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 mostly takes place after Endless Waltz. To be more precise, one year after Endless Waltz. That means two years after my very own Treize’s Revenge series.
By Arayelle Lynn.
Dorothy ran towards the place
only she knew. Zechs had showed her what it was and had told her to use it when
she was ready. At first, she was tempted to use it but then, her vow got in the
way. Since the war in AC 195, she had vowed never to use it again. She knew
that she must leave her hatred and love for war in the past. But now, it seemed
like she had to forget all about it.
Now, she’s ready for war.
As soon as she reached the door,
she punched in the code Zechs had told her to memorize. When the door opened,
she quickly grabbed the object on the seat and slipped it on her head. As soon
as she did so, the whole room was lit with blinking bright lights as a smile of
satisfaction played across her lips.
“Alright, aliens,” she said, as
her fingers danced across the control pad. She felt excitement tingling at the
base of her skull. “Let’s see how do you fare against my dear mobile dolls. And
the Zero system.”
>>>@@<<<
The Gundam pilots and their
supports were surprised. One minute they were losing and the next, a huge troop
of human mobile suits joined in the battle. They were all the recent version of
space Leos and Virgos. And they seemed to make up for the human defense force’s
lack of number.
“Wha…” Trowa heard Duo blurted.
“I didn’t know the Preventers have other support troops.”
Noin’s face came onto the screen.
“Those aren’t ours.”
“But they came from the
headquarters,” Quatre pointed out, already making his scans.
But Trowa was the one who
reached the conclusion first. His scans showed something peculiar and yet
something familiar. “Those aren’t soldiers,” he reported. “They’re mobile
dolls!”
“But how? By the looks of it,
someone seemed to be piloting them. they can’t all be MDs,” said Duo, noticing
how accurate and subtle the MDs were at tackling the aliens. These mobile dolls
seemed to have strategies of their own but that would be impossible for things,
which were controlled by a computer.
“Dorothy!” said Quatre,
realizing what was happening. “But how…”
His words were cut short when
Zechs appeared on the screen. “I explain later. Right now, we must make sure
that the colony and the delegates are secured,” he said. He resumed his battle
with K’Rin, silently thanking Dorothy for her perfect timing.
>>>@@<<<
When Vincent went down, Relena’s
first instinct was to go back to get him. But before she could do so, the
Telrhani started to fire on them, forcing them to take cover. Right then, a
feeling of hopelessness started to gnaw her very being as she recalled the two
dearest people in her life that she was losing. It was then, she prayed for a
miracle again.
>>>@@<<<
As his life was slowly draining
away, Vincent contemplated over his failure to save the one woman he ever
loved. It pained him that he couldn’t get her to safety as much as it pained
him not to have the chance of telling her how much he loved her. And that added
more to the agony in his heart.
Then suddenly, he felt as if he
was being lifted. His first thought was that he was traveling to the eternal
place, the one his old priest had been preaching him about when he was younger
but when he raised his head, he found himself considering the next possibility.
He found himself staring up onto
the face of Relena’s friend, Heero Yuy. His face was bloody but the wild and
dangerous look in his eyes were still there, though, more evident than usual.
Then, he heard a series of gunshots but there were no bullets coming at them.
And as Heero swung his arm across his shoulder, Vincent spared a look over his
shoulder and saw Kylie shooting at the Telrhani, covering their escape.
Then, as soon as he and Heero
were on the ramp, Kylie backed, making her way up to the ramp and at the same
time shooting at the Telrhani guards. Then, Heero set him onto the floor as
Relena rushed towards them. Heero stood up and regarded Relena. “Take care of
him,” he said before going into the cockpit.
When the engine started, Kylie
was already inside the ship and slammed her palm on a button as the ramp was
being pulled up. They heard bullets trying to pierce through the metal surface
of the door as the Telrhani guards still determined to recover their prisoners.
But it was already too late.
Kylie threw down her rifle and
knelt before Relena and Vincent. She tore the sleeve of her jacket and shoved
it onto his wound as a cry of pain escaped his lips. She then turned to Relena.
“Press the cloth against the wound as long as it takes,” she told her,
gesturing Relena to take over. She turned to the President. “You, find
something to cover him with.”
She then stood up and ran
towards the cockpit.
Vincent gasped as it was hard
for him to breathe. The bullet had gone into his lungs as blood started to
trail down his lips. But he knew he had to tell Relena how he felt should he
not be able to make it. He grabbed her hand, which was pressing against his
wound.
“I’m so sorry,” he rasped,
fighting back unconsciousness. “I’m so sorry that I got you into this mess and
I’m so sorry I can’t get you out safely.” Relena looked at him, surprised.
“What are you talking about, Vincent? I was the one who got us in this mess,
remember?” She tried to smile but failed miserably.
“But I should’ve known,” said
Vincent. Then, he gripped her hand tightly, knowing he needed to tell her the
next thing. “I love you, Relena Darlian. I love you since the day we met. When
I left you to return home that was the hardest thing I ever did. And I spent
years after that, trying to locate you but you seemed to fashion following your
father everywhere.”
“And the reason I seek you out
now is because I can no longer hide my feelings,” he said, trying hard to bear
the pain. “Please, if I make it through this alive, please, promise me that you
will marry me.” As he said that, he lost consciousness.
Relena was shocked. She had
never thought that he would feel that strongly towards her. And the irony was,
she had been dreaming about him saying those things when she was a little girl.
She knew that part of her had always love Vincent but what about the other
part?
>>>@@<<<
Kylie let Heero pilot despite
his serious injuries. She knew that he needed the distraction to keep himself
awake. And so, she made herself useful by fixing the communication system,
which had fried in the escapade. She had a feeling that they would be needing
it since the Warleader had dispatched a few of his troops to go after them.
Her head bumped on the console
as she swallowed a few curses. She was trying to reconnect a few delicate wires
back into place and the aliens were not helping at all. And now, she was
getting tired of lying on her back, risking her head to be fried along with the
other circuitries.
Somehow, Heero understood her
predicament and tried to hold the ship steady, giving her enough time to finish
the repairs. As she jumped up to her feet, their ship shook as Kylie was thrown
into her seat. Gritting her teeth, she took over the control to the secondary
defense system and blasted away the Telrhani fighters. Heero let her channeled
her anger away as he struggled to pilot the ship back to Earth and at the same
time, fired on the aliens.
When Kylie was calmed, she flipped
over the transmission button, hoping that the others would receive their
signal. She hadn’t care who she was transmitting to just as long as it was
directed to Earth and that they could hear her.
>>>@@<<<
Sally was taken by surprise when
the unexpected transmission got in. It seemed like every vidscreen in space and
on Earth, public and government alike, were showing the same thing. It showed
the face of Kylie Rayden, telling them that they had rescued the President and
the Vice Foreign Minister and now required some back up.
The headquarters was plunged into more chaos as the transmission
played on. Each was trying to determine the origin of the transmission. Then,
Lady Une’s face appeared on a screen. “Sally, deploy the Gundams at once,” she
ordered.
But
a glance at another screen told Sally everything. “Too late, ma’am,” she said.
“The pilots are already on their way.”
>>>@@<<<
When the transmission came in,
Quatre’s first instinct was to ran a scan to locate it. He knew that Heero and
Kylie would never ask for assistance if they didn’t need it. It’s only on rare
occasions that they both would ask for help because both of them were capable
at almost everything.
Not everything, alright. Not
everything including the other Mican Warriors who now had abandoned the
battlefield to intercept Heero’s shuttle. In fact, most of their troops left
with them but K’Vai wouldn’t leave the Gundams and the Preventers without some
treats.
Then, he got the location. For a
moment, he looked at the alien fighters and Mican troopers they had to take
care of. Setting aside his own personal feelings, he contacted his friends. “Wu
Fei, Duo. You two go and help Heero. Your high speed Gundams should be fast
enough to catch up with them,” he said, the next words sounded very reluctant.
“Trowa, Zechs and I can take care of things here.” He paused. “Bring them back,
guys.”
“Roger,” said Duo while Wu Fei
was already racing towards where Heero’s shuttle was.
“Go, Gundam pilots,” said a
husky voice. Quatre was startled when Zechs appeared on his screen. “Go help
your friends,” he said, knowing how hard it was for him to stay. “The
Preventers, Dorothy and I can handle things back here.”
Noin appeared. “Yes, go help
your friends,” she said, speaking to Trowa.
Then, the two Gundams left the
battlefield for their friends.
>>>@@<<<
The shuttle shook as Heero tried
to fight back unconsciousness. They had lost their main weapons earlier and now
was depending on the secondary weapons, which Kylie was handling. He knew that
no matter what happen, he can’t lose consciousness. He knew that he must keep
himself awake so that he could help Kylie fought off the aliens. But he was
losing too much blood from the slash on his chest and their secondary weapons
were also running low…
Suddenly, the shaking seemed to
stop as the aliens were distracted by some newcomers. Heero glanced at the
battle outside and saw his friends chasing away the aliens. After a short
battle, the aliens decided that they should retreat.
The comm. crackled.
“Are you alright there?” came
Quatre’s voice, although they lost visual.
Kylie answered it. “We’re okay
but in need of medical attention once we’re back.”
They could almost hear Quatre’s
sigh of relief then. “Alright, we’re escorting you back.”
Kylie sank back into her seat
and grabbed the throttle. She turned to Heero, noticing his weakened state. “I
think I should take over piloting,” she said, setting on the copilot mode. She
then heard Heero sighed as he said, “Great, thanks.” Then, he lost
consciousness.
Kylie quickly reached over and
set him right before he slide off the seat. She shook his shoulder but he was
already out cold. She strapped him in, then took on the task of
getting the two injured to the medical facility as quickly as she could.
>>>@@<<<
“Relena!” a voice called out to
her as Relena watched the medics took Vincent away. Her first impulse was to
follow them but the sight of her worried brother weakened her knees. She tried
to walk up to him but only to have stumbled. Zechs quickly caught her and held
her tight.
“God, I was so worried about
you,” he whispered, making Relena startled by the tone of his voice. Truly, he was
worried.
But instead of reassuring him
that she was fine, Relena held him even tighter. Never had the two siblings
held each other like that. And this time was the perfect time, if there was
any. Around them, others were making their way towards the newly arrived
shuttle too.
“Kylie!” the two heard Quatre
cried, alarmed. They both turned to see Kylie staggered out of the shuttle,
supporting Heero. There were scorched marks on her suit and she was all
bloodied.
Quatre and Wu Fei quickly went
to her side but she shook her head. “I’m okay but Heero’s not,” she said as Wu
Fei helped her get Heero on a stretcher. It was then Relena realized that Heero
was unconscious and that there was a bleeding gash on his chest.
“Heero!” she cried, pushing
herself away from Zechs. But the medics were already wheeling Heero away.
Relena watched as they disappeared into the hallway with Kylie, Quatre and the
other Gundam pilots.
“Grandpa!” a small voice echoed
in the hangar as a little girl flew into the arms of the ESUN president.
Distracted, Relena watched the two hugging each other and exchanging kisses.
Then, after they were done, the little girl pointed to the two older girls
behind him. “They took care of me. They told me you’ll be back,” she said.
The President smiled gratefully
at Catherine and Hilde. “Thank you for taking good care of my only
granddaughter. I was really worried about her when the aliens took me in. I
thought they have her,” he said.
Catherine smiled back and patted
Anne’s shoulder, gently. “No problem. Anne is a very obedient girl. We all
really love having her here with us,” she said, wiping a tear that was
threatening to roll down her cheek. She was reminded of her old family before
they were killed.
“And besides, I was never in
danger, grandpa,” said Anne. “Mylin took good care of me too.”
The President’s frowned. He looked
at Catherine. “Who’s Mylin?”
At the hesitance of Catherine’s
face, Lady Une decided to step in. “She’s… uh… an interesting element that
we’ll be discussing later, Mr. President. You will find her role… alarming and
strange but first we really need to get you to the infirmary for a standard
medical review.”
Still curious, the President let
the head of Preventers led him towards the infirmary. A pressure on Relena
shoulder made her turned to Zechs. “Lady Une has just gave us a good idea. We
should get you to the infirmary.” He then pointedly said, “Maybe then we’ll
find out how the others are doing.”
Realizing whom he meant, Relena
nodded and let him helped her to the infirmary with Noin, Catherine and Hilde
watching them.
>>>@@<<<
When the news came to her that
Heero and Vincent would be fine, she was more than relieved. Finally, she
slumped on the seat, exhaling the breath that she had been holding ever since
the two were in the operation room. The news had came to her almost
spontaneously with Vincent’s physician coming out of the first operation room
and Sally Po from the second.
But now she realized that she
had a dilemma. The two that were hurt were both very important to her. She
wanted to wait by their side but she cannot do both since they’re in separate
rooms. So now, Relena had to choose between Heero and Vincent.
She first walked over to the
room where Heero was. She had known how badly Vincent was hurt but she never
really know how much injuries Heero was suffering when he fought Sira. The
other Gundam pilots were all waiting near the doorway, concerned over a valued
member of their team. But when Relena looked beyond the doorway, she saw Kylie
sitting on a chair near Heero’s bed, obviously waiting for him to regain
consciousness.
Relena couldn’t really tell the
relationship between the two of them. Both had been inseparable ever since they
started working together. At times, Relena could almost see how both understood
each other’s feelings. But Relena doubted that they’re romantically involved.
Seeing how close Kylie was with Quatre told Relena that the girl was interested
only in the Sandrock’s pilot. But what’s really with her and Heero?
Relena let the question passed
as she watched the people who were waiting for Heero. She decided Heero didn’t
need her at all. He had other people watching and waiting for him to wake up.
Vincent didn’t have that luxury. And so, casting a last look at Heero’s pale
face, she slowly made her way to Vincent’s room.
>>>@@<<<
Kylie waited patiently. Her eyes
were only on Heero’s pale but peaceful face. Seeing him sleeping so soundly
reminded her of Quatre. She realized that Heero too, looked like a sleeping
angel when he was sleeping. His face was peaceful, a contrast to the cold and
serious look on his face when he was awake. It was then, something told her
that although life might be hard and cruel for Heero Yuy but when he was
asleep, he diverted back to the boy who was once happy and had a family.
Occasionally, Sally would come
in to check on Heero. Although she told Kylie to take a break and rest, the
younger girl didn’t move an inch. She knew her action was attracting curious
stares from the others but Kylie just plain didn’t care. Let them think what
they want to think because she knew that she must stay with her twin.
Even so, she did spare a glance
at Quatre, wanting to see his reaction towards this. But the blond pilot had
only understanding written all over his face. He even nodded his approval to
her staying by Heero’s side, thinking that it was somehow important for her to
do so. His understanding somehow sent a strange warmth in her heart.
When there was a scraping sound,
Kylie jumped to her feet. A blanket slid off to her feet as she looked around
her, alarmed. It was then she realized that she had doze off. “Sorry to have
awaken you,” said a voice. Kylie nodded as Lady Une made her way to another
chair.
“How’s he doing?” asked the
older woman.
Kylie looked down at Heero
before sitting. “The same. He lost a lot of blood and it will take some time
for him to regain consciousness,” she answered, brushing away a lock of hair
that fell in Heero eyes. The swelling on Heero face was subsiding though Kylie
knew the bruise would stayed for at least four days.
Lady Une watched her silently.
She too, was curious over the relationship of her young charge and the Wing
Zero pilot. But before she could say a thing, Kylie asked her a question.
“Where are the others?” she asked, noticing that the doorway and hallway were
empty. It felt as if it was seconds ago when the other pilots were standing
there.
“They decided to call it a day.
They had it really rough when you and Heero weren’t here,” Une answered. “But
it took some tough persuasion to get Quatre to rest in his quarters. He was
planning to spend the night on the couch in the hallway.
Kylie smiled at that. It was the
first real smile from her that Lady Une hadn’t seen for a long, long time.
“That’s so typical of him,” she heard the ex-assassin said. There was a
distinctive tone of affection in her voice. “But that’s what makes him so
special,” she whispered with a faraway look on her face. ‘That’s what give him
the right to live.’
As she stared at Heero’s face,
Kylie waited for Lady Une to speak. She knew that the woman had curious questions
about her and Quatre and Heero. Not that Kylie was planning to answer any of
them but it would be interesting to know how people draw conclusions over her
relationship with the two pilots.
But when Lady Une didn’t say a
thing, she looked up. It was then she noticed that Treize’s assistant looked
very tired and seemed worse for wear. But that was not what startled her. It
was the way she was staring at her as well as the eerie silence that shrouded
the room.
“What is it?” Kylie demanded,
knowing something was amiss.
Lady Une looked reluctant for a
moment.
“Tell me, dammit!”
She took a long deep breath and
stared at Kylie. “Something bad has happened,” she began.
Kylie waited for her to
continue. Her fists were balled and knuckles were white.
“It’s… Mariemaia,” said Une. It
was hard for her to say the next words but she somehow managed. “She’s been
captured.”
At that Kylie jumped to her
feet, heading towards the door. Lady Une rose. “Where do you think you’re
going?”
“Rescue her, of course,” said
Kylie, her voice cold and hard. “I can’t let anything happen to Treize’s only
heir.”
“But you can’t go,” said Lady
Une, gripping her arm to stop her from bolting out of the door.
Kylie pried the hand off her arm
and looked at her. “And why not? I’ve made my way in safely just a few days
ago.”
“Yes but you’re too exhausted to
do anything now,” Une pointed out, seeing the dark circles under her eyes. “It
won’t do you or Mariemaia any good if you collapse in the middle of the rescue.
You must take a good rest before you start doing something as dangerous as
this.”
The muscle in Kylie’s shoulder
tensed as Une said that. “Besides,” Lady Une continued. “We still have to make
the necessary repairs on the alien shuttle. Unless it is repaired, it’s not
going anywhere.” She paused to glance at Heero. “Stay here and wait until Heero
regain consciousness. Then, you can leave with him again.”
At that, Kylie’s shoulder
relaxed. She realized that it was important for her to stay with Heero as much
as to help the other pilots defend the colonies from any Telrhani vengeance
attack. Plus, she suddenly felt as if her body was going to sleep again. And
so, she nodded and returned to her seat.
>>>@@<<<
It had been hours but Vincent
still hadn’t regained consciousness. The physician told Relena that it had been
a touch and go for him but somehow they managed to stabilize his condition. As
she waited for him to wake up, Relena thought over what he said before he lost
consciousness. She was still confused by what had taken place a few hours ago
and somehow excited over something that she couldn’t identify.
Secretly, she knew that she
still loved Vincent Dupree. He had been her friend, her partner as well as her
childhood crush. When she was a child, he was everything to her and their
parting hurt her even more than finding out that she was really adopted by the
Darlians.
But what about Heero? He was her
strength and her guide. He showed her things that she never thought would be
possible. And his presence in her life filled something that was empty inside
her from the moment she met him. What would he say about Vincent’s proposal?
“He’s the right man for you, you
know,” said a voice, almost making her jump. Relena looked at the doorway to
see the President entering the room. He looked at Vincent for a moment before
returning his gaze on her. “I know what you were thinking, Relena. It was all
written clearly on your face,” he said before Relena could say a thing.
“When we were taken prisoners, I
watched how he took care of you. And he proved his love for you by endangering
his life for you.”
Relena looked away. “That’s not
really the question, Mr. President,” she said. “I know his feelings toward me.
But there’s another thing that is complicated.”
The President nodded, knowing
exactly what she meant or rather, who she meant. “All I can tell you, young
lady, is to think about your future. Other than that, I cannot help you because
I never have the chance to get to know the other one.” As he was leaving, he
turned. “Think of your future, Relena. And your heart.”
>>>@@<<<
Heero’s eyes fluttered open. He
realized that he was in a familiar surrounding and relaxed. “How are you
doing?” asked a voice, gently. He turned his head to see Kylie, holding a glass
of water in her hand.
She helped him as he tried to
wet his dried mouth. When he was done, she took away the glass as he asked,
“How’s Relena?”
“She’s alright,” she answered.
“You managed to bring us back in one piece and the Telrhani were all driven back
to the fleet they came from.” She paused. “Vincent Dupree was in critical
condition but they managed to stabilize him. He could wake up at any time.”
Then, there was silence. Though
Heero knew that she was not one with many words, he could almost sense there
was tension in her demeanor. Something that’s so terrible that it disturbed her
very much. “What’s wrong?” he asked, startling the girl who thought she was
hiding her feelings well. But remembering that they were twins, she realized it
was no use hiding anything from him.
“Mariemaia was captured,” she
told him. “She was taken during the latest attack.”
Personally, Heero cared little
for Treize’s little girl. She was one of the reason why a painful memory came
back to him. And she had also caused a lot of damages and had endangered
Relena’s life. Despite that, Mariemaia Khushrenada meant a lot to Kylie and he
felt disturbed by her abduction.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll
get her back.”
Kylie looked at him, her eyes
cold. “I intend to make sure of that.”
>>>@@<<<
Quatre watched as Duo fussed
over Heero. The Deathscythe pilot was expressing how ‘upset and worried’ he was
when Heero ran off to the Telrhani fleet. And what really got Duo going was the
fact that Heero ran off with Kylie of all people. Personally, Quatre
wanted to know the reason himself but it was hard to keep a straight face while
Duo kept on rambling. It was almost comical to see Heero trying hard to ignore
Duo’s witty big mouth and at the same time trying to shut him up. Trowa and Wu
Fei watched, their faces showed their amusement over Heero predicament.
Shaking his head in amusement,
Quatre exited the room to find Kylie. The girl had spent the night and almost
the whole day with Heero. When they came in to see Heero, the girl decided that
the room was too packed and went out. He didn’t exactly know where she had gone
to but had a pretty good idea where. Walking along the hallway, Quatre headed
for the hangar.
He found her staring up at
Gundam Nova. Her eyes were cold and her expression was unreadable. She was
sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. From the look of her damp hair and
fresh clothes, he knew that she had taken a shower before going to the hangar.
She didn’t seemed to notice his presence until he sat next to her.
She looked at him, startled.
“Sorry to have startled you,” he said, apologetically.
She shook her head. “It’s okay,
I just thought that you would be with the others.”
“I was but I decided that I need some air,” he
answered, staring up at Nova as silence swallowed them. It was he who broke it
first. “I’m sorry about Mariemaia. I should’ve taken a good care of her while
you were gone.”
Kylie shook her head. “No, it
wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have left the headquarters without making sure
that Mariemaia got to Earth safely. She’s Treize’s daughter and my
responsibility. I have no right to hand over that responsibility to someone
else.” She shook her head in deep regret. “I should’ve been there for her,” she
said, so softly that he barely heard it.
Despite of the mellow situation,
Quatre smiled. “Now you sound like me,” he commented.
Kylie looked at him, sharply.
For a moment, he was worried if she was angry at him when suddenly a tiny smile
played at the corner of her lips. Her eyes softened. “I did sound like you,
didn’t I?” she said, smiling faintly.
He returned her smile and then
was serious. “The point is, it wasn’t your fault either. You left because you
thought it was the right thing to do, making sure Relena and the others
returned safely. You couldn’t have seen what’s coming. You couldn’t be at all
places at the same time.”
As he said the words, Quatre
felt a longing feeling to touch her and hold her. But he didn’t know how she
would react towards it. And their relationship was too new and there were still
some things that need to be work out between them. So, he settled by just
staring into her winter blue eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll rescue her no matter
what it takes. That’s my promise,” he said.
Surprised by the strength that
was showed in his blue-green eyes, Kylie nodded. She knew that no matter what
happen, she will not let anything happen to the people she sworn to protect. At
any cost.
>>>@@<<<
She staggered through the
rubble, confused. Everywhere she went, she only heard a cry of pain and anguish
from those who survived the attack. She could see people in uniforms helping
the victims by setting up food and medical temporary centers. Some were helping
out by rescuing those who were trapped under fallen buildings and concrete. But
everywhere she went, she could only feel pain.
As her eyes became unfocused,
her legs buckled under her. A throbbing pain shot up her head as she tried to
break her fall. She put a hand on one part of her head which was throbbing
badly and wondered why were her fingers sticky. She looked at her hand and saw
blood.
Then someone ran to her and
started asking how she was. Before she could really comprehend the meaning of
the question in her mind, that someone was leading her towards a medical
center. It was then, something dawned on her. “No,” she mumbled, finding hard
to form the words. “No. I have to find Jack. I have to find Kyle,” she looked
at him. “Please take me to the Preventers.”
The young man looked at her. “We
will, once we get you some help,” he gently said, still helping her towards the
medical camp.
Panic started to rise inside
her. This man refused to take her to Kyle! He must be one of the aliens leading
her towards the slaveship. Then, she started to struggle, trying to get herself
away from the man. “No! You’re not going to take me to Kyle. You’re one of
them.”
The young man tried to get a
hold of her but her flailing arms were hitting him. So, he called up for help
and two medical officers came over to offer assistance. One of them were
bringing a syringe. By then, she was already screaming and shouting, drawing
attention from those around them. The three medical officers got hold of her as
one plunged the syringe point into her arm.
Then, the world started to spin
again as darkness was swallowing her vision. Before she lost consciousness, she
looked at the young man pleadingly. “Please, take me to Kyle. He’s the only one
who could save Jack,” she said before slumping into the young man’s arms.
He looked at his two companions
who shook their heads. “The people she mentioned must have been killed or taken
by the aliens,” said one of them, sadly. “That might explain the trauma.”
“Blast it! Why can’t we drive
away the aliens back to the hellhole they belong to?” said the other, angrily.
He looked at the destruction around them. His companion put a hand on his
shoulder, reassuringly. He knew that his friend had lost his brother in the
latest raid.
“Don’t worry. We still have the
Gundams.”
“Yeah but we can’t do anything
to help them,” said his friend. “We’re so useless.”
The young man picked the girl
into his arms. He looked at her pretty face and then looked around him before
returning his gaze back to his comrades.
“We are doing something, guys,” he said. “We’re helping out people
like this girl to move on.” With that he continued his way towards the camp,
his friends following him.
>>>@@<<<
Sira knelt before the Warleader.
Her wounds from the explosion were barely healing but she felt the need to
report back to him. She was painfully ashamed by her failure to recapture the
three prisoners. She was even more ashamed and angry at being overpowered by
the two human Gundam pilots. She was the warrior of the highest kind.
She wasn’t suppose to be defeated by children no matter how skillful and
resourceful they were! And so, Sira swore to take revenge on all of the Gundam
pilots, particularly on the two that shamed her so greatly.
For now, the silence of the
bridge was deafening. Her heart pounded, waiting for her beloved Warleader to
say something to her. To punish her at least. But he didn’t say a thing. Sira
could almost feel his sharp look penetrating her entire being.
Beside her, Mylin was on her
knees too. Her wound was also healing but her feeling was quite opposite to Sira’s.
She was very relieved that the three prisoners had escaped though she didn’t
know why. But there was also another feeling that bothered her, it was fear.
She feared that the Warleader might have learned the truth and decided to
execute her.
Personally, she could care less
about her own life. She knew that the moment she became the Emperor’s Eye, she
had signed a death warrant. No, Mylin feared that her sympathy to the humans
might jeopardize her mission to save the Emperor’s throne. And she also feared
not being able to see him for the last time.
After what seemed like eternity,
Warleader Varishk sighed. “I forgive you for your incompetence,” he said, his
words were like thorns to Sira. He said she was incompetent! “We didn’t really
expect the Gundam pilots would be crazy enough to break into out fleet and
board the mothership.” He paused. “Go to your quarters and contemplate your
actions. Come back when I ordered you to.”
Mylin exhaled in relieved. Her
cover was still intact and safe. But she knew it won’t be long. She didn’t mind
being confined to her quarters. That would just give her more time to prepare
for the next phase of her plan as well as to contact her Emperor. She was
missing him already.
To Sira, it was more than a
punishment. It was a torture. Never had she been sent away and dismissed by the
Warleader like that. His words cut through her like knives but she knew she
deserved it. And without any words, without even looking into his eyes, she
followed Mylin out of the bridge.
The Warleader watched the two
young women left the bridge. His eyes empty and his face expressionless. From
his left, someone stepped forward to regard him. He turned to that someone.
“You have something you wish to address, K’Vai?”
“Just this, Warleader,” said the
leader of the Mican Warrior. “I don’t think it was entirely their fault. The
two Gundam pilots that they were facing were well known by their sudden change
of actions. They were known to do things that are unexpected and spontaneous.”
K’Rin nodded. “We’ve seen them,
my lord. The two pilots were the most instable and unpredictable compared to
the other Gundam pilots. The reports from Mylin stated as much and we have seen
first hand how the girl pilot rammed into our slaveship. The two would be our
biggest challenge yet.”
“I know,” said Varishk. “But I
was expecting even more from Sira and Mylin. They are suppose to be the best
and if they can’t even overcome the two, how can the other Telrhani soldiers?”
He glanced at the exit. “Sira is my most able assistant and assassin and Mylin
knew the Gundam pilots more than the rest of us. What happened earlier
shouldn’t have happened!”
Realizing that what he said had
some truth in it, the Mican Warrior saluted him. “Your will, Warleader.”
>>>@@<<<
Mylin stared into the screen.
She was disturbed by the expression on the Emperor’s face. He was not pleased
by her prior actions. That, she knew but what she want to know was that if he
see why she had to do it.
He stared back at her. “You
realized that, Mylin, your actions could’ve led to our defeat,” he reminded
her. “Although I have no intentions of letting the Regent take over the throne,
I have every intentions of making the humans as part of our community. And your
actions not only endangered the Warleader’s mission but also the secret mission
you’ve been assigned to.”
The was silence as Mylin felt as
if she was torn into pieces. Never had the Emperor used that tone on her.
Never. Mylin was very careful to stay on the good side of him and did everything
he told her to do without any comment. Until now.
Emperor Gylendar watched his
spy. He was more surprised than displeased by her actions. He didn’t know what
could’ve made his best spy acted like this. And Mylin had proven to him in the
past to be an excellent servant to the throne.
Then he saw it. Something
strange in her eyes. Something that brought her to this. “What do you think of
the humans, Mylin?” he asked, his voice was quiet.
Mylin looked at him, startled.
Then, she lowered her head. “They will make excellent slaves, Your Majesty,”
she answered.
“Don’t lie to me!” he demanded,
pounding his seat. “Tell me what you think. Truthfully.”
Mylin cringed. Clearly, her
beloved Emperor was angry at her. She didn’t know how else to explain what she
was thinking and so, she decided to tell the truth. “I am uncertain, Your
Majesty.”
Gylendar raised an eyebrow.
“Uncertain?” he echoed. “Explain yourself.”
“They are very interesting
creatures,” she said, hesitantly. “They have this thing they called compassion
which they give to everyone regardless how pitiful they seemed. And they were
able to love and give great devotion to one another no matter how insignificant
they are.”
Gylendar leaned forward. “What’s
a compassion?”
At that, Mylin remembered Ann’s
words. “It’s kindness, Your Majesty. The act of showing mercy to those who are
weaker. It’s showing how much you care for others instead of the cold and
hateful feeling we showed towards our slaves.”
“That’s unacceptable!” said the
Emperor. “We only showed to others how much power and strength we have over
them. If we don’t, we would be crushed. That is our way!” But even if he said
that, Mylin could distinctively detect something in his voice which she
couldn’t name.
Feeling empty, Mylin nodded. “I
agree, Your Majesty. Compassion has no place in our society.”
Then, there was silence.
“Is there a second reason why
you take this mission?” he asked, startling Mylin for the second time. She
looked at him, seeing that his face demanded the truth. Unable to lie to him
anymore, Mylin sighed.
“I have someone who owe me,” she
said, her voice cold and hard. Without her realizing it, her fist were clenched
as she tried to control the sudden rage. Emperor Gylendar looked at her for a
long moment and then nodded. He didn’t need to ask her anything any further.
“Be careful, my faithful
servant,” he said, his voice was soft again. He looked at her in the eyes. “Of
all my ‘Eyes, you are my only hope.”
Mylin stared at the screen,
disbelief. She didn’t know that he had put such a great faith on her. Feeling a
deep love for him, she nodded. “I will, Your Majesty,” she said, her voice
almost cracked at that. Then, he was gone and she was alone.
>>>@@<<<
Mariemaia found herself walking
slowly towards the detention area. At least, that’s where she thought they were
heading. The journey into the Telrhani fleet hadn’t been all that uneventful.
There were moments where the prisoners tried to fought their way through the
Telrhani guards. All were killed easily. She guessed that’s how the aliens
disciplined their slaves.
Now here they were, the latest
capture of a Telrhani raid, making their way slowly to what will be their home
for a long time. The Telrhani guards had them all lining up as they divided the
prisoners into the many cells in the mothership. All were tired and emotionally
drained by the feeling of helplessness because of their current predicament.
But Mariemaia would be just thankful if she could have something to drink. She
had faith that the Gundam pilots, particularly Kylie, would save them.
Suddenly a little girl, the one
Mariemaia rescued, stumbled, making the line of human prisoners stopped moving.
One of the guards shouted at the girl, ordering her to get up but the girl was
too exhausted. To Mariemaia’s horror, the guard raised his whip to beat the
girl!
Quickly, she ran up to the girl
and shielded her with her own body. Displeased by her action, the guard whipped
her continuously while the other prisoners looked on. Mariemaia could only
stifled her screams of pain, trying to show to the Telrhani that she wasn’t
afraid of them. Then, she could no longer feel the bursting pain as her body
began to grow numb. She was about to lose consciousness when the beating
stopped and there was a sound of struggle.
She peeked over her shoulder and
saw a young man grappling with the Telrhani guard. He was trying to wrench the
whip away so the guard would stop beating her. But that only attracted more
Telrhani guards as two of them pulled the man away from their comrade and
started to beat him up too.
Then, a Telrhani in green
uniform came over. He was angry at the delay and told the guards to keep the
line moving. He was displeased that his men were damaging the new slaves before
they could have them start working in the mines.
Afraid of punishment, the guards
obeyed their commander and the march resumed. Mariemaia slowly got onto her
feet as the young man took the little girl into his arms. He winked at them
though the pain was obvious in his eyes. “Hi,” he said, smiling. “Need a hand,
little lady,” he said to the little girl in his arms. When the girl nodded, he
turned to Mariemaia. “You okay, young lady?”
Not able to make out anything of
her savior, she could only nod. The young man then took her hand when a guard
barked at them. “Come on. I don’t think we want to keep the line any longer.”
Then the three of them continued their way.
Another guard ushered them into
a cell. The young man put the girl down as she ran to hide behind Mariemaia. He
chuckled. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t bite,” he said, gently. But his eyes were
looking at Mariemaia. “What’s your name?” he asked the little girl.
“Francine,” a tiny voice said,
behind Mariemaia.
The young man smiled. “That’s a
very beautiful name,” he said.
Mariemaia opened her mouth to
introduce herself but the man shook his head. “Don’t say it. I know you,” he
said, surprising the girl. He then looked behind her, at someone. His face was
all serious. “If you value your life and others, don’t ever say your name,” he
warned her, whispering.
She was taken aback. But before
she could ask what he meant, he told her. “One of the prisoners is watching you
right now, Mariemaia. He might not be sure of who you are right now but when he
does, he would use you to set a deal with the Telrhani.” He paused. “I’ve been
watching him watching you for quite some time now.”
“But why? Why would he do that?”
she asked.
The young man shook his head,
sadly. “Because desperate people do desperate things. And there are many
desperate people here in this cell. They might not recognize you and I intend
to keep it that way.”
But Mariemaia wasn’t ready to
trust this guy fully. “What if you’re the one who’s going to turn me in? What
if you were the one who’s going to betray me? Why should I trust you?” she
asked, cautiously. She now knew what would happen if the aliens discovered that
someone who had a close relationship with the Gundam pilots was among the
prisoners. They would use her the way they used Relena Darlian and the others.
The young man smiled. “You can
trust me, Mariemaia because I’m a friend of your friend. And I would do
anything for her.”
Seeing the honesty in his eyes,
Mariemaia found herself trusting him. Francine also showed her trust by
stepping from behind her and threw her arms around his neck. Chuckling, he held
the scared little girl. “Hush, little one. We’ll get out of here. I promise
that.”
Mariemaia sat close to him, glad
for the warmth his body seemed to offer her. “Who are you?” she asked him, curiously.
Her eyelids were growing heavy because of fatigue.
The young man looked at her and
extended his hand. “I’m Jack Fields.”
>>>@@<<<
Relena waited for the person to
come. She knew that she needed to get the answer right away. It was the only way
that could help her make her decision. She tried to plan how to ask the
question but soon, she just decided to ask away directly. But now, she wished
that she had plan the way she wanted to approach the subject.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she said, jumping to her feet.
The door slid open and Kylie
stepped into the room. She looked at her, quizzically. “You call for me?” she
asked.
“Y…yes,” said Relena, nervously.
“Thank you for coming.” She gestured at any empty seat. “Please, sit down.”
The girl before her sat as
Relena took the seat opposite her. Kylie looked at her, waiting for her to
speak. Nervously, Relena cleared her throat. “I just want to thank you for
coming to our rescue,” she began. But when the other girl didn’t say a thing,
she decided to continue. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful but I’d like to know
about one thing.”
Kylie just stared at her,
waiting wordlessly. “I… uh… understand why Heero was there and that I was
expecting him.” Relena paused. “But I never expected you to be there. Why? Why
were you there, Kylie?” she asked.
“Because it is my duty to
protect you,” she answered, surprising Relena in return. “Treize said that you
are the salvation of the human race and that I must protect you at any cost.
And I intend to obey his final wishes.” She then looked away. “Besides, I owe
Heero for helping me out.”
At that she stood and walked to
the door, leaving the surprised Relena behind. The Vice Foreign Minister
quickly recovered from her surprise when her mind screamed for her to ask
another matter. “Kylie,” she called, her voice had a hint of helplessness in
it.
Kylie stopped at the doorway.
She looked over her shoulder to see Relena staring at her hands. “Could you
give me an advice?” she asked. This time, it was Kylie who was taken by
surprise. Relena looked up to her. “Could you please help me make a decision?”
Detecting the desperate tone in
her voice, Kylie returned to the girl. She waited for her to continue.
“Vincent asked me to marry him,”
Relena told her.
Kylie was taken aback by that.
It wasn’t that she was surprised by the news. She was just surprised that
Relena chose to tell her, of all people. Recomposing herself, she asked,
“What do you think I can do?”
Relena took her hands. “You’re
the only person who is the closest to Heero. In fact, you’re the only one he
ever allowed to be close to him. You alone should know his feelings.”
“I see,” said Kylie. “You want
to know if he really loves you.” She sighed. “I’m maybe the only person closest
to him but there are still a lot of things he kept to himself.” She looked at
the desperate girl before her. “But from what I can see, Heero cares deeply for
you, Relena Darlian.”
Relena was relieved to hear
that. She waited for more.
“But to say that if he really
loves you…” Kylie shook her head. “I can’t tell. It isn’t really any of my
business. Only he has the answer.” Then, she looked at Relena in the eyes. “But
what I can really tell you is this. Heero feared the same thing that us Gundam
pilots feared the most.”
Relena was surprised at that.
The Gundam pilots always struck her as fearless.
Kylie saw the look in her eyes
and nodded. “Yes, we do have our own fears,” she admitted. “Our lives are so
full of war and endless fighting. It’s the way our lives work.” She paused.
“Every time we go into battle, we have the same 50-50 chance of getting killed
in the battlefield. If fate is being cruel, we would survive but if fate is
kind, we would be killed.”
“Given that we are always
playing with death, do you think we could afford leaving the ones we care about
in pain and anguish with our deaths?” asked Kylie, feeling a sudden strange
emotion in her heart. Quickly she suppressed it before it overwhelmed her.
“That’s what Heero is concern about. That’s what plaguing your friendship.”
Relena stared at her, struck by
surprise. She had never thought why it never seemed to work out between her and
Heero. She had never thought why Heero always left her and only to appear when
she needed him. She had always thought that Heero couldn’t accept her way of
life but in reality, he feared his eventual death would cause her pain!
Deciding that she had upset the
girl enough, Kylie started to leave. “Think about it, Relena. Remember what I
said when you make the decision of your life.”
“Wait, Kylie,” Relena called
out. There were still some words that she said still disturbed her. “If Quatre
had been a civilian, would you have said and done the same thing?”
Relena could tell that Kylie was
disturbed by the question. Her eyes said so. But then her face hardened as her
eyes grew cold. “I wouldn’t even let him get near me,” she answered. Then,
Kylie exited the room. But Relena caught her last words. “I wouldn’t let death
touch him even now.”
Struck by what she had just
heard, Relena sat down. She had never thought that the Gundam pilots thought of
their lives as a curse and deaths as a gift. And that made her choice easier
but made her decision-making more painful than ever.
>>>@@<<<
Kylie walked back to the hangar
purposefully. Her mind went back to her conversation with Relena. She knew that
she had just told her to accept Vincent’s proposal. And she even meant what she
said about not letting death touch Quatre. In fact, she wouldn’t even let death
touch Heero too! His survival would be important to ensure peace among mankind.
He and the rest of the Gundam pilots. And Kylie would trade her life to make
sure of it.
She found Heero in the hangar,
with Wing Zero. As she entered, he looked up to her. “You should be in bed,”
she commented, seeing how pale his face was. “You still don’t look good.”
Heero grunted as an answer and
continued to work.
“Vincent Dupree asked her to
marry him, you know,” she said. She managed to catch his startled look before
he recovered. Then, she continued, “She asked about your feelings.”
Heero kept on working. “What did
you tell her?” he asked.
“What you would tell her. That
we might not live long enough to start a family,” she answered, walking over to
him.
He nodded. “Thank you,” he said,
approving her actions. He sat and looked up at Wing Zero. “I have no place in
her life.”
Kylie settled next to him. Then,
to his surprise, she put a hand on his and stared at him. There’s pain in her
eyes and for the first time, Heero could see the glimpse of the twin sister he
would have had if their fates had been different. She stared into his eyes for
a few seconds.
“All this have taught me one
thing, my brother,” she whispered. “That it is better to die let known of a
love than to live a thousand years not to tell love at all.” She paused,
thinking of a certain blond pilot. “And I’m speaking for the both of us.”
Heero felt pain growing inside
him too. But quickly, he suppressed it. He squeezed his sister’s hand
reassuringly. Never in his life had he been so thankful to have someone whom he
could share his pain with. He stared into her eyes. “Which is why we won’t live
that long,” he said in a flat tone. “Which is why death is our ultimate fate.”
No verbal communication was needed then. Both could
feel each other’s pain. But Heero failed to sense Kylie’s growing determination
to sacrifice her life for the survival of her twin brother.
>>>@@<<<
Relena jumped as soon as his
eyes fluttered open. For a moment he looked around him in confusion as his mind
started to make sense of things. “How are you feeling?” she asked, gently.
Immediately, the memory came. He
bolted. “What happened? Did we get out safely?” he asked, looking at her. “Are
you alright?” As soon as he said that, a sharp pain went through him and he
gasped. Relena quickly held him before he could fall off the bed.
“Calm down,” she said, pushing
him gently back to the pillow. “Yes, we made it and I’m alright. We’re at the
Preventer headquarters now.” She was touched by his concern for her.
Vincent closed his eyes and
swallowed. His mouth felt like a desert. Then, Relena pressed a glass of water
onto his lips. “Here, drink this,” she said. He took a few gulps before she
took the glass away. Somehow, the cold water made him feel even better.
“How long was I out?” he asked,
his voice still hoarse.
“Three days, almost four,” she
answered.
“Where’s everyone?” he asked,
seeing that Relena was the only one there.
Relena sighed. “They’re
attending a flash meeting. They’re deciding whether to take the fight to the
Telrhani fleet or keep on holding our stand here,” she answered.
“They’re going to attack the
Telrhani?”
“That’s what the Gundam pilots
wanted. They’re determined to destroy the Telrhani and rescue the prisoners.”
She sounded almost defeated as she answered him.
Vincent closed his eyes in
acceptance. “I guess there’s no way for a peaceful solution in this, huh?”
“I guess not,” she said. “But I
pray we find out more about the Telrhani before we attack them. Our lives
depend on it.”
He took her hand and squeezed
it. “They will, Relena. You told me once, remember? The Gundam pilots could
make the impossible possible. It’s time we showed them our faith in them,” he
said, gently.
Relena could only remained silent.
>>>@@<<<
It’s been hours since they
assembled. They’ve come up with possible strategies to attack the Telrhani. But
without knowing the essential information on the Telrhani, even the greatest
strategy couldn’t ensure their victory. And that’s what the Gundam pilots
wanted the most. To end the battles before more were sacrificed.
“My guess would be that they
keep all the prisoners in the flagships,” said a Preventer agent. “The
slaveships are used to only collect the prisoners and bring them back to the
main fleet near Pluto.”
“I guess it’s safe to assume
that,” said Sally. “But what I’m more concern about is what happen when all the
flagships were filled with prisoners? They can’t seriously be thinking of
keeping billions of people in the flagships in a long term and keep on coming
at us.”
“No,” said Trowa, suddenly. He
had been quiet the whole time. “I have a very strong feeling that the Telrhani
will be launching their final war on us anytime soon.”
That made everyone but the
Gundam pilots startled. Noin looked at him. “Are you sure? Aren’t they
declaring war on us right now?”
“No, not really,” said Quatre.
“What they’re doing right now was only testing our defenses. And distracting us
from rescuing the prisoners. They’re pressing us to take our stand here so they
could plan how to make the final assault on us.”
“Which was why they were taken
by surprise when Hero and Kylie managed to sneak through their defenses,” said
Zechs, glancing at their way. “And I have the feeling that we might not be able
to do that again since they’d most probably tighten their defenses now.”
Hilde frowned. “But how are they
going to launch the final attack with some of the flagships filled with
prisoners? Won’t that be a waste if the flagships were destroyed in the
attack?”
“Those flagship aren’t going
anywhere,” said Heero. Again, the others were startled.
“Then, how are they going to
launch the final attack if the flagships stayed? Are they planning to conquer
us with the Mican Warriors and their fighters?” asked one of the Preventer
agent.
Wu Fei looked at him. “Why not?”
“It’s absurd,” said the agent
they knew as Randy.
“It’s not,” said Kylie.
“Besides, there is another way they could conquer us.”
The agent looked at her. “How?”
“Flagships,” she answered.
That made the agent even more
confused. “But you just said…”
Kylie looked at Lady Une who was
looking at the Gundam pilots. Realization was starting to hit her. “Are you
saying…”
Duo nodded. “That’s the only
way.”
“The only way what, Duo?” asked
Hilde, looking at him.
Dorothy also got it as she
looked at them. “They’re bringing in more!” she breathe.
At that very moment the comm.
chimed. Lady Une pressed a button as a young agent appeared on the screen.
“What is it?” she asked.
There was a look of confusion on
the agent’s face but she answered her officer’s question. “It’s the Telrhani
fleet, ma’am,” she said, her eyes wide. “The number of Telrhani fleet seemed to
have grown in the last hour.”
“Send the visual to this room,
Lisa,” Lady Une ordered. In a few seconds, the screen flickered as they all
studied the image.
“Gods!” said Preventer agent
Randy. He was starting to sweat. “How did they grew in number so fast?”
“We never detect anything coming
from beyond the orbit of Pluto,” Lisa reported. “They’re just there.”
“That’s their support flagships,
alright,” said Sally. “The question is, how did they get them here without us
detecting them?”
“No. The real question is, how
did they get here in the first place?” Duo pointed out. “We never detected
anything coming from beyond Pluto. We knew that they are here when they are already
here.”
“And when we solve that, we will
finally know where they come from,” said Quatre.
“And judging from their number,
they’re preparing for the final attack anytime soon,” said Heero. “And we know
exactly where they’re targeting.”
Noin looked at the image and
nodded. “Earth.”
The door burst in as McGarth
walked in with some of his men. “Nobody’s going to attack Earth on my watch,”
he declared, walking up to Lady Une. “Not while I’m alive!”
“General, what a surprise! What
are you doing here?” said Lady Une with a dry note in her voice.
“Can the pleasantries, colonel,”
he said, gruffly. “I don’t want to be here anymore than you want to see me
here.” He looked at her carefully. “But you can rest assured now, Colonel Une,
because I’m making the decisions now.”
“What!” Noin stood up as did the
other Preventer agents.
McGarth looked at her. “That’s
right, Lieutenant Noin. I’m in charge of this operation now and you will have
to do exactly what I tell you to do from now on.”
“But…” a Preventer agent
protested.
“An alien race is attacking us
and we’ve seen enough of the Preventer’s fine job,” he said, with a note
of mockery in his voice.
Randy stood up. “Just wait a second! We’ve done all we can to keep the colonies and Earth safe, you know. And we’re doing a fine job at it,” he protested. The other Preventer agents looked at McGarth, challenging him.
The Defense General looked at them,
the mocking look was still on his face. “Yeah, you did a fine job alright,” he
sneered. “You let the President and the Vice Foreign Minister being kidnapped
and thousands more enslaved.”
“But we got the President and his party back in one piece,” said an agent. “And we have plans how to rescue the prisoners.”
“No,” said McGarth, pointedly. “You
didn’t rescue the President. You used the Gundam pilots to do your
job. You’ve let loose some uncontrollable and dangerous juveniles into the
alien’s territory. Did you forget that they’re the ones who start this
war?”
He shook his head. “No. The
ESUN’s council have seen your fine job and decided that it wasn’t fine
enough.” He looked at Lady Une. “I am to take in charge of the whole operation
and make sure that the Preventers won’t screw up again. This is a war and it
takes a military leader to ensure our victory, not some idealist woman,” he
said, purposely insulted her.
Seeing that the order came from
the ESUN itself, Lady Une didn’t have any choice. Calmly, she nodded, ignoring
the look of disbelief from her agents. “If you say so, General. My agents will
give you their full cooperation,” she said.
Suddenly, Heero stood up. “In
that case, we will be leaving,” he said as the other Gundam pilots stood up as
well. “We’re no longer needed here it seems.” He looked at Lady Une. “We only
work better with the six of us,” he said, leaving out Zechs in the count since
he’s a Preventer.
Lady Une looked at Kylie for a
moment before nodded. The six of them were about to make their exit when
suddenly McGarth stopped them. “Not so fast, Gundam pilots,” he said. He had
finally met the people he had longed to take into custody.
Neither pilots looked at him but
Sally could see them tensed. “You are dangerous criminals and should be taken
into custody a long time ago. You’ve done a lot of damages for all these years
and I’m not about to let you go now,” said McGarth. He signaled his men. “Take
them to the brig. We can’t let these menace loose.”
The other Gundam pilots let
McGarth’s men took them in except one. “Take your hands off me,” Kylie snapped,
giving the one holding her the coldest and most dangerous look ever. Startled,
he took a step back and looked at his officer.
Kylie looked at McGarth. “Let
them go before you’re sorry,” she threatened, her voice all icy.
But McGarth didn’t take heed of
her warning. He signaled two of his men to restrain her. But before the two
could even get to her, Heero and the others were already throwing their
restrainers off as she did the same to hers and pointed a gun at McGarth.
“That wasn’t a request,
McGarth,” she said, her hatred for him was clearly shown. “Maybe these Gundam
pilots have enough honor not to shoot a defenseless man point blank but I’m a
killer. I don't care about honor,” she snapped.
“Execute her,” said McGarth to
the rest of his men, clearly startled. The men who had been pointing their guns
at her took aim. Lady Une, Sally, Noin and Zechs watched as the rest of the
Gundam pilots were ready to join in.
“That’s enough!” said another
voice, stopping McGarth’s men in time. The President entered with Relena by his
side. Her eyes widened when she saw the guns pointing at the Gundam pilots but
fought the urge to run to Heero, seeing how pale he still look from his
injuries.
The President looked at McGarth.
“You are send here not to take charge of anything but your own men,” he
said, firmly. “You’re here to work with Lady Une’s Preventers.” He
looked at everyone in the room. “If anything, I’m in charge,” he said,
pointedly.
Randy looked at him, disbelief.
“Does that mean…?”
“Yes, I’m going to stay here
until all of this is over,” he said, with a note of deep authority. “All
decision should come through me.”
“That’s fine,” said Trowa. “It’s
exactly how it should be.”
“But we’re still insisting our
independence from you,” said Quatre, looking at Lady Une.
That made the President
surprised. “But why? McGarth won’t be arresting you for now.” He glanced at the
man.
Quatre shook his head. “It’s more
appropriate this way. We’re still considered as criminals by some of your
delegates. It won’t give you a good reputation to let us ‘dangerous juveniles’
to work with the respectable ESUN. Earth and space had just achieved the peace
that we all wanted. Let’s not smear the name of the organization that brought
us together.”
Seeing that what they were doing
was for the sake of formality, he nodded. “Granted,” he said, noticing
McGarth’s protesting glare. “But you will keep track with Lady Une. You might
be professionals but you’re still underage. I don’t want to feel responsible
for causing your death.”
At that Noin almost smile. It
was hard to think these kids as underage since they all had the looks of
someone far, far older reflected in their eyes. But then again, one look at
them again made her realized that they were, in fact, just kids.
Heero nodded in agreement. The
President had just given them the permission to work with Lady Une secretly.
Without any word, he led the six of them out of the room. Heero didn’t even
spare a glance at Relena who was looking at him, concerned.
