Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
Gundam Wing: The Little Princess
Chapter 4: The Never ending Nightmare
Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin, Instructor of the prestigious Victoria Base Training Camp, felt her heart beating hard in her chest. What she was about to do was going to be harder than any mission she had been on, even suppressing a revolt at the age of 10. No, this time, she'd be needing to hold back; hold back on feelings starting to well up inside of her, demanding to be let out.
One year and twenty-one days, thought Noin to herself. It's been so long since I last saw Zechs. Missions have kept us apart for so long, but now… Well, no use waiting any longer, time to make the call.
She ran a hand through her short black hair. With a deep breath to compose herself, Noin pushed the button on the wall comm. She had already entered the frequency for Zech's carrier. After a brief pause, during which the comm officer was probably verifying her identity, she was transferred to a comm screen. Noin automatically saluted Zech's showing her the respect she deserved, and then opened her eyes to look. She was floored by what she saw, even though she had expected it. In front of her was the very image of a dashing soldier. Lieutenant Zech's Marquis, also known as the Lighting Count for her prowess on the battlefield, sat on the other side of the screen clad in her bright red military outfit, well cared for like usual. Long platinum blonde hair hung down her back, coming out from under a silver mask that covered all of her head except for her cheeks, mouth and chin. Clasping her hands to her chest for a moment to regain her composure, Noin leaned into the view screen, a smile on her face.
"It's been quite a while Lieutenant Zechs," she greeted formally.
"You're looking quite good yourself Noin," replied Zechs, politely, all business like usual.
"I hear you're been pretty busy these days. Rumors about the Lightning Count have made it all the way down to Victoria."
"I don't like such rumors," replied Zechs, looking displeased. "I've become the target for enemies striking out at OZ and allies expect more than I can handle."
"You always did like to underestimate yourself," replied Noin with a sad smile. "You're a great pilot and soldier, you shouldn't tell yourself otherwise, even if you're worried not being good enough. Because you are."
"Thanks," replied Zechs, smiling slightly from under her mask. "I've heard rumors about you also. You're doing a good job training the new round of pilots. Also that you're a superior all around soldier. I feel like if it's you the rumors are probably true."
"I appreciate your confidence," said Noin, smiling at Zechs through the view screen.
"But Noin, I don't get one thing," said Zechs. "You used to hate wars. Why all the effort?"
"My efforts are for my love of outer space," replied Noin. "These pilots will be the ones patrolling space to keep it safe, if I train them correctly, they'll be able to keep it as serene and peaceful as it once was and deserves to be."
"Ah, there's the Noin I know. We'll be there at Victoria Base shortly. I hope we can continue our conversation then."
"It'll be my pleasure," said Noin. I'll leave you to your flight then, Noin out." She saluted Zechs who returned the gesture, then clicked the button to terminate the call. The screen flashed off, reflecting her own features. She took a deep breath and released it, her heart still beating in her chest. "Well, I'd better get everything prepared for her arrival then."
"Lieutenant Noin seemed happy to talk to you," said Otto, one of the soldiers under Zech's command. Otto was a great soldier, followed orders, competent and extremely loyal to Zechs. This last part bothered her because she didn't like to think of herself as someone who was worthy of such high praise, but she got it anyways and appreciated the people who put their trust so heavily in her none the less.
"Noin's a very friendly person, unlike me," replied Zechs with a self-depreciating smirk. "Noin's probably the only one who will welcome an annoying Lieutenant like myself."
"Didn't you two graduate from the Lake Victoria base together?" asked Otto, continuing to look forward as he flew the plane. Zechs just leaned back in her command seat, watching the scenery fly by below as the sunset, turning to night.
"I'm surprised you know that."
"Everyone knows about the top students of all time from the Lake Victoira base," replied Otto. "I also know that you were the top student."
"Noin was always aiming for second to make me look good," said Zech's remembering their days as students together.
Training, eating, sleeping, fighting and growing together. Noin had been her first friend since she had taken on the name Zechs Marquis at the age of ten. She was also one of the few people who knew her old name, Millardo Peacecraft, heir to the Peacecraft monarchy of the Sanc Kingdom. Or at least she would have been, if the Alliance Military hadn't gone in and killed her parents and taken over the kingdom. Unable to do anything she had fled, leaving her younger brother with a trusted advisor of her father. The Alliance Military had feared the Peacecraft's commitment to total pacifism, a terrifying concept with the power to change hearts and minds and put an end to the need of the military itself. On a thin excuse they had invaded a country that couldn't, and wouldn't, fight back.
Zechs had long given up on her father's ideals though. She had given up her name and any rights along with it for one goal, to reform the world. She might be weak, she might be a coward, but she would succeed. And to do so she had enlisted the aid of Trieze Kushrinada, the current leader of OZ. With his help Zechs had learned how to become a superior soldier, a pilot with only one purpose, to be a weapon. But she still found herself mourning every death, still found herself hesitating to fight the battles she knew had to be fought. Noin would never agree, but Zechs knew she was a much braver person. But soon, that would change. In the back of the cargo hold of her plane was a mobile suit unlike any other, the Tallgeese. It was the original Prototype for the Leo mobile suit and had been decommissioned for being too large, too powerful and too expensive for the Alliance Military's needs. But Zechs knew it was the only thing that could allow them to fight the Gundam's tearing through OZ's military bases. She needed to pilot it, and make a total commitment to fight.
"I hate to inform you," said Otto, snapping Zechs out of her reverie. "But we've lost track of the Gundam that was spotted near this area. Reports say it's just up and vanished."
"It's probably headed to the Taurus suits at Noin's base," deduced Zechs. Victoria Base was the only target of value in the region.
"The Military is being imprudent," complained Otto, always one to complain openly about the idiocy of others. "Even children know that the new Taurus space mobile suits meant to patrol the colonies are being manufactured at the Lake Victoria Base."
"We'd better head there as fast as possible then to give her our support."
Zechs arrived shortly after all the trainees and most of the staff at the base had turned in for the night. They would have a busy early morning due to that being when they were going to ship the pilots and suits out. A heavy guard detail protected the Taurus suits though, just in case. Noin was waiting on the tarmac as Zechs' plane landed. She helped get them parked in a hanger bay and direct them to where they could stay. All the details of their arrival and the supplies they would need had already been taken care of hours before.
So with everything sorted out, Noin and Zechs had retired to the base's break room. She had had it installed as a way to help relax her soldiers. Since many of them were young, she had designed it like a nightclub, complete with flashing, color changing lights and a sound system that could rival the best. It also doubled as a safe room, with the ability to lock down extremely tightly in case of an emergency and the sound system was set to be overridden and turned off in the case of an important base wide message or alert. Now they were standing around in the break room, the only two awake at such an hour. She poured them each a class of wine; a fully stocked bar was an important part of any graduation ceremony after all. Her trainees had finished up just the other day, she wished Zechs had been there to see it, but at least she was here now to witness her soldiers' triumphant journey to space.
"When will we slip the Taurus's out?" asked Zechs, leaning against the far wall away from the bar.
"0700 hours tomorrow," replied Noin, facing her from the opposite side of the room.
"That's soon."
"I've heard the enemies won't show on radar, so we've got extra soldiers on patrol watching for them."
"That's the best strategy," complimented Zechs. "Good thinking Noin."
"I appreciate your confidence Zechs," replied Noin, smiling at her masked companion.
"This room's rather cheery," said Zechs, looking around at her surroundings.
"Many of my soldiers are young and restless, I thought this style would suit them." Zechs studied her for a moment, concern on her face.
"Don't go getting too attached, or parting will hurt," she cautioned.
"Thanks for being so concerned," said Noin honestly. "But my soldiers aren't ever going to be killed in battle. They've been trained not to overdo things. In my mind, the value of life over war is something that can't even compare."
"Several soldiers of mine have died already against these Gundams," said Zechs sadly. "Noin, I disagree with your philosophy."
"Battles that risks lives are miscalculations!" yelled Noin angrily, glaring at Zechs. How could Zechs even say something like that? It hurt Noin to see her so pessimistic, even if she had never been super cheery to start with. "I pity the soldiers who get killed odd due to their commander's incompetence."
Zechs just stared at her, a frown on her face, her eyes unreadable behind her mask. Nion wondered if she was disappointed in her, sad with the whole concept or just worried, either in general or for her. Despite how she came off to many, Noin knew that Zechs really did deeply care for people. The loss of several of her soldiers recently must have come off as a large personal failing on Zechs part, even if it was no way actually her fault. Noin just wanted to walk over, rip off Zechs mask and kiss the other woman, letting them comfort each other's worries, and support their ambitions, like they had while training at Victoria base. Her thoughts were interrupted as the phone next to her rang. She answered it, taking the receiverfrom its socket in the wall.
"Noin here," she said, wondering who would be calling at this hour.
"Lieutenant Otto here for Lieutenant Zech's Ma'am."
"I'll put her on," replied Noin. She handed the phone to Zechs. "Lieutenant Otto for you."
Zech's took the phone and listened for a while as Otto gave her a report, probably on the mobile suit Zechs had brought with her.
"Sounds good," said Zechs into the phone. "Thanks for letting me know and keep me posted."
"Good news?" asked Noin, walking over to Zechs as she hung up the phone.
"Apparently the Tallgeese is much more advanced of a suit than originally thought," replied Zechs, turning to face Noin. "Repairs are currently estimated at a month's time. Is it fine for us to trouble you that long?"
"Nothing you do is trouble for me," replied Noin. She covered the distance between them and placed her hand on Zechs shoulder.
"You might think differently after suffering my company for so long," said Zechs sadly, gently moving Noin's hand from of her shoulder.
"I kind of doubt it," said Noin, moving her hand back towards Zechs, this time to rest on her cheek.
Noin was jolted awake by a loud explosion, the picture of Zechs on her nightstand tipping over from the shock, the glass cracking. Sirens started to go off all around the base as Noin threw off the covers and ran over to the wall comm of her room. The image crackled to life and Noin saw a young officer whose name she couldn't currently remember. The officer saluted her quickly while red emergency lights flashed in the background.
"Lieutenant!" said the officer, looking like he was about to have a panic attack.
"What's going on?" asked Noin. People were running around in the background and yelling reports to each other. Noin struggled to hear the officer's report.
"It's an attack! The trainee dorm has been blown up!"
"What?!" yelled Noin. "It must be the Gundam pilot! That coward didn't want to face us directly! Get scouts into mobile suits now! Scramble everyone and get that bomber captured or killed! Prep the beam canon, we'll need some serious fire power if this thing activates. And send an order to have my Aries prepped, now!"
"Yes Ma'am," replied the officer. Noin cut the connection and rushed to get her boots on. Out of habit from her old days in the 1st mobile suit unit she slept in combat pants and a tank top. She was glad for the time this saved as she ran out of her room, which was situated in the main command building, and outside. She saw the trainee dorm, collapsed and smoking from the bombing. Small fires were blazing, but firefighting and search and rescue teams were already swarming the area. If anyone was alive or could be saved, the emergency teams could help them. Noin forced herself to turn away and ran towards the hanger where her Aries suit was being kept. She wanted to rush and help her trainees, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle what she saw. Zechs was right, she had let herself get too attached, but even if she couldn't save them, she could still avenge her soldiers. She arrived at the hanger and took the lift up to the cockpit situated in the chest of her suit. It was a variant of the usual bulky Aries mobile suit that was just painted gun metal green. As she sat down and closed the hatch, her comm screen flashed to life.
"Noin," said Zechs, looking at her from the other side of the screen. She was wearing her usual red uniform, her mask still obscuring her features. Noin wondered if she had just been awake since they had parted several hours previously, or if she just never changed out of those clothes anymore. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going after the bastard who killed my soldiers," growled Noin, running through the sequences to bring her suit to life. "If they won't fight like a man, then I'll take them out like an animal."
"You can't go out there if you don't have a cool head," replied Zechs, with maddening calm. "You're better than this, you know the mistakes that could be made fighting like this."
"So you wouldn't sit around and try to avenge any of your fallen soldiers if you had a chance?" asked Noin.
"You know I would. But not like this."
"I'm sorry Zechs, but I need to do this," said Noin sadly, her heart aching in loss.
"Good luck then," submitted Zechs. She ended the communication, leaving Noin once again alone. She gritted her teeth and taking the controls in hand, shot out of the hanger. As she looped around searching for the bomber she saw a figure on a motorcycle racing away from the base towards the forest. They ignored all the check points around the base, driving straight through the barriers in their way.
"There you are," muttered Noin to herself. She shot towards the motorcycle and activated her comm. "I've found a figure racing away from the base on a motorcycle! Highly suspect they're the Gundam pilot or someone related. Send back-up to my position now!"
As she raced towards the bomber Noin activated her suit's exterior speaker.
"Stop and surrender or I'll shoot!" she yelled, giving the bomber one last chance. But instead of slowing down they just continued forward, pushing the motorcycle to its limit. Noin shut off her speaker and sighted on her target. "Do they have support troops…the Gundam!"
Noin fired her main gun, her shots tearing through the ground as she tried hit the motorcycle. It wasn't easy. She was trying to hit a small target and both machines were moving at high speeds. But she was skilled and all she needed was a glancing shot. The ground right in front of the motorcycle exploded and the bike flipped end over end. But the driver was also skilled, and at the last moment jumped off of the bike and rolled away from Noin's stray bullets. They landed on their feet, their back facing Noin. She stopped and hovered close to the bomber, flashing a spotlight on them.
"Surrender!" yelled Noin over the speaker.
The bomber put their hands up over their head and turned around. Now that she was close she saw that the bomber was just wearing a tank top and some type of martial arts style pants, a satchel across their shoulders. She also realized that the bomber was very young, probably barely a teenager. She had them though, and that's all that mattered. Any sudden movements and they were toast. Reinforcements were on their way and no sign of a Gundam. If they managed to get their hands on an undamaged Gundam, the benefits to OZ would be astounding.
But sadly the bomber didn't seem in the mood to be captured. In one swift motion they threw the satchel into the air and kicked it, sending it rocketing up at Noin. The explosives inside went off, blinding her briefly. When her sight had returned, the bomber had already taken their motorcycle and driven off into the forest.
"Damn it!" yelled Noin, activating the thrusters for her Aries and flying towards the forest, hoping to catch up to the bomber before they got to their Gundam. It was too late though. She watched in horror as a large white and blue shape stood up out of the trees, and looked right at her. The Gundam held out its right arm a contraption moved forward from the forearm, snapping into place what looked with the maw of a dragon. Then the dragon leapt at her, extending from the arm. Noin tried to evade it, but her surprise at seeing the weapon had cost her precious seconds. The dragon clipped her Aries, ripping off the left arm and sending her tumbling to the side, crashing on the ground just short of the forest.
Noin tugged at the controls, trying to move, but they were non-responsive. The Gundam would be on her any moment and she couldn't do anything. Where were those reinforcements?
"Lieutenant!" Noin heard the call over the comm and saw four Aries suits flying towards her. Two were holding the experimental beam canon that was to be shipped up to space with the Taurus suits and tested there. The output had proven to be too much for the canon to handle on Earth, but at least it would be able to get a good shot off on the Gundam.
"Don't worry about me!" she yelled over the comm. "Get the Gundam!"
"Yes ma'am," replied the pilots. They were well trained, and two of them moved forward to surround and suppress the Gundam while the other two charged up the laser, trying to get a good shot on the Gundam.
Sadly, the Gundam pilot was also well trained, probably even better. And they were in a superior suit full of features that Noin probably couldn't even imagine. One of the pilots strayed too close to the ground and wasn't able to ascend quickly enough as the Gundam charged at it, chopping it in half with a beam glaive. The second pilot kept their distance, but was struck down by the same dragon claw that had gotten Noin. This time it was a direct hit and the claw crushed the Aries, causing it to explode in its grasp. The Gundam quickly turned to face the two Aries with the beam canon, but was too far away to get them before they fired. Or so Noin had thought before the Gundam once more surprised her. It threw it's glaive with unerring accuracy at one of the Aries, taking it out. Without its partner to hold up the beam canon, the remaining Aries listed to the side, causing the canon to fire off in a path that tore through the forest, but completely missed the Gundam. Noin heard the pilot's screams as the Gundam charged at them and picking up their glaive, bisected the last Aries.
But the nightmare wasn't over yet. The Gundam picked up the beam canon and aimed it at the hanger bay that the Taurus suits were being kept in. She could only cry out in helplessness as the Gundam annihilated the suits, no doubt taking out a large amount of lives with them. Tiny explosions rippled across the canon as it over heated from the two simultaneous firings, and the Gundam just dropped it to the ground were it broke into several pieces. And without saying anything, the Gundam fled. The damage was done, and the pilot no doubt didn't feel like dealing with all of the suits and pilots still remaining at the base. Noin just stared in helplessness as her foe walked away. She once more shook the controls of her suit, still not getting a response.
"Damn it!" yelled Noin, hitting her fists helplessly against her console. "Damn it!"