Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 32: A Well Oiled Machine
Once Harry was ready to unveil the new and improved Wolfstar, Harry talked his brothers into pulling off their first large-scale theft for the first time since Heero and Trowa had been caught trying to steal the battleship from OZ (not counting the theft of the Gundams during the escape from the Lunar Base). They ended up stealing a couple hundred mobile dolls from OZ to use in the demonstration. The only reason they went along with the plan was because Harry had recently finished designing a temporary ward (something he'd been researching for months) that could be used to protect a suit from his magic so they wouldn't have to replace the internal circuitry when he shrunk them (meaning they wouldn't have to repair hundreds of dolls).
Heero and Wufei decided that all of the former space pilots needed to attend the demonstration so that they could see what not to do when piloting a suit inside of the Earth's atmosphere. So Harry created a large warded arena in the desert with the help of the Maganacs to use as a testing ground for Wolfstar and set up protective seating for those who wished to watch. Trowa would be programming the dolls for the demonstration and Duo had drawn the short straw to be the one pilot to ride inside of Wolfstar. Quatre and all of the Maganacs planned on attending the unveiling as well; with Hilde and Zechs tagging along for good measure. Cathy, on the other hand, had chosen to stay behind (for her health and sanity as well as to watch over the still unconscious Une).
Once everything was ready and those who would be watching were safely seated, Harry walked out onto the small podium he'd created and began the demonstration with the unveiling of Wolfstar's new looks. Duo let out a loud whoop and grinned manically as he tugged on his braid in excitement (the long haired pilot one of the few that enjoyed Harry's reckless flying). Harry's other four brothers all breathed sighs of relief after they got a clear view at Wolfstar's new look (which no one had seen before hand due to Harry painting him it in secret), thankful that they would not be the ones playing guinea pig for that first test flight. Hilde, who'd flown into battle with Harry in Wolfstar before, gave Duo a look that said he was nuts for wanting to fly with Harry.
Harry then asked if anyone else felt brave enough to go for a ride and Harry's brothers all tensed when Zechs volunteered; the five of them worrying how Harry would react to the man's presence after pretty much avoiding him for nearly two weeks straight. They were all a bit surprised (even Zechs) when Harry simply shrugged and accepted as he turned and climbed up into the cockpit as Duo and Zechs scrambled after him.
As the first two people (aside from Harry) to step inside Wolfstar's cockpit after he'd gained a form of life, Duo and Zechs were gob smacked by the fact that Harry was simply standing beside the seat and verbally running through the pre-flight checks while Wolfstar did all of the work. It really brought home the fact that Wolfstar was no ordinary suit and that it now had a mind of its own; whereas before it was easy to think it was a trick Harry had been playing on everyone.
Harry absently told them to strap themselves in while he continued to walk Wolfstar through a proper pre-flight check of all systems. When they finished, Harry gave a slow, mischievous grin to his two passengers that was near feral before he slipped into the pilot's chair and Duo let out a soft, gleeful giggle before he could completely smother it while Zechs almost looked like he regretted volunteering to ride along. Wolfstar seemed to bounce excitedly as Harry calmly took control of the suit and ran the suit through a few simply maneuvers for the audience (including juggling Wolfstar's new knives).
Once that was done Harry switched over to flight mode and kept the first flight tame as he fully opened the connection to the Zero interface to allow the exchange of information and magic to begin. He then slowly worked his way up to a few of the fancier, more daring moves as he became comfortable with the symbiotic relationship he now shared with Wolfstar and tested the limits that gravity exerted upon the suit.
After he finished showing off (Duo and Zechs both feeling a bit queasy now – despite the fact that Duo, at least, was enjoying the ride) Harry gave Trowa the signal to start the battle as he transformed back into suit mode and hung Wolfstar's shield on the back over the custom buster rifles and pulled out the twin beam swords. Harry had grown far more comfortable wielding the dual blades during the four months he'd spent as Zechs' prisoner out in space as he'd had quite a bit of free time and frequently practiced using both wooden practice swords.
The next thirty minutes left everyone watching speechless (and his passengers stunned and sick to their stomachs) as Harry completely decimated the two hundred plus stolen dolls with nothing but the beam swords. It was an up close and personal glimpse of what the Battle for the Moon had been like only taken two levels higher as the final enchantments and upgrades had greatly improved Wolfstar's capabilities as did the use of the familiar weapons (having mainly used Zero's custom buster rifles during the fight on the moon). And other than limiting the fire power (so as not to hurt anyone) and avoiding using his magic, Harry didn't hold back once while at the same time he didn't actually push the suit to his limits.
When the demonstration was over, Wolfstar stood in the center of the arena surrounded by a circle of scrap metal that was nearly two feet high and five feet thick as he'd not moved more than five feet in any direction from where he'd landed at the start of the battle. A pin drop could have been heard as the smoke cleared to reveal a completely unharmed and untouched Wolfstar calmly standing with his swords hanging from his hands at his sides with their tips nearly brushing the ground.
"What a good boy you are, Wolfstar," Harry praised as he muted the connection to Zero and patted the interface before he climbed out of the chair to glance at his passengers; noting how green in the face Zechs looked while Duo was grinning like a loon. The wizard then addressed Zechs, "The door is open and right in front of you if you feel the need to empty your stomach; Wolfstar will not thank you if you mess up his heart by puking on the floor."
Duo laughed over the comment before he unbuckled his seat belt and dashed out of the cockpit so he could go brag to the others about what they missed while Zechs simply sat where he was with his head in his hands.
"Tell me, Taliesin," Zechs rasped a few minutes later as he peered up at Harry over his hands. "Did you purposefully torture your brother just for the chance to torture me?"
"Nope… I kept the ride tame compared to what I usually do when I'm alone in the cockpit and in case you weren't paying attention, Duo was laughing and cackling like mad the entire time," Harry countered truthfully with a shrug. "I also couldn't use some of my best tricks because gravity pulls too much on the suit."
"I'm surprised all three of us weren't bleeding from the ears and nose as our insides were pulverized from the speeds you were pulling from the suit."
"In a normal suit we'd have been killed within the first fifteen minutes; but all of the Star Suits are warded to protect the pilots and their passengers in addition to allowing a talented pilot to push the suits to their absolute limits. I still say my brothers would do far better than I ever could in any suit bar Wolfstar if they didn't hold back so much. Wolfstar is in a class all by himself though."
"Aside from the nausea and the fear inducing ride, I have to say Wolfstar is very impressive," Zechs finally stated as he took a good look around the cockpit.
"Wolfstar appreciates the praise; if I hadn't asked him not to reveal himself to those watching I think he'd be skipping and bouncing with sheer happiness right now. And no, I'm not being facetious. He loves being praised and craves attention. He loved every minute of the demonstration and is slightly sad that it didn't last longer and that he really couldn't go all out."
"Tali," Zechs started to say only to drift off before he finished as he glanced down at his hands. He then sighed and ran one hand over his face before glancing up once more to look Harry in the eye and asking, "When are we going to talk? I mean, I don't even know what name you prefer to be called."
"It doesn't really matter what you call me; I will answer to both Harry and Taliesin though I'm far more used to hearing people call me Taliesin right now because I've been using that name for over eight months and prior to that I'd gone two years without hearing another speak my name," Harry replied with another shrug. "As for your question… I… give me a few minutes."
Harry turned away from Zechs and addressed Wolfstar briefly, asking the suit to show him where his brothers were and what they were doing. Wufei and Quatre were still sitting up in the stands answering questions for those who had not left after the demonstration was over, Trowa was talking on the phone and watching Wolfstar from down around Wolfstar's feet, Duo (still grinning widely) was talking with Hilde (undoubtedly comparing notes on Wolfstar's performance) and Harry briefly wondered if his brother had a crush on the young woman (because he often sought her out), and Heero was climbing up the side of Wolfstar and nearly at the open cockpit door. Harry grinned, thanked Wolfstar, and stepped around to the door and peered over the side just as the top of Heero's came level with the bottom edge of the door.
"Hi, Heero, What'd you think of Wolfstar's performance?"
"Jesus, Taliesin, don't do that!" Heero gasped as he jumped in shock and nearly dropped backwards; the teen not having expected Harry to pop out like that. After a few seconds, the blue eyed teen peered into the cockpit at Zechs before addressing Harry, "What are you doing anyway? And Wolfstar looked great; as expected."
"Hear that, boy? My brother knew you'd be great," Harry called over his shoulder to the sentient suit, whose display screens all went a pink-reddish color; the suit's equivalent of a blush. "Ah, Heero, you embarrassed him."
Heero stared at the colored screens in surprise for a moment before he half smiled and shook his head a bit as he met Harry's amused mismatched gaze a moment later and asked, "Are you coming down now?"
"Actually, I was thinking of giving Wolfstar a chance to stretch his wings," Harry answered quietly as he glanced away from Heero to look at Zechs who was splitting his attention between Wolfstar's screens and the two teens at the door. Wolfstar's reaction to that comment was to throw up map after map of earth laced over with red lines; a clear indication that the suit wished to explore the world around them. "As you can see, he's eager to get out and see the sights. I've kept him pretty cooped up since we arrived and he deserves a reward for putting up with all of the adjustments and modifications I made to him."
"I see. Exactly how long do you think you'll be gone?"
"Don't know… Zechs? How long before you'd be missed?"
"You're taking him with you?" Heero asked in shock that was mirrored on Zechs' face as the older man had been thinking that Harry was looking to avoid him even longer.
"We have unfinished business," Harry replied simply as he turned to study the floor beneath his feet as if he'd just found the most interesting thing in the world before glancing back up as he continued. "The trip doesn't even have to be strictly pleasure either; Wolfstar and I can do some scouting and send information back to you guys. I established a secure, closed connection between my laptop and Wolfstar's brain and I can leave the laptop with you so we can keep in touch with you. Just don't connect it to any external networks because Wolfstar hasn't had his shots yet and I don't want to risk him catching a virus. I've got an external drive that you can download stuff onto but you'd need my password to transfer anything to the laptop."
"I'm not even going to ask," Heero muttered in response to Harry's odd turns of phrase as he accepted the laptop Harry had turned and snagged from the pilot's seat where it had been strapped to the side during the course of the demonstration. "We do need to start getting a better idea of what is happening and Zechs has a wealth of knowledge on where all of the bases for the three sides are… and a number of people have been getting antsy because we don't seem to be doing anything."
"If we are turning this into a business trip, so to speak," Zechs interjected. "Then I have as much time as you need since I'd be considered your co-pilot or rather partner for the mission by those under my command. My men can also help organize and execute any raids or evacuations using whatever information we gather."
"I can accept that," Heero stated with a nod.
"Then you could probably expect us to be gone for a week or two at least," Harry calmly declared. "Wolfstar will need a quick check up, extra ammunition in the event we run into trouble, and his storage cupboards stocked with the usual basics for recon missions. Zechs and I will also need to pack but we could probably be ready to leave within an hour or two."
"I can see to it Wolfstar is taken care of to save you some time," Heero offered.
"That would be fine, he'll fly you to the hanger (just sit in one of the passenger's seat) and when you get there ask him what he needs and he'll print you off a list. Make certain you pack the extra munitions in the storage box on the floor beneath the passenger seats (I placed extra wards on it to prevent anything from setting them off); Wolfstar can show you which one if you are uncertain."
Heero nodded and scrambled up into the cockpit to get out of the way, allowing Harry to simply jump out while Zechs followed him down using the hand and footholds. Harry shared a few words with Trowa about what was happening before he trotted off towards the mansion; slowing down when he crossed paths with Haddock, Brian, and Takoda and the four of them spent the rest of the walk catching up since Harry hadn't spent much time with them since they'd returned to Earth.
An hour and a half later, Harry strapped himself into the passenger seat beside Zechs as Wolfstar switched to fighter mode and lifted off. Harry then turned to face the slightly older man as the sentient suit simply rose to cruising altitude and dashed off at top speeds in order to just fly for the first few hours (Harry asking Wolfstar to hold off on the flashy moves and tricks for the moment). The plan was to let the suit burn off some of its excess energy as it circled the earth around the equator while Harry and Zechs had their much needed discussion.
"Where did you wish to start?" Harry inquired.
"Did you find the answers you were looking for?" Zechs asked after a moment.
"I found answers… don't know if they were the ones I was looking for or not. They sure as shit weren't the ones I was expecting. It is nice though, to not have to constantly be on my guard whenever you enter a room all the while wondering when the axe is going to fall."
"But…?"
"I can't just give you what you said you wanted from me. Respect is meant to be earned, I'm not certain I could ever completely trust you (though I don't exactly mistrust you any longer), and I can't just flip a switch and automatically accept you after everything that you've done. There may come a day when I might forgive you for what you'd done to me but I don't know if I will ever forgive you for what you threatened to do and did or had done to my brothers to get what you wanted from me. I can say without a doubt I will never forget any of it."
"I also can't give you the relationship that you've been looking for from me, I meant what I said; I don't need or want another father figure in my life," Harry continued bluntly as he steadily held Zechs' gaze. "I've been taking care of myself to a degree since I was about four years old and I'm not about to just forget or set aside my hard won independence in order to subject myself to someone else's rules. I was forced to do that once already and you can bet your arse I'm not in any hurry to do it again."
Harry turned away from Zechs at that point, his mismatched eyes scanning through the various reports and pictures that Wolfstar was collecting on his monitors as the suit constantly scanned everything all around him as he flew over the earth at unbelievable speeds. He knew he'd basically just given the twenty year old a virtual punch in the gut and hadn't exactly enjoyed trampling all over his feelings like that but Harry was not going to sugarcoat things or string the man along with false hopes. After making certain Wolfstar was both doing just fine and enjoying himself, Harry turned his gaze down to the floor so that he could watch Zechs from the corner of his eye as he began speaking once more.
"That said… I am relived to know that you do not wish me or my brothers any harm. I appreciate the fact that you sought to protect me even if I didn't particularly care for the methods you used or the lengths to which you allowed your obsession to drive you; deny it all you want but you stalked me for months. It makes it a bit easier to tolerate your presence knowing that you had no part in Une's attempt to break me and that you would never have resorted to such disgusting methods in order to force me to do what you wanted me to. I saw that first hand during the four months I was your prisoner on the moon but the fear that you would have at some point was always lurking in the back of my mind until you answered my questions under the influence of the truth serum."
"You have no idea how much I wanted to keep on hating you and that damnable mask you always wore. I really didn't want to believe that you could ever change or that you were not the monster the mask made you appear to be. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have no idea what to think or feel in regards to you any more because nothing is as it was and I don't know which way is up anymore. I know exactly what I don't want but I can't imagine where things could possibly go from this point forward."
"You don't believe in mincing words, do you?" Zechs asked softly in a slightly pained voice.
"One thing I've come to value above all else is honesty," Harry explained as he once more turned to face the man. "I may twist and stretch the truth, omit a few pertinent facts, and tell a fib every now and then but on the whole I make an effort to never lie; especially to myself and those I've come to see as my family. I am bitterly aware of just how much pain dishonesty and betrayal can inflict upon a person's soul; regardless of which side of the lie they are sitting on."
"Yet you seem to have no problem accepting the fact that I basically lied to you about my name."
"It's a pleasure meeting you, kettle," Harry quipped dryly with a soft laugh. "My name is caldron but you can call me black if you like. In case you haven't noticed; my brothers and I have on more than one occasion casually drawn names out of a hat when we didn't wish to give out our actual name."
"I was shocked that you didn't dig deeper into my reasons behind hiding my true name; especially after I made such a big deal about finding out you'd lied to me about your real name. You had me in a position where I would have told you anything."
"Like I told you when I first asked you if you were willing to subject yourself to the truth serum; I had no desire to dig into your past any more than I needed to in order to know whether or not I needed to be concerned with you intending to cause harm to me or my brothers. I was caught off guard but in the long run your name and the reasons behind what you call yourself are of little consequence to me. I also understood your reasons for not wishing the information regarding your sister to be bandied about carelessly. Although, speaking of your sister; does she even know she has a brother? She never even mentioned having an older brother, though if you two are hiding your relationship it would make sense for her not to bring you up; even without using your name."
"No… she doesn't know. We were separated shortly after she was born when our family was slaughtered and she was adopted by the Darlians. I'd believed her dead for the longest time until I stumbled across her one day and thought I'd seen a ghost because she is practically the spitting image of our dead mother. I never told her because at the time she was far too young and I was a soldier. I continue to keep it secret because I have no wish for her to come to harm because of the things I have done in the name of revenge."
"Yet you wished to take me under your wing as your adopted son?" Harry scathingly demanded. "Did you ever once think that she might have appreciated knowing she wasn't alone after she'd witnessed her adopted father being murdered right before her eyes? What about protecting her from those that were trying to assassinate her? Can you not see the hypocrisy in chasing after me to protect me (not that I needed it) and at the same time ignoring your own flesh and blood because you felt she'd shun you for the choices you'd made?"
"I selfishly thought she'd never need or want me in her life," Zechs admitted as he swallowed thickly at the sharp barbs Harry had just thrown at him. "I didn't leave her completely helpless though; I asked Lucrezia to watch over her for me not long after you escaped from the castle when I'd chosen to search for you alone. I'd trust Lucrezia with my life and therefore knew I could trust her to watch over Relena for me."
"If you were my brother I'd hex you from here to the moon and back for pulling such a stunt and then I'd box your ears for good measure before making certain you never disappeared again," Harry muttered as he shook his head and unbuckled his harness.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to the bathroom."
"Don't you have to have Wolfstar set down for that?"
"No… all I have to do is open the door."
"You aren't worried about falling out?"
"No… the bathroom is just as secure as the rest of the cockpit," Harry dryly stated as he opened a rather well hidden door just to the side of the two passenger seats and vanished into the magically installed bathroom leaving a gob smacked Zechs to stare after him.
When Harry came back out several minutes later, Zechs commented, "You certainly enjoying shocking and confusing people on a near constant basis don't you?"
"I have to keep myself entertained somehow," Harry quipped with a smug grin.
The next few hours passed in near companionable silence as Harry spent the time in the pilot's seat interacting with Wolfstar in order to monitor his systems and make certain everything was functioning as it should while leaving the suit in complete control. Harry even allowed Wolfstar to do a few barrel rolls, loop-de-loops, and corkscrews (after making certain Zechs was belted in) so that the suit could play a bit; wouldn't do to allow the hyperactive, childlike machine to get bored after all. Occasionally, Zechs would ask a question about something that Wolfstar would flash across the screens or about the various changes Harry had integrated into the suit.
After that, Harry had Wolfstar alter their course slightly, moving down to circle the globe below the equator for a while to give the suit (which was traveling fast enough that it had already circled the Earth twice) something new to explore. Harry then introduced Zechs to the trunk that held his larder so they could grab lunch. Having no real idea as to what the man did and didn't like as far as food went; it was easiest to let him pick out something and since Quatre had helped Harry replenish his stores when they first returned to Earth there was still a wide selection of food to choose from.
Harry chose a ready-made single serving shepherd's pie that was part of his original stores along with a ready-made salad. Zechs made himself a chicken sandwich after getting over the shock of finding what amounted to an entire supermarket packed into what looked like an ordinary trunk; the library in a trunk had been a bigger shock but Zechs hadn't really given any thought to the incongruent dimensions since he'd been far more concerned about the quasi interrogation and the results of said interrogation to think about how thousands of books plus the furniture fit into such a small case.
After their meal, the two of them talked about everything but the elephant in the room, focusing more on simply getting to know a little bit about each other; something Harry had never allowed previously. They eventually moved onto discussing their mission parameters and potential targets to scout for when Wolfstar had finished his avid exploration of the Earth. This included Zechs filling Harry in on some of the decisions that had been made during the various meetings that Harry had avoided while working on his suit.
Harry ended up making a couple of pit-stops to pick up a dozen laptops (he missed his since he'd given to it to Heero and figured having a few extras on hand wouldn't hurt), hunt down a boatload of maps, rescue a couple of large pythons from a shoddy pet store, and purchase souvenirs from a few of the places he'd always wanted to visit as a child.
At the twelve hour mark (on their forth time circling the earth, having moved up to the northern hemisphere – though they completely avoided even flying over any portions of the British Isles), Harry contacted his brothers to let them know that he and Zechs hadn't killed each other. He also let them know that Wolfstar had almost finished his sightseeing, that he'd be dropping off a package in a day or two for Beauty (containing the newly rescued snakes) and another package containing the extra laptops, and that they would be ready to start shunting information to them in about twenty-four hours (Harry would need time to sleep and all of the new laptops needed to be warded). Harry then allowed Zechs to pass along additional orders to his men through his brothers before they closed the connection for the time being.
While Harry took the first shift sleeping (since there was only one bed) he left Zechs with a few books on magical history and theory to keep him occupied and out of trouble. Harry had then curled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep knowing that Wolfstar or Zechs would wake him up if they ran into any trouble. It would be the first time that Harry ever slept peacefully (when not driven to exhaustion or overwhelmed with pain) in the older man's presence. The reason for that mostly revolving around the fact that Harry had let go of any fear he'd once felt around Zechs with the help of the Veritaserum assisted interview.
Eight hours later, when the two switched places, Harry moved the new laptops into his library trunk before slipping off to his supply trunk to draw the blood necessary to ward the twelve machines. He thankfully didn't need anywhere near as much as he'd have needed to do another suit and after taking a single dose of blood replenishing potion, he was taking his living sacrifice to the library trunk where he'd do the initial warding so that Zechs wouldn't happen to learn exactly how the wards worked (Harry didn't quite trust the man that much). Harry also made a mental note to set up a potions lab once he returned to the estate in order to start replacing the potions he'd used the most of (such as the general healing potions, blood replenishing potions, pain potions, and Pepper-Up potion).
When Zechs finally rejoined the land of the living, it was to find that Harry had had Wolfstar land at some point and the wizard had set up camp in the middle of a forest. Dropping down out of the suit, the former OZ soldier was presented with the odd sight of Harry sitting in the middle of a circle of laptops that he was trying to simultaneously program. Occasionally, Harry would bring out his wand to cast a series of spells on one laptop or another as he reached a preset point in the installation and upgrade process using a step by step guide that was known only to himself.
The moment Harry noticed him, he pointed over his shoulder to where a box of food had been brought up out of the larder so they wouldn't have to keep making trips into the trunk to grab a meal, "Help yourself if you're hungry; I'm right in the middle of tweaking these piles of junk and Wolfstar is recharging after his second ever extended non-stop flight, so we'll be here for a while yet. Whatever you do, don't leave the clearing or you'll be locked outside of the camp until I can bring you back in; which might be a while if I lose track of time."
"Anything I can do to help?" Zechs asked in response as he ignored the comment about being locked out of camp (the older man figuring it had something to do with magic).
"Not at the moment; once I get the laptops fully operational I could use a bit of help installing what I've taken to calling Duo's Chaos in a Box; the Deluxe Software Package for the Amateur Hacker. The firewalls will also need to be set up but that can wait until I'm ready to link them into Wolfstar's systems and he'll help me set them up simultaneously instead of having to do them one at a time."
"How long have you been working on those?"
"I started the moment you took your turn sleeping but most of the time was spent actually warding them against my magic. I didn't start upgrading them and installing the operating systems until about an hour ago, after spending about an hour securing our temporary camp. I've got another hour or two until I'm finished and then I'll need to sleep for at least another four hours before I can even think about installing the peripheral equipment such as the external mouse, printer, and web cam, loading the various software programs, and copying the files and data from the laptop I left with Heero."
"Well, let me know when you need help."
"Mmhmm," Harry hummed as he focused once more on what he was doing.
Three hours later, Harry was sprawled belly down across Wolfstar's right hand unconsciously shifting his freed wings every few minutes as the light breeze filtering through the trees ruffled his feather-like scales; sleeping. Across the clearing, Zechs split his attention between watching Harry and putting together a list of questions he wished to ask the teen (half hoping that the wizard would agree to take the truth serum).
It wasn't until the two of them were back up in the air in Wolfstar six hours later that Zechs silently passed Harry the list of questions he'd put together (the twenty year old a little worried he might have been left behind if he'd given them to him while they were still on the ground). Harry had given him a confused look when he first accepted the folded piece of paper but it quickly morphed into a calculating look after he'd read through the first two questions on the list.
"Ah… a not so subtle request that I subject myself to a willing interrogation," Harry mused as he finished reading through the list. "I take it you'd prefer that I also use the Veritaserum?"
"I did ask you if you'd be willing to reciprocate when you'd first asked me if I'd be willing to subject myself to your drug assisted interrogation. If I recall correctly, you didn't actually say you wouldn't even if you didn't say you would either."
"And what do you intend to do with the information you gain?"
"Nothing… it's more that I want to know the answers to those questions to satisfy my own curiosity and to clear up a few mysteries that have been bothering me."
"Well, I suppose turn about is fair play in this instance though I'm going to refuse to answer those questions regarding certain events that happened in my past and a few of those pertaining to the protections on the suits. It's also not going to be possible for me to take the truth serum as it won't last more than five minutes due to my magic filtering the potion out of my system. There is another method I can use that will pretty much guarantee that I am telling the truth and since some of the questions you have here will require lengthy answers I'll give you one full hour."
"That is more than acceptable and more than I expected."
"In that case," Harry stated as he stood up and pulled out his wand, holding it tip pointed upwards and parallel to his body in front of his heart as he swore his second ever oath. "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear on my magic that I will answer any reasonable question, bar those I deem too personal, asked of me by the man known as Zechs Merquise over the course of the next sixty minutes as truthfully as possible based upon what I know or believe is the truth as of this point in time. So mote it be."
"What just happened?"
"I gave you a magical oath to answer your questions truthfully and should I knowingly lie I will be stripped of my magic and could quite possibly die but I don't plan on lying just to find out."
"That… you do realize your brothers will kill me if they find out what you just did, right?"
"No they won't, they'll be mad at me for taking such a risk but it was ultimately my choice to swear the oath. You might want to start asking the questions on your list now because time is ticking and I won't swear the oath a second time if the hour runs out before you're finished."
And so for the next fifty-eight and a half minutes, Harry answered question after question starting with Zechs confirming his name and age. The man went on to ask Harry when and where he was born, if he had any blood relatives alive, and why he looked barely twelve years old if he was nearly eighteen. He then moved onto the questions about how and when Harry met and joined the Gundam pilots, if he had been involved in the disappearance of the two Gundams off the coast of Japan, and all about the time he'd spent in Japan.
The next topic revolved around the ambush OZ had set up for the Gundams and the part Harry had played before, during, and after that short battle before detonating the Gundam. Zechs was surprised to learn that the Gundam had not actually been destroyed but didn't waste time asking about how that was possible since by that time more than half of his allotted hour had already passed. Another fifteen minutes were spent on why Harry was traveling with the circus, how he'd healed so fast after being severely injured at the ambush (and later after he'd been shot while breaking into the Lunar Base), if the tricks he performed in the act he took part in were real or just magical illusions, and how he controlled the snakes.
The final thirteen minutes then covered some of the things that had happened during the two months he'd spent in Treize's castle; why the tranquilizers didn't work, what had actually happened to the men Une had brought to his cell, and how Harry had escaped that night. Harry also answered the question of where his wings had come from, how old he'd been when he first killed someone, and why Zechs' mask had bothered him so much. The last question Harry answered, that Zechs snuck in at the last second, was whether or not Harry actually hated him. Overall, it was a very informative hour for Zechs and he'd learned quite a bit more than he expected to, even if Harry had refused to answer several questions about his past.
It also allowed Zechs a measure of hope for the future in regards to eventually forging some kind of relationship with Harry since Harry admitted that he no longer actually hated him. It would not be the father-son relationship he'd originally wanted but there was at least a chance for them to one day be friends instead of just passing acquaintances or mere co-workers. Not long after the impromptu interrogation, they took a one hour side trip to deliver the snakes to the Winner Estate along with six of the now competed laptops (with Harry keeping the five extras in Wolfstar after giving one to Zechs) and took back his original laptop from Heero.
The next seventeen days saw Harry and Zechs gradually becoming an effective spy team as they infiltrated various bases, safe houses, and the occasional network in order to gather information. Harry ended up creating a fifth magically enhanced trunk (created out of his old Hogwarts' trunk) to add to his other four; the new one an elaborate traveling command center. Two walls were covered with the hundreds of maps Harry had gathered; each of them dotted with marks that represented various bases of the three factions and covered with sticky notes listing each base's manpower, defenses, armaments, and other pertinent information.
There were two long tables set up along the shorter of the two walls and covered with reference books, piles of detailed notes, various print outs, hundreds of photos, and several other odds and ends. Directly opposite of the tables, was a pair of wrap around work stations; one for Zechs and one for Harry. Zechs' workstation was relatively bare with just the one laptop, a printer, and a few office supplies neatly tucked away. Harry's workstation on the other hand was a complete mess.
He had three laptops set up; his old laptop that was his direct connection to Wolfstar, another laptop that he'd picked up and warded separately that was completely independent of Wolfstar (to be used for internet research and what not), and the last laptop to act as an interface between the first two laptops. The set up was meant to provide an extra layer of protection to prevent viruses from getting filtered through to Wolfstar as well as preventing the sentient suit from being hacked into by any one of their enemies. Along with those three devices, Harry had four printers (two black and white laser jets and two color laser jets), several monitors that were linked directly to Wolfstar through Harry's old laptop to allow the suit to communicate with him while he was in the trunk, endless stacks of printer paper and parchment, and a hundred other tools and junk spread all over every bit of the work surface.
Sitting right in front of the second map wall (which ran across what could be considered the back wall of the trunk) was a third workstation set up which held the last four laptops that were connected to Wolfstar. The work station was meant to be used by anyone that joined Harry and Zechs on future missions so that they'd have a place to work without getting in Zechs or Harry's way. Smack dab in the center of the room was a huge, round conference table with a dozen chairs circling it that was currently holding the empty boxes from the newly purchased, warded, and installed printers and stand alone laptop. On the floor beneath the table were four high end desktops that Harry still needed to ward and install (one each for him and Zechs and the other two for the spare work station).
On the final wall, aside from the stair case leading down into the trunk, were six doors; one leading to a kitchen, one to a store room, two opened up into bathrooms, and the last two housed a pair of dorm rooms. An additional two doors on the wall between Harry and Zechs' workstations led to another two bedrooms; one of which was Harry's and the other Zechs'. The last thing Harry had brought into the trunk was a large generator to provide the electricity needed to run the various equipment inside of the trunk; the large machine being tucked beneath the staircase behind stabilizing wards with several magically reinforced fuel tanks to hold the gasoline needed to power the generator.
On the whole, it was the perfect set up so that the two young men could perform their missions effectively and efficiently without having to worry about dealing with the limited space inside of Wolfstar or having their research compromised because of lax security; not that just anyone could sneak into Wolfstar's cockpit. Harry had even keyed Zechs into the wards of the new trunk (but not his original four) and would later add his brothers and a few other select pilots when he was assigned a permanent crew (which would eventually include Haddock, Brian, and Takoda).
By the time their three week long mission assignment was over (the two of them extending their trip a little longer in order to investigate a few rumors), Harry and Zechs had established a working partnership that saw them working together as a well oiled machine. Neither one of them saw the other as either inferior or superior; in their eyes they were equals, which had been odd in the beginning considering the fact that they were so different and due to their rather turbulent interactions in the past. It was a change that had been immediately apparent to everyone that knew both young men. They didn't laugh and joke around like Harry did with his brothers but there was a comfortable companionship between the two of them that had been sorely lacking on the day they left.
"Hey, kiddo!" Duo greeted with a grin as Harry, Wolfstar, and Zechs entered the dining room where the others were having a late brunch. "Good ta see ya both are still in one piece."
"Well, Zechs didn't give me any real reason to hex him," Harry drawled slowly as he pulled out his wand and fingered the handle as he stared at Duo over the top of his glasses. "Unlike some people I could name that still insist on calling me kid."
"Ah-ha… yeah… can't imagine anyone foolish enough ta do something so silly," Duo replied back nervously as he slouched down in his chair and eyed Harry's wand with trepidation.
"I reckon you're right. I can't imagine anyone idiotic enough to call me kid… or kiddo… when they're likely to end up strung up by their feet for an hour or so in retaliation or maybe wake up to find they'd been shaved bald."
"Well don't just stand there, pull up a chair and grab something to eat," Quatre insisted with a smile as Duo paled further and protectively clutched his braid; the blonde having easily picked up on the amused fondness Harry had been radiating over the teasing exchange in place of the annoyed irritation he used to exude when called kid or kiddo.
"How did Wolfstar handle the constant flying?" Trowa asked when he noticed that the sentient suit was clinging to Harry's shoulder like a sleepy toddler would cling to a parent.
"He took to it like a fish to water though he'd needed eight hours or so to recharge every thirty-six to forty-eight hours. He'll need a thorough checkup and standard servicing but that can wait until Monday. I'm also going to have to do something about the wolf obsession he developed shortly after we ran into a pack of eastern timber wolves when we were camped in south eastern Ontario, Canada near the Great Lakes."
"Well, that explains the two gigs of wolf photos that I suddenly found a week ago on the laptop you gave me," Heero quipped with a shake of his head.
"Only two gigs on yours? He completely locked up my original laptop with the sheer volume of images, videos, and audio files he collected from who knows where. I feared at first that he'd picked up some kind of virus," Harry countered with a snort. "It got even worse when we ran into a lone Rocky Mountain wolf while in Alberta two days later; if only because its coloring was similar to Wolfstar's and it actually came right up and climbed over Wolfstar's foot while he was recharging. I swore he tried to catch it at one point so he could bring it with us but the wolf had gotten scared off the moment Wolfstar moved."
Harry's brothers snickered over that as they immediately drew parallels between the suit's desire to bring home a 'puppy' and Harry's large (and still growing) collection of snakes. Harry simply snorted and shook his head as he fell into the seat between Heero and Duo (the latter still eying Harry's wand nervously – he took threats to his hair very seriously) and dished up a plate while Zechs excused himself to rest for a bit. Harry had barely taken his first bite when his brothers began interrogating him on how he'd handled being virtually alone with Zechs for so long and commenting on how well the two had been working together over the last week, week and a half.
Harry answered their questions truthfully and told a few anecdotes about the three week long mission; including mentioning his hour long interrogation in passing though he said nothing about the oath he'd sworn. As he'd predicted his brothers were a touch put out that he hadn't allowed one of them to at least be there to protect his interests but overall they knew it had been Harry's choice. The next couple of hours were spent just catching up with everything that had been happening around the estate, the current status of various missions that Harry and Zechs had gathered the initial intelligence on, and what the schedule for the next seven days or so was looking like.
Harry then slipped off to get a bit of rest himself as it had been well over twenty hours since he last slept; stopping only to look in on his snake friends and see how Beauty was getting along with her younger, smaller companions that Harry had rescued for her. He ended up picking up an additional two passengers. Seth had finally returned from his extended vacation in the desert (it was mating season for most of the snakes after all) and was eager to hang out with Harry once more. Anubis on the other hand was simply bored (the spitting cobra had a very short attention span) and he was eagerly drinking up the stories Seth was weaving about his exploits in space (more than a few of those stories greatly exaggerated).
In his room, Harry soon fell asleep listening to the two snakes hissing from inside of his shirt while Wolfstar was sprawled out on the pillow beside him, recharging.
After taking a couple days to unwind, Harry began preparing to ward more of the suits; in particular the four Gundams he'd stolen from the Lunar Base and after a few days consideration the Tallgeese as well (though Harry didn't tell Zechs that he was warding the monstrosity of a suit). Before he even considered starting on the suits though, Harry spent two days preparing a potions lab down in the underground hanger (where there was less of a chance of being disturbed during the brewing process). Harry then spent two weeks brewing multiple batches of the various healing potions he'd used up over the three years he'd been in this world (the majority of them over the last year alone).
Trowa and Wufei sometimes joined him when they had the time as they were both curious about the potion making process. As squibs, all five of Harry's self-claimed brothers could help him prepare the ingredients even if they didn't have enough magic to actually brew the potions. Once the potions were finished, Harry began drawing the blood needed; starting with what he'd need to ward the Tallgeese because it was the largest suit and would require even more blood than Wolfstar had needed.
He'd been forced to draw the blood out over a three day period and if Zechs hadn't been sent out on a mission during that time he'd have surely gotten pissed at Harry's brothers once again. Many of the pilots around the base had been concerned once Harry reappeared because they'd never seen Harry looking like death warmed over before. Harry was touched that they cared but annoyed that they seemed to want to coddle him when the blood letting didn't affect him as much as it had in the beginning (though that didn't mean it was ever an easy process).
By the time Zechs returned from his mission, Harry had finished about half of the warding process on the suit (the Maganacs having completed the carving on all five suits while Harry had been brewing potions). His brothers conspired to keep Zechs out of the hanger for another week after that because Harry didn't want the man to see what he was doing to the suit until it was finished. It wasn't just the warding he wanted to be a surprise; Harry intended to customize the suit a bit… giving it a new name and a new paint job on top of the few magical enhancements he had planned.
The day that Harry finally presented the man with the upgraded suit saw Zechs stunned speechless for hours; having never suspected that Harry would be willing to do something so huge for him (and it was a big deal to ward and upgrade each suit). The newly renamed Battlestar (a fitting name considering how at odds Harry was with Zechs for so long) looked just as intimidating as Wolfstar; only, instead of looking feral and animalistic, it was a nightmare straight out of a sci-fi novel.
Harry had left the base color of the suit white and painted a series of half inch thick gold lines that formed a maze of squares and rectangles over the entire suit (all of them with hard angles). He'd then gone back and shaded alongside of the lines with dark grays and blacks to give the suit an appearance of depths. The crest on the helmet of the suit had been changed from red to gold and given a more angular appearance that made it look more like a shark's dorsal fin.
The pattern on the shield and various weapons of the suit deviated slightly; the line designs on them more rounded (not a single sharp angle anywhere on them) and done in silver instead of in gold. The original eagle that had been on the shield was still there, though it was now just a gold outline that seemed to practically jump off the shield. The end result was that the former Tallgeese had taken on the appearance of an actual battleship with cold, hard lines.
The biggest and most important change Harry made to the suit though (aside from protecting it from Harry's magic) was the charms and protective spells that shielded the pilot from the physical stress the suit generated at high speeds. Never again would any pilot of the suit face a painful death if they pushed the suit beyond their limits as a pilot. Zechs was exceedingly grateful and humbled by the gift; and it truly was a gift.
By the second week of June, both the Vayeate and the Mercurius had been given the same treatment (after the inherent flaws that the scientists had built into the two Gundams had been corrected). The Vayeate being renamed Arcticstar and given a dark blue base color with a similar but less symmetrical pattern to the Battlestar done in shades of blue, sea green, and white to give it the appearance of a glacier or an iceberg. The Mercurius on the other hand was renamed Brimstar and given a maroon base color over which was drawn a series of fluid, curvy lines in bright reds, oranges, and yellows that brought to mind molten lava.
The two suits were still complete opposites that complimented each other (Arcticstar remaining an offensive suit and Brimstar still a defensive suit) and intended to be paired together in order to use their full potential. That didn't mean they couldn't be used separately, only that they worked best when used in tandem. Harry, with Duo's help, also added another ten Planet Defensers to Brimstar's arsenal (to fill the holes in the suit's defenses when the Defensers required recharging – allowing the pilot to constantly have ten Defensers active by rotating the devices in groups of five) and added a full twenty to Arcticstar's so that both suits would have adequate shielding during battles.
The last two weeks of June saw the final two Gundams, the recreated Wing II and Heavyarms II, being warded and upgraded further in addition to being renamed and repainted (the latter being done to differentiate the pair from the original two Gundams they'd been modeled after). Wing II became Windstar (because of its flight capabilities) and was painted light blue with white accents and lines of pale gray swirling over the suit to give it the appearance of a cloud. Heavyarms II would gain the name Firestar (an allusion to the firepower it wielded) and was painted in shades of yellow with orange lines giving the impression that it was covered in flames.
Like Brimstar and Arcticstar, Windstar and Firestar were meant to be paired up in order to put their full potential to use; though in this case they were a heavy hitting offensive team that could attack from both above and below (Firestar having been given flight capabilities that would allow it to fight in space). Also like the other set of paired Gundams, the two improved Gundams were given a set of twenty Planet Defensers each that could be stored in hidden compartments on the back of the suit when not in use. Once finished, Windstar and Firestar were given to the Maganac Corps and would end up being piloted by Abdul and Ahmad.
About the time that Harry finished Brimstar, their small force of Freedom Fighters nearly doubled in size as a faction of the Rebel Alliance forces, led by one Major Sally Po, joined them (the rest of the Alliance Rebels being taken over by one of the generals that had been rescued from prison by the Star Pilots). Harry and his brothers had welcomed the twenty-three year old without any hesitation (despite her affiliation with the former Alliance) because they'd recognized her as the major that had helped Trowa and Duo shut down the remote activated self-detonation system on the New Edwards Base a year earlier.
It also helped that her faction had been fighting to protect the people not to promote or reinstate the Alliance in a position of authority. It had been pure chance that a handful of the Freedom Fighters had run into Sally's group during a mission where both groups had targeted the same base. Their group was also garnering plenty attention from the three main factions fighting; the Freedom Fighters having evacuated well over two million civilians from hotspots around the globe, stolen over five billion dollars worth of equipment, and destroyed another ten billion dollars of property and equipment.
Once the world sat up and took notice of their group, the decision was made to bring the original Gundams back into play. Harry, with the help of the Maganacs, snuck in and made a several upgrades to the slightly dusty suits, giving them minor upgrades (which included adding the defensive shock wards, modifying them for use in space in the event they needed to fight amongst the stars again, and enhancing their on-board weapons so they could be loaded with double the amount of ammunition to extend their fighting capabilities like he had with Wolfstar) along with slightly new paint-jobs.
Wing was given an appearance of being covered in feathers, Shenlong got a hint of dragon scales modeled after the Chinese Fireball, Deathscythe looked even more like a shinigami than it had before, Sandrock ended up looking to be made out of rock, and Heavyarms received the fewest changes with a few hard lines to make it look even more intimidating. The remodeling and upgrades were Harry's belated birthday gifts to his brothers as they really hadn't had time to celebrate with everything else that had been going on since they had left the planet to fight OZ in space.
The original six Star Suits along with Arcticstar and Brimstar were given over to the top eight pilots that had followed them from space. Harry's friends Haddock and Brian ended up in the paired Gundams (the two of them working well together), his friend Takoda was given Dogstar after the magic amplifier had been removed (Wolfstar far too jealous of the non-sentient suit for Harry to continue piloting it), and Duo gave Deathstar to Hilde as she proved herself more than capable of handling the former Taurus suit. The other four suits went to three young men and one young woman that Harry had worked with in the past.
All eight of the newly promoted pilots (the magically enhanced suits were all in a class of their own after all) were then assigned to Harry's squad since they'd worked with the wizard previously (bar Hilde) and would be easy to integrate into the team that Harry and Zechs had formed. The eight pilots were introduced to magic, Harry's wings, and the real Wolfstar once they had been assigned to his squad.
He hadn't done it sooner because there hadn't really been a reason (other than his growing friendship with a few of them which eventually would have seen him telling revealing himself to them) but he felt it important they learn about him and Wolfstar the moment they became part of his official squad because he didn't want there to be anything creating a potential problem while they were out on a mission. The eight young men and women took the revelations in stride to Harry's relief and they were quickly integrated into the team over the course of a few simple missions where Harry helped them to learn the intricacies of piloting the magically enhanced suits.
Around the fifth of July, rumors of the Sanc Kingdom rising again as a pacifist nation under the leadership of Relena Peacecraft reached the Freedom Fighters. Harry had given Zechs a pointed look when they first learned that Relena had returned to Earth (about the same time as Harry's new squad was formed) which prompted the man into swallowing his pride and revealing his relationship to the young princess when he requested that the Freedom Fighters consider helping to defend the small nation. A delegation, consisting of Zechs, Harry's squad, Heero, and Quatre were sent to speak with Relena who greeted them warmly as she immediately recognized Heero. There was a tense moment when she learned that Black wasn't Heero's real last name (not that Yuy was either) but it didn't last long.
When she asked after 'James Black' after meeting 'Taliesin Bard' whom she noted looked a lot like James, Harry gave her the story they'd created to account for his changes. The story had James Black actually being James Bard, Taliesin's younger brother, who had died as the result of the injuries he'd sustained in trying to escape from OZ when he was kidnapped. Relena was saddened by the tale but it was far safer for her to think 'James' had died than for her to know that Harry was James given how different he looked now (too many people already aware of that information as it was).
Though, if she ever managed to catch Heero's eye (as she still seemed determined to do since her crush had only deepened over the intervening months of separation) there was a chance that she'd eventually learn the truth. For the moment, Heero seemed oblivious; which was the only reason Zechs didn't go all big-brother on the pilot.
Relena's response to Zechs admitting that he was her older brother was quite amusing for Harry as she'd slapped him for not letting her know sooner and for not being there when she needed him most. She then hugged him and confessed that she'd known about him since Lucrezia Noin had offered her services as a bodyguard but that she'd been waiting for him to say it himself. By the time their delegation left on the twelfth of July, Relena had agreed to allow a small contingent of Freedom Fighters to patrol her boarders to protect her kingdom from those who wished to end her growing influence as the leader of a rising pacifist nation.
Zechs ended up staying behind when the others left; Relena having asked him to stay a little longer so she could get to know him. He probably would have left anyway if not for Harry loudly accepting the invitation on his behalf much to Zechs' annoyance and (much later) gratitude.
Notes:
Suit anatomy – below is a quick reference guide to which parts of the suit Harry refers to when he's talking about the suit as if it is a living breathing person. Some of these didn't come up in this chapter but I added them in anyway for future reference.
Brain – Wolfstar's computer
Heart – the cockpit of the suit
Mouth – external/internal speakers
Shots/Vaccines – comparable to a firewall or anti-virus program
Skin – the outer armor/casing
Teeth and Claws – the various weapons of the suit
Wings – the wings and directional propulsion jets housed in the wings of the suit
Zero – the mental representation of the link that connects Harry to Wolfstar
AN: Finally… I'd hoped to have this up yesterday but didn't quite manage to get to it because I'd been caught up in editing another story. Anyway, if the chapter seemed a bit rushed, it was… if only because it's more of a filler chapter to tie up a few loose ends in preparation for the next chapter. I was originally had the entire conversation between Zechs and Harry play out but I didn't see a need to rehash everything that had happened earlier in the story. I may throw it up as an omake after the final chapter, along with a few other scenes that were cut, depending on how things go.
Anywho… Zechs and Harry have an understanding now, Sally Po has resurfaced, Relena is back on Earth and the Sanc Kingdom has risen out of the ashes, Relena still fancies Heero but Heero is as oblivious as ever, and all of the warded suits have been shuffled about so that each one will be piloted by a different individual (instead of leaving Harry and his five brothers each with two suits). The remaining four pilots that are part of Harry's team will be named in the next chapter. Unfortunately, all four are OCs because there is a distinctive lack of names provided for the ton of soldiers and colonists on the Gundam Wiki page. So, if OCs annoy you, I'm sorry but they were a necessary evil.
Anyhow… the next chapter will finally address what is happening and what has happened to the wizarding world in the wake of Harry's departure. I hope to have it up tomorrow but I make no promises as tomorrow is the last day of school for the term and I have tons of stuff to finish before my youngest is out of school for the holidays. Also, the previous chapter was just reposted in order to correct a grammatical error that was kindly pointed out to me; there's no real need to re-read the chapter though as the mistake was merely a forgotten verb. ~ Jenn