was baffled to her subject's sudden demise. She held onto one of cold posts to keep her from floating up towards the ceiling. But, she was sure Graves would call in any minute to see the success of the project. For one thing, Collins accomplished what he was told. The bad news was that they lost their only pilot that could handle the system.
"What do we tell Graves?" Her staff member remained on the line for her orders.
"Tell him nothing, not just yet. If he calls, I'll deal with him." She cut the line and resumed heading back. "Graves will not like the setback once he hears about it." She punched the codes leading to the doors and found the person still bounded to the mechanical arm. She leaped over and released the helmet from the locks of the spacesuit. The sight took her breath right out of her. She couldn't believe it, it was him…in the flesh. "But how?" No one could have survived the blast, and nevertheless, be propelled this far from the field of debris.
She checked his vitals and noticed he was breathing on his own. Being petite as she was, she managed to carry him back to the cockpit where she monitored his vitals. "The one good thing about working in space is it's weightless environment," she talked to herself, while strapping him in the seat next to hers. This was one story no one would ever believe, but maybe she figured fate was favoring her side after all.
The landing pad to the base was in full view. During the two-hour flight, Lyra noticed Heero weaved in and out of consciousness. She ordered her team to adjust his restraints, in case he was aware of surroundings.
His Prussian eyes flashed opened when he felt a pinprick in his left arm. "He's being responsive to stimuli." A female medic called out to Lyra. "He's awake, ma'am."
Lyra bent down and faced the survivor, "Do you know what day is it?"
Heero paused for a moment and remembered something about an explosion, "Thur-s-daay."
"That's right." She turned away from him for a brief moment and placed some gauze over his head. "Do you know what your name is?" The man gave her a blank stare into space.
TBC
