DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to
Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those
you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome,
people!☺
TIMELINE: The story takes place after
Survival of the Fittest, I’d say almost two years.
NOTE: “SHATTERED MIRRORS” is the first part of a duology called “SHATTERED”. I’ve never done a duology before, so bear with me. And don’t ask me why I’m doing a duology, I don’t know the answer myself. And enjoy, it’s going to be a rough ride.
By Arayelle Lynn.
The wind blew, flapping his overcoat gently. The air was humid, a mixture of the late warm summer air and the chill of the coming autumn. He knew in just a few more weeks, the rain would start, marking the beginning of the season before winter.
Involuntarily, he smelled the air. He savoured the sweet smell of flowers and the trees around him. Though it’s already dark and that the flowers had already withered, he wanted to keep the memory of the sensation close in his heart. For it would take six long months for him to experience the same thing again. Provided if he survive the coming ordeal.
But he never worried about that. He’s a soldier after all. His life was always at the feet of death wherever he went. But he had been lucky. He had escaped death so many times that he’d lost count when he turned 15.
But maybe, just maybe, his luck was about to run out.
Dying for the sake of mankind, ah, what a noble cause! He had a comrade, a friend, that had sacrificed her life for the sake of mankind. Sure, her sacrifice was never made known or thanked but still, it was noble. He had spent his entire life waiting for a chance like hers. Maybe now he might have that chance.
Even so, a part of him saddened by the thought. If he dies, he would be leaving so many dear ones behind. People who depended on him, on his strength. Could he truly cast aside their needs to fulfil his own desire for a noble end? Would he be called as selfish?
No. He still has a long way to go. There are people who still need him.
Like his fellow Gundam pilots now.
Something fishy is going on here, he found himself thinking for the thousandth of times. He didn’t know what it was but the fact that it started with the person who’s close to him made it fishy. And the fact that later, he found out that another who was close to him was probably involved made it even fishier.
How could a dead person got involve in this thing? And why?
The first question was an easy one. He had known this person. Knew that death always escaped him. He himself had seen it.
But the second question? That would require a very good explanation.
And that led him here.
Gathering his inner strength, he began to move. Days ago, he had been made known by an anonymous tip that strange activities had been going on in this area. The tip hadn’t been much of a help but whoever it was had mention that the ESUN and the Gundams are in danger.
Trusting the tip, since he considered it had come from the source he could trust, he followed the lead. He half expected that his old friend would show up, to reveal what was going on. And why had he played on with his supposedly demise.
But his friend never showed up. And so feeling obligated, he stayed on, waiting and watching. He thought that his friend would reveal himself once he had learned what he was supposed to learn from this stakeout.
After watching their activities for some time, he found out that these people had been smuggling weapons and storing them in this warehouse. He didn’t have much time to figure out who could be involved but he planned to save it for later. Right now, his duty was to destroy the warehouse before they started to ship the weapons out.
Yes, he could’ve waited until these people deliver the weapons and find out who’s the master of operation so he could destroy all of them at the same time. But he knew that if he did that, he would be attracting too much unwanted attention and that would reveal to the civilians just how fragile peace was.
Especially since many still held prejudice and suspicion on the remaining Telrhani. Any unwanted incident that happen in the colonies would certainly be traced back to them. Even the ones initiate by the humans. Yes, this one was not by the Telrhani. He had determined that days ago, that humans were the only ones involved in this smuggling ring. But if anything happen, if anything was made known, he knew that the Telrhani survivors will get the blame.
No, he couldn’t afford too much attention on this matter. The fate of Relena Darlian’s peace treaty with the Telrhani hung too much in balance. And the fact that his supposedly dead friend had not appeared told him that more was at stake if things were not handle in complete confidentiality. No, he must do this quietly. Nice and clean.
He entered the warehouse. He killed those who stood in his way, effortlessly. There were some who offered some resistance but years of trainings in his part made it easy for him to thwart their efforts. Then, he took some of the explosives from the crates and activated enough to destroy the weapons and the warehouse. He left no trace of any weapons, just charred pieces of the warehouse.
He did all that in just minutes.
After making sure that he had made everything nice and clean, meaning no witness or leftovers, he walked up to his truck. It’s time to report to the proper authorities, meaning The Preventers, so they would at least have the real story behind the mysterious explosion of the warehouse. He knew that the news would report it as a leaking gas pipe explosion, but he owed to the Preventers for the truth so they would be aware of the danger.
And be aware that the person thought long dead was still alive.
But he never got through to the Preventers.
As he was climbing into the truck, he was startled to find a note on the passenger’s seat:
‘You’ve been
had…’
So startled he was that he never got the chance to wonder what it meant. But a painful feeling of betrayal seeped through him like chills in the winter night. Then, a loud explosion drowned his thoughts and his very existence.
A long distance away, a figure stood watching the fires engulfing the truck and the Gundam pilot. He had been the one who gave the pilot the tip. In fact, he had been the one who organized the trap. He had known that the pilot would choose this day to take the bait. He had known the pilot’s every move.
How?
Because he knew this pilot better than the pilot knew himself.
But he was a little sad at the thought of not meeting him face-to-face. It would be interesting to see what happen then. What his reaction would be when he found out that he had been betrayed. By the person he trust the most.
But the mission came first. Regardless what he desired.
“Rest in peace, my friend,” he murmured, casting the fireball one last look. “Rest in peace, Trowa Barton. Gundam pilot Heavyarms.”
>>>@@<<<
Autumn, After Colony 200.
For almost two years, mankind
struggled to recover from the devastation of war against the Telrhani. It
seemed as if mankind had learned the lesson of unity during the Telrhani
invasion. And under the recommendation of the Earth Sphere United Nation’s
President, an Earth Defence Force was formed to thwart any other attempt from
the remaining Telrhani as well as to help out the Preventers maintain peace in
the solar system.
As it stood, rescue plans were
already underway. Despite the policy of demilliterization, the ESUN was forced
to reopen the production of weapons as well as battleships to prepare for the
rescue mission. Soldiers were trained and retrained to make the mission to the
Telrhani homeworld as successful as possible.
Despite that, the ESUN didn’t
abandon their hope for a peaceful solution. Even now, ESUN’s Vice Foreign Minister
Darlian and her team were working tirelessly to form a relationship with the
remaining Telrhani so they could at last reach an understanding. But that
proved to be quite a challenge.
As for others, life continued as
usual, bringing in new challenges in the ever changing world. Though, all had
keep in mind of the battle that was coming. A battle that would see the Earth
champions meeting the Telrhani forces. Again.
However, none of them saw a new
enemy among them. An enemy in a form very much like their own and that would
plunge humanity back into the brink of war that they have fought in since the
ancient times. An enemy that would initiate a war that would put the unity of
mankind into test.
