Chapter 6: Shadow of the Patriots
"What I'm saying is the suit we saw is not the new Metal Gear." Snake said during the debriefing section back in the control room.
"What do you mean, Snake?" Quatre asked in an exhausted voice, as he was just patched up by Sally.
"What we saw was Metal Gear RAY. RAY is not new." Snake answered him.
"We need to take a trip down memory lane, back to 193." Otacon injected, backing him up. "Do any of you remember the pictures that were released after the tanker sunk?" He asked the crew.
"Yes!" Lady Une said, suddenly remembering. "Those pictures were of what we saw today...Metal Gear RAY!"
Snake and Otacon both nodded.
"But Snake, I thought that thing was destroyed with the tanker!" Noin put forth.
"So did I." Snake answered.
"Snake, I need you to think." Otacon stated. "Before the explosion knocked you unconscious, what happened? What did Ocelot say?"
Relena had gone to the kitchen for a snack, but the voices coming from the control room intrigued her. She decided to secretly listen to the debriefing...that way she wouldn't have to see...no. She wouldn't even think of his name.
"First he said something about 'taking it back.' Then he said 'returned to the Patriots.' Ocelot activated the Semtex and blew the Tanker up...then when I think of it, I faintly heard RAY activating."
The group was lost in thought for a few moments.
"But if Ocelot 'returned' RAY to the Patriots, why would Soidus be using it?" Milliardo asked, puzzled.
"A better question is why is Ocelot working with Solidus?" Heero injected. "If what Snake said is true, Ocelot has some sort of connection to the Patriots. Why would they want Solidus to go ahead with his Outer Heaven plan? Think about it. Solidus probably wants to challenge the Patriots...no puppet ever appreciates its puppeteer."
"That's true." Wufei said. "RAY can't be the new Metal Gear. But what about the other set of blueprints that Duo and I found? They are not of RAY."
"I will analyze those later." Otacon answered. "Something big is going on here. But why would the Patriots be allowing Solidus to do all of this? Unless they don't know."
Relena was getting more and more confused. What were they all talking about?! Patriots? Puppets and puppeteers? She was getting a headache! Relena hadn't even noticed that she had entered the control room.
"I don't think we'll find any of that out until later." Snake grunted. "First things first. We need to find out what Arsenal is...we can worry about the Patriots later."
The group nodded.
"Relena..." Heero was the first one to notice her.
Now she realized why she didn't want to be in the control room. She ran out. Heero ran out after her. Milliardo tried to run out and stop him but was blocked by Snake, who gave him a slight glare. Milliardo eased himself; he definitely did not want to cross Snake. Noin kissed him lightly.
"You have to let her take care of herself...she's a grown woman." She said lightly, whispering in his ear.
"Besides." Snake added in a hard voice. "It's the least you can do to thank him for saving all of our asses today. Especially yours."
Milliardo sighed in defeat. They were both right.
Heero caught up with her in the hallway that led to the various bedrooms. He put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around.
"Relena, what are you just gonna run away from me forever?" He asked in a somewhat angry tone.
"I have nothing to say to you." She said with fiery determination. She tried to walk away but Heero grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.
"No. You're going to talk to me and you're going to talk to me now." Heero said, walking them both into his room, still holding onto her wrists. "I don't even get what you got so upset about."
"DON'T PRETEND LIKE I DON'T KNOW, HEERO! I HEARD EVERYTHING YOU SAID TO DUO!"
"What? That? Relena, when by chance did you first happen to notice us talking?"
"When you told him you weren't here for me, that all you were here for was to stop Solidus and Ocelot." She said, a tear coming down her cheek.
"Relena...yes, I did come here to stop them...but I didn't mean anything of what I said about you. Duo pisses me off."
Relena managed a small smile. "So you're saying you care about me?"
"I wouldn't be with you here now if I didn't." He said matter-of-factly.
She smiled lightly.
"Shooting Vamp was the most satisfying part of today's mission. Because I knew he would have killed you had we not intervened. Besides, I also saved your brother's life...that was the second time today, I knew that would make you happy too."
"That and the fact that Snake complimented you." She said sarcastically with a smirk.
"That was nice too." He acknowledged with a smile.
Relena turned around and saw a picture on Heero's dresser. She went and picked it up.
"You still have our picture..." She said, tearing up.
"Why would I not have it?" He asked in his monotone.
She ran and hugged him. Heero held her like the way he did on Libra.
"Heero...why did you just vanish two years ago...?" She asked in a sad voice, trying her best to hold back the water.
His face turned serious. Breaking their embrace, he closed the door.
"Relena, I'm sorry. I did it to protect you."
"Protect me from what...?" She asked, sitting on his bed.
"Relena, for your safety I think this discussion should end here." He stated in his usual monotone.
"Heero...tell me. Please tell me." She desperately asked with sadness in her voice.
Seeing that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, he responded. "How much of the debriefing did you hear earlier today?" He asked.
"Around the time Snake said that what you saw wasn't the new Metal Gear..." She trailed. "Why, does it have something to do with all of this?"
"Kind of...but it isn't about Metal Gear. That's more recent. It's about something else we talked about, the Patriots."
She remembered. "Why does everyone know about that except me?" She asked with fire in her voice. "Heero, please, tell me everything. What are 'the Patriots?'"
Heero turned around and closed his eyes, pointing his head at the floor.
"The truth behind this world."
"Heero, what are you saying?" She asked in wonder.
"I'm saying that everything you believe is a lie. They control it all-government, politics, the military, the economy, everything you can think of. Let's go back five years. OZ, the collapse of the Alliance, the White Fang, the Eve Wars, all of it was done according to their instruction. And us Gundam Pilots fell for it...just five more pawns in their grand show."
"What...?" Relena asked in a tone of disbelief.
"Even now, they still control it. The Terraformation Project-one of your trademark policies is being carried out because they want it to be carried out."
"No..." Relena said. "That's..."
"Think about it, Relena. Where did you get the idea from?"
Relena fell silent...looking at the floor.
"What's called government is a staged production by the Patriots to placate the public. No one knows who the Patriots really are...all I know is that everything comes down from a group of twelve men. They decide who is in the government, even the President. You all serve at their pleasure."
Relena was speechless.
"Here, let me give you another example. You're aware of Solid Snake's anti-Metal Gear activities right?"
"Heero, who isn't aware?!"
Heero stopped for a second. "Good point. But that's exactly it. Relena, I guarantee you that they did not want Snake to be turned into a folk hero. They didn't plan on making him one. Why do you think they released his pictures on that tanker? It was to make him look like a terrorist."
"A smear campaign..."
"Exactly. They tried to make him look like a mad suicide bomber. They wanted his anti-Metal Gear stuff halted."
"Heero, are you saying that the Gundams were being used as their puppets too?"
"Not at first. When we began attacking OZ they didn't know what the hell to do with us. They didn't want us to become another Snake. So they had Romefeller build their mobile dolls. All the chaos that ensued set a role for us. Even your becoming queen was done in accordance with their wishes. "
Relena gasped. "The attack on the Sanc Kingdom..."
"Done as per their plan." Heero said in his monotone. "Both attacks."
"No, this can't be..."
"True?" Heero asked. "At first I didn't believe it either, but like it or not, they run the show."
"Heero...what does this all have to do with protecting me?"
"You're on the Patriots' shortlist. You represent an enigma to them. They see you as dangerously influential with the public, and so they can't just get rid of you by dismissal or...other means. They might not get any of their wishes done, but at the same time, your principles of total pacifism frighten them, and they don't want you to promote such principles. They don't know what to do with you, Relena. And if you were to ever lose their favor completely, they'd kill you or worse. That's why I left. After I found out about them, and how they felt about you, I thought that I could better watch you from afar...keep on eye on their motives, but that's hard to do against shadows."
Relena began to tear up again. He hadn't abandoned her. He only left for her safety…to look after her. She ran into his arms.
"Heero, I appreciate that...but please don't ever leave me again." She said sobbing.
"I don't plan on it." He replied.
"But what's going on with Solidus? Does he want to challenge them?"
"I don't know. That's what we need to find out. But regardless of who it is, we won't let anyone have a new Metal Gear. Whether it be Solidus, the Patriots, or anyone else."
Relena nodded. Thoughts of happiness with Heero flooded her mind at the same time as the sadness and wonder about the Patriots.
"Heero...what are we going to do about the Patriots? We can't just let them continue to rule the world like this!"
"Relena, you're treading in dangerous waters now. Thoughts like that get people killed. First things first."
Relena nodded with a somber look on her face. Heero embraced her, clearly seeing that she was in shock.
Heero and Relena went down to get dinner together, long after everyone else left. Only Snake sat at the table, smoking a cigarette.
"Where were you guys?" Snake asked. "Or is that a question you'd prefer not to answer?" He said matter-of-factly.
Relena's eyes widened. Had he really just said that?
"I was telling Relena about the Patriots." Heero responded in his monotone.
Snake's eyes widened for a second, and then he nodded.
"Snake, is it all true?!" Relena asked, hoping that Snake would prove Heero wrong.
"I'm afraid so." Snake said as he put out his cigarette. "I'm going back to the control room; Otacon is going over those blueprints Duo and Wufei found, that along with the files we pulled from the base. Let's just say that they're quite the shocker."
"Snake, what do you mean?" Heero asked as Snake walked away.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." He said without turning back. "I'm gonna leave you kids alone."
Heero and Relena looked at each other with slight smiles. Maybe Metal Gear and Solidus and the Patriots would vanish while they were in each other's company.