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.
“So you think it’s finally safe
enough for us to meet?” Relena asked the person on the other end. As promised,
Celcie, Relena’s only contact with the Telrhani contacted her through a very
secured channel. Vincent had been with her when they received the call and now,
he’s watching the two young women made their deal.
Celcie nodded. “Yes, the
Warleader has every potential Emperor’s Eyes on Earth and he felt it’s safe now
to transport you and Mr. Dupree to his ship. He gave his word that he would
cease any orders to attack as long as you’re in his care. He would’ve to answer
why to the Emperor but the Warleader has already a plan to take care of it. His
only wish now is to announce his defection and help you gain peace with his
people.”
“How’s he going to do that?”
asked Vincent.
“The Warleader first planned to
have peace with your race. Then, once we’ve established a strong relationship,
he would go back to our homeworld and tried to persuade the other nobles to
dethrone the Emperor and made a peaceful relation with your race. Then we can
truly be in peace with you.”
“I’m not quite sure I approve of
your Warleader’s plan. If he planned to dethrone his Emperor, thousands will
die because of the civil war,” said Relena, seriously. “Earth have suffered
that sort of things since the beginning of time.”
Celcie looked at her,
exasperated. “But the Emperor is the main enemy to both of our races. He’s the
one who has a strong thirst for blood. He’s the one we must destroy at any
cost.”
“Maybe, but what about the
innocent people that die in the process?”
For a moment the alien woman
quieted. Then she looked at Relena and smiled. “Maybe once both of us became
friends then we can talk how we could make my people see our pure intentions.
Maybe through your own experience, you can teach us a thing or two.”
Relena returned her smile. “I’m
sure we can.”
“Good,” said Celcie. “Be
prepared. I will be coming personally to fetch you and Mr. Dupree. You have
been told the place and time, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Right, Vincent and I will be
there.”
Celcie smiled and nodded. “Good.
I’ll see you then, Miss Relena.”
>>>@@<<<
Sira cut off the communication
and looked away. She then started to smile, realizing her plan had started to
fall into places. “Fools, you should’ve known that the Empire would never yield
to the likes of you,” she said, then reached over to contact her Warleader.
“Sira?” said the Warleader.
“Everything is in progress,”
said Sira. “It had been very easy to fool the ever-eager pacifists. You will
have them soon enough, Warleader. That I promise you.” She paused, looking at
the reports on her table. “And, oh, the troops on Earth are ready to commence
phase two. The spy Mylin has been informed of her mission a few hours ago.”
Warleader nodded, smiling.
“Good, Sira. I have a feeling that things will be going in our favor.”
“Yes, Warleader,” she said, but
there was doubt in her voice and he detected it.
“What is it, Commander?” he
asked.
Sira took a moment before
finally spoke. “It’s Mylin. I don’t trust her, my lord. I have a strong feeling
that she would betray us.”
Varishk was silent for a moment
as he considered it. Then he nodded. “Don’t worry about Mylin. Her loyalty will
be determine by her actions in the assault on Earth. That, or she will die
proving it.”
>>>@@<<<
Relena and Vincent strode along
the hallway, quietly. They had just passed a hangar which the Gundams were
being stored and found Kylie working on Nova. To maintain their secrecy, Relena
decided that they should made their way even quieter and to watch out for anyone
coming from either side. Each prayed that they would not be discovered.
After walking for what seemed
like hours, Vincent finally found the shuttle that he’s capable of piloting and
they both left the Preventer
headquarters, without much trouble. Once outside, they made their way
towards the appointed place, a docking bay in L5 K21183 colony.
There, a woman was waiting for
them. As Relena made her way closer to her, she could see that it was in fact
the same woman that had been contacting her all these while. “Greetings, Miss
Relena, Duke Dupree,” she said as they stopped.
“Please, call me Relena and this
is Vincent,” said Relena, as they shook hands.
Celcie looked at them,
carefully. “I trust no one followed you here? It would jeopardize the whole
situation if someone does.”
“Don’t worry. No one know we
were here,” said Relena, reassuringly.
Celcie nodded and gestured at
the alien shuttle behind her. “Shall we go?”
>>>@@<<<
Heero’s eyes snapped open as a
feeling of dread started to overwhelm him. His heart was beating faster than
usual as he tried to determine why. Was it because of the dream he had? Telling
him that something bad was about to happen. Something that even he cannot stop.
Something that was connected to Relena.
Quickly, he jumped out from his
bed, startling Adin in the process. He then ran out of the room, almost
colliding with Trowa who caught him in time. “What’s wrong?” the tall Gundam
pilot asked. Heero glanced behind him and saw Wu Fei was also coming out from
his room and was looking at the two of them.
Realizing he hadn’t answered
Trowa’s question, he said one word, “Relena,” before continuing his way towards
her room. There, he discovered that her room was empty and was about to search
the whole place when Noin came running.
“Heero,” she said, panting.
“Relena’s gone. She left a message for all of us.”
Heero followed Noin to the
bridge, with Trowa and Wu Fei close in pursue. When they finally got to the
bridge, Lady Une, Zechs, Sally and Howard were waiting for them patiently. But
Heero could see the anxiety that played on each of their faces, especially
Zechs’s.
A second later, Kylie, Quatre,
Duo and Dorothy entered. “We couldn’t find Vincent either,” Quatre reported.
Lady Une nodded, acknowledging his report as she began to address all of them.
“A few minutes ago, an agent reported that he gave permission to take off to a
shuttle that left the premises about an hour earlier. It had been Relena,
telling him that she and Vincent are going to an important meeting for the
Earth Sphere.”
“That was before I discovered a
message sent to us through the internal network,” she continued. “And after
hearing the message myself, I decided that it is dire for all of you to hear it
as well.” She then signaled to an agent. Then, the image of Relena appeared on
the screen.
“My friends, the next time
you’ll see me the war would either end or you will find me dead. Either way, I
am prepared. But I cannot leave you without explaining why I’m attempting what
I’m doing right now.” She paused to inhale. “For many generations now,
we have been involved in so many wars. Though the war had taught each of us
something, we never seemed to be able to keep it in mind. Except for a few
individuals that were deeply cut by this war and even they must continue to
live so they would be able to remind our people the horrors of war.”
“We must stop all this
fighting. If we don’t, we won’t have any future. This is the reason why I
decided to deal with the Telrhani on my own.” She looked away. “I’ve
never learn how to fight and so I never knew how does it feel when a person
kills. All I know is to make a well written speech to captivate my audience so
they could see my intentions for peace. That is my strength, now I know.”
“Which is why I decided to do
this. I will use my strength with the Telrhani so I could captivate their
hearts as I’ve captivate yours. I know it’s dangerous, but I must do this. If
not, all my ideals of total peace would be just ideals.” She smiled. “Don’t
worry about me. I’ll be fine. Farewell for now,” she said but her last
words seemed to be directed to Heero, who’s wearing an unreadable expression.
Lady Une turned to stare at the
occupants of the room. Zechs, Noin, Sally, Quatre, Duo and Dorothy were clearly
showing their fears on their faces while Trowa and Wu Fei were calm. She turned
to look at Heero, his reaction to the news was unreadable while Kylie was
watching him, carefully.
Howard whistled. “That’s one
brave girl.”
“Or a fool,” said Wu Fei,
surprising all of them. “This has got to be the dumbest stunt she ever pulled.”
They looked at each other for a
few seconds. Suddenly, they heard a sound of running footsteps, leaving the
bridge. “Heero, where are you going?” Lady Une called out. Then Kylie, Wu Fei
and Trowa followed him. “Kylie! Trowa! Wu Fei!” She surprised that her own
agent, Wu Fei, ignored her call. When Quatre and Duo started to leave as well,
she stopped them.
“Where are you going?”
Quatre stopped while Duo
continued on. “They all suspected that this is a trap set to get Miss Relena.
We’re going to stop Relena before it’s too late,” he answered her. But as he
was starting to turn around, the bridge was deafened with the alarms and a
second later, the whole base shook.
Lady Une found herself on the
floor with Quatre. The boy looked away, his face wore a severe look that she
had never seen before on him. “We’re underattack,” he said as smoke started to
fog their vision. Just then, a Preventer agent confirmed his speculation but
before Lady Une could say anything, Quatre was already out running.
>>>@@<<<
5.00 a.m.
Mylin waited patiently for the ground troop to meet
her at their designated rendezvous point. The call had came a few hours ago
that she was required to assist a group of Telrhani special ground troop in
their secret mission. All Mylin was ordered to do was to provide them with a
transportation that could get them back to the fleet without alerting the
locals.
And so, Mylin ‘rented’ an Earth
shuttle, after killing the owner of course, flew it over into the forest and
now was waiting for these ‘ground troop’. Again curiosity started to nibble at
her conscious as she wondered why the Warleader sent a special troop down on
Earth.
She slapped her face as she felt
a slight pain. She had grown to love what Earth had to offer while she was
there but there’s only one thing that caused her great annoyance. She found
herself hating bugs, especially the ones the human called mosquitoes.
Her patience was growing thin
when she heard an explosion. Thinking that somehow the mission was a failure,
Mylin’s first impulse was to take off since it was part of her training to
abort a failing mission. But something jarred her curiosity, something that
made her ran towards where the noise came from.
Then, she heard a rustling sound
that came from the other way. She quickly took out her weapon and trained it
evenly as a group of people broke out through the bushes. But to her relief, it
was the ground troop. “What happened?” she asked as the group halted, surprised
to see her. “And who is that?” she asked, seeing a human being carried over by
one of them.
“You’re not authorize to that
information,” said the leader she vaguely recognized. “I thought you were
suppose to meet us at the designated point. You’re way off your position, spy.”
Mylin fought the urge to kill
him right there. “I heard and explosion. Thought you could use some help.”
“Well, we don’t,” he said,
nodding to the man who was carrying the human. The man took off towards where
Mylin left the shuttle. “You did good, spy. Now I suggest you go because a
group of Preventer agents are heading this way.”
“I thought I was to come with
you?” she said, surprised.
The leader shook his head.
“You’ll be fetch later. For now, we have to leave, quickly.”
Mylin glanced back, where the
human was taken. Again, she wondered who he was and why the secrecy. Suddenly
there was another rustling sound as one of his men addressed the leader. “That
must be the second group. They were suppose to bring over the little girl.”
Something struck her as weird at
that point. She was curious as to why the team would be collecting an old human
man and a little girl. But her thoughts were broken when the rest of the team
appeared. “Sir,” said one of them. “We lost the girl. And the human agents are
getting closer.”
That displeased the leader. “You
lost a little girl?,” he quoted, grabbing the man’s uniform. “Find her at all
cost and we’ll decide whether to come back for you or not. Don’t fail me,” he
hissed, addressing the second group. Mylin saw fear in their eyes as they
started to leave.
The leader turned to Mylin,
deciding that she had heard enough. “You still here, spy? I thought I told you
to leave?”
At first, Mylin thought of
telling him that she outranked him. But that would mean revealing her identity
as an Emperor’s Eye. So, she bit back a retort and nodded. “I was just
leaving,” she said and ran to the east.
After running for a few minutes,
she turned north to double back and find out exactly what they were doing. She
knew that it could be dangerous with the Preventers roaming around but Mylin
felt it was dire for her to know about the mission so she could report back to
the Emperor. As she was running, she suddenly heard a sobbing noise that came
from her left. Quickly, she went to that noise only to hit a small figure who
screamed.
Mylin quickly grabbed the little
girl as she tried to struggle. She was about to contact the second ground troop
when her eyes met a very familiar blue eyes. She blinked. “You!” she said,
almost releasing the girl.
When Mylin released the little
girl, she quickly ran away but the spy was quicker. She grabbed the girl’s
shoulder and shook her. “Little girl! Stop moving,” she said, her voice just
barely over a whisper. She knew that the others were around.
For a moment, the little girl
looked up to her in fear. Her blue eyes were wide and wet but that didn’t put a
damper to the girl’s innocent beauty. Then, as second later, her eyes widened
some more as recognition crossed her face. “You’re that lady in the park!” she
said, her voice full of wonder.
Mylin nodded and tried to smile
when suddenly the girl’s eyes widened again as she tried to wrestle herself
free from her grasp. “No, you’re one of them! You kidnapped grandpa,” she
squealed. Mylin didn’t know whether it was the revelation of the mission, the
accusation or the fact that the girl thought her as one of her attackers. But
whatever it was, she lost her grasp on the girl and took a step back. Then, she
saw her sunglasses lying on the ground as she realized that somehow her only
mean of protecting her alien eyes fell while she was struggling with the little
girl.
Then, she realized that the girl
was gone. Quickly, Mylin chased after the girl with the help of the sound of
rustling leaves, knowing she could catch up with her at any time. But one thing
that concerned Mylin were the Preventers and the ground troop, which wouldn’t
take her interference kindly. And she knew that she must find the girl before
she revealed her position as well as Mylin’s.
A scream filled the air and
Mylin quickened her pace. When she saw a member of the ground troop wrestling
with the girl, Mylin quickly lashed out a kick. The trooper grunted as he
released the girl. He then turned to look at his adversary and his eyes widened
in surprise. But before he could execute her, she buried a dagger inside his
abdomen. His face angry, he stared at her.
“I knew it! I knew you’re a
traitor to the Warleader,” he said, as he grabbed her shoulder. Then he
grinned. “But watch out, traitor, the Regent will rule over the Emperor and we
will have our victory.” Mylin let him fell to the ground as she stared at the
blade in her hands.
‘Am I a traitor?’ she asked
herself, surprised that she actually killed one of her own kind because of a
human. For a moment, uncertainty started to overwhelm her as she doubted her
motive. She wondered if these humans had somehow affected her in a strange way
that she turned on her own people. Then, remembering what he said before he
died, she put her blade away.
“If there’s a traitor here, then
it’s you,” she said, her voice full of hate. “My loyalty lies only to the
Emperor.”
Then she turned to the girl, who
was cowering in fear. She went to her and offered her hand. “Don’t worry,
little girl. I’m your sister, remember and I will not let anyone hurt you,” she
said. Seeing the girl didn’t move, she added, “I promise.”
That seemed to take an effect on
the girl as she took Mylin’s hand. Then girl hugged her, much to Mylin’s surprise
but before they could do anything, there were more rustling sound coming in
their way. Mylin quickly gathered the girl in her arms, knowing that her scream
must have attracted many attention. She itched to get the girl to the safety of
the Preventers but knew that she must first get the girl safe, away from the
ground troop.
She looked at the girl. “Hold
on,” she said. Mylin was checking her bearing when she suddenly heard a voice.
“Halt!” she turned and saw a
group of Preventers training their guns on her.
Suddenly another group appeared.
“Mylin!” shouted a member of the ground troop. Bad move for them. The Preventer
agents trained their guns on them. Seizing the perfect moment, Mylin quickly
ran away from the line of fire. For a moment, she heard surprise cries coming
from them and followed by a series of gun fires. She felt the earth jumped
where the bullets hit but still she continued. Her only hope was that she could
get the girl to safety and start planning on how to rescue the girl’s grandfather.
>>>@@<<<
Duo gritted his teeth as
Deathscythe shook. Then, he returned the fire, destroying the alien fighter as
another one stationed itself in the same position. “Man!” he growled, avoiding
a fire. “Don’t they ever ran out of these things?”
“I guess not,” said Quatre, a
few meters away. “But we should be thankful that they’re only sending out the
fighters. If we were engaged with a battle against the Mican Warrior then
headquarter wouldn’t stand a chance.”
The others didn’t say anything. Each
were trying to destroy the annoying fighters before they could attack the
Preventer headquarter. When they had determined that Relena Darlian was in
danger, they quickly got to their Gundams to get to her before it was too late.
But before they could get even farther from MOV, the headquarter was
underattack and the Gundams were forced to hold their position to defend it.
But so far they weren’t doing
anything that could change the balance. And Duo personally thought that the
aliens purposely trapped them there so they wouldn’t be able to rescue Relena
and Vincent. As he was fighting, Duo wondered what the others were thinking.
He knew that Heero and Zechs
were fighting furiously to break away so they could rescue Relena. And Trowa,
Wu Fei, Quatre, Noin, Sally and Kylie, including himself, were trying hard to
give the two the luxury but neither of them seemed successful. And even with
MOV firing on the alien fighters, they weren’t doing any damage because the
fighters were too fast.
Duo cursed the god of luck,
realizing now why he only worshipped the god of death. ‘Man, at this rate,
things couldn’t get any worse,’ he thought. Suddenly, the small screen overhead
winked and Lady Une appeared. “Gundam pilots! There’s a troop heading toward
the colony at point E 13.”
Duo cursed himself. ‘You had to
challenge the god of luck, don’t you?’ he scolded himself. With the news, now
it was dire for them to finish off this battle so they could rescue the
colonists. He wondered what his strategy should be.
Meanwhile, Quatre slammed his
fist on the console after hearing Lady Une’s report. Now not only that Relena’s
life was in danger, but the aliens had decided to take the oppurtunity to
gather some slaves. And if they didn’t finish off the battle soon, thousands of
lives would be in jeopardy.
Frustration started to gnaw on
him as he tried to decide what to do. But all he came out with was a big fat
zero that made him even more frustrated with himself. ‘Why can’t my mind work
right now? Why all I can think off was the many lives that will lost if we do
not act quickly?’
Suddenly, something made his
mind clearer. He started to remember the visions of the past that he had just seen a few hours ago and decided it was
time. Gathering all his strength and ignoring the fires that hit him, Quatre
typed in the code. He drew a deep breath as the cockpit came to life. Then,
everything was made clear to him. But when he said the next words, he scarcely
believed that it was his voice.
>>>@@<<<
When Sandrock stopped, Kylie was
troubled. She tried to contact Quatre but he didn’t answer her calls. The alien
fighters were still firing on him which forced Kylie to move in and defend
Sandrock. She knew that something was happening to Quatre but she didn’t know
what. All she knew was that she had to protect him.
“Trowa and Heero!” said a calm
voice that startled her. “Start firing the fighters on your left while Zechs,
Noin, Sally and I fire at the remaining fighters. We have to give Wu Fei, Duo
and Kylie a way out of here so they could go rescue the colony.”
Duo blinked. “Quatre, is that
really you?” he asked, surprised by the strange calmness in his voice. Even the
others were looking at his way. “You sound weird.”
“Just do it,” said Quatre, with
a distinctive urgency in his voice. “Then Trowa, Noin, Sally and I will find a
way to help Zechs and Heero get away to rescue Relena and Vincent.”
Zechs voice sounded over the
comm. “Are you sure you could take care of things back here just the three of
you?”
The leader of the Gundam pilots
nodded. “Altron and Nova had enough speed to get to the colony faster than mine
and Trowa’s. And they would need Deathscythe’s close combat skills. Zechs and
Heero also have enough speed to intercept Relena’s captives and between the two,
they’ll have enough chance to rescue her.”
“In the meantime, Trowa, Noin,
Sally and I will have to hold our position here until we destroy the enemy
attacking headquarters.” Then his voice hardened. “So, I suggest we go for it
before they catch on the plan.”
At first the others hesitated
but slowly, Heero and Kylie first, realized that something changed in Quatre
and identified what it was. “The Zero system! You’re using the Zero system,”
said Duo. “Of all the stupid stunt..”
“Roger that, Quatre,” said
Heero, before Duo could continue. He then fired on the left and Trowa joined
him, saying, “I trust you.”
When the fighters on the left
were destroyed, they were quickly replaced by others but Quatre, Noin, Zechs
and Sally quickly engaged them, providing all the opening they need. “Now,
guys. Go!” Quatre cried.
“Copy that!” Kylie said, pushing
the throttle forward as Nova made its way out of the madness with a speed none
of their Gundams could best. Then, Altron followed Nova in hot pursuit while
Deathscythe hesitated. “Don’t get yourself all crazy, okay Quatre? Master the
system,” he advised, then he was gone.
Quatre then began to launch the
second phase of his strategy. But when the fighters saw that three of the
Gundams had broken free, they were determined not to let it happen again. And
without the other three, the other Gundams found themselves having more to
juggle.
Inside the cockpit, Quatre
struggled to master the system. He registered Duo’s last words to him but was
too busy controlling himself to say a thing. He was feeling the same, terrible
and yet wonderful feeling whenever he used the system. The wonderful feeling
came when he felt he had the freedom to do the impossible and the terrible
feeling came from something that was warning him about the system.
Then he remembered something
that he had forgotten long time ago. Something that happened after he had ran
amok after using the Zero system. Something that Instructor H said when they
were reunited.
>>>@@<<<
“Quatre, why are you here all
alone? Is Heero giving you a hard time?” a voice asked, breaking through
Quatre’s troubled thoughts. He turned to see Instructor H, the man his father
had given refuge to and smiled. He shook his head.
“No, I rather think he and I are
going along very well.” He sighed. “I just feel I need to be alone,” he said,
returning his gaze on the other scientists who were working down there. He
always felt that the catwalk was a good place to get solitude and he was right.
Instructor H regarded his young
pilot. When he had first trained the boy, he had never thought that this gentle
pilot would get where he is today. His first impression of the boy’s gentle
nature was that it might hinder his development in becoming a perfect soldier.
But years of training, he realized that his first impression had been wrong.
That there was a lot more to this boy and the previous incident just proved it.
“What is it, Quatre? Something’s
troubling you?” It was more a statement than a question. For a moment the boy
was silent and then, Instructor H saw tears were gathering in his blue-green
eyes.
“They’re blaming me, instructor.
I know they are. And you too,” he said, his voice sounded small. “It’s my fault
that Wing Zero fell into the enemy’s hands. It was my fault that it existed. It
was my fault that the colonists suffered and it’s my fault that Trowa is
missing.”
Instructor H nearly cried
himself, hearing the pain and suffering in the boy’s voice but he mustered up
all his inner strength to say the next words. “Good,” he said, but the boy’s
were too much in pain to acknowledge it. So, he put a hand on his shoulder and
wiped a tear that ran down his cheek. “It is good that you were able to cry for
the people that you killed.”
The boy looked at him, surprised.
“The others and me, we didn’t blame you for anything. Your actions just
reminded us that you boys are still human, which is a good thing. If you had
been the ideal perfect soldier, you will only live your life as a slave to war
which is what we don’t need.”
“But what they said…”
“They are but human, Quatre.
Even they didn’t know what they were saying.” He sighed as he looked away. “The
reason why I chose you as my pilot was because you have the ability to be the
heart of the team.”
“Heart of the team? What team?
The Gundams?”
Instructor H nodded. “Yes. I
know that there would be a time when all of our pilots will come together and
fight OZ as a team. With the others feeling that they should have perfect
soldiers, I decided that we need someone to act as the heart of the team as
well. That’s why I chose you. Your kindness, your gentleness made me feel that
you have the ability to bring all pilots together as a team.”
“And you proved that by
appealing to your friends back on Earth to come back here in space.”
Quatre looked up. “You heard my
transmission?”
“Yes. That’s why Doctor J was
forced to give Lady Une our cooperation so you could live on and gather the
Gundam pilots together again.” He looked at the boy, seriously. “You have to do
this, Quatre. Only you can lead them to victory. I know that and I think your
friend Heero knows that too.”
“But how can I?”
Instructor H patted his
shoulder. “You’ll find a way. Just stick with Heero and let him teach you a
thing or two as you are teaching him right now,” he said, nodded at Heero who
was looking up at them. As Heero and Quatre were locked on a trustful gaze,
Instructor H started to walk away.
“And Quatre, there’s only one
way to master the system,” he said as Quatre looked back at him, surprised.
“Don’t let the system control you. Don’t let the system master you. You must
learn to be its master.” He paused. “You must let it flow with you.”
>>>@@<<<
“… let it flow, Quatre,” said a
voice that jarred him back to the present. He realized that was Heero, saying
the same thing that Instructor H said to him three years ago and knew that it
was the right thing to do.
So, he closed his eyes, letting
the feeling flow through him like cold water. At first it tried to swallow him
but quickly, Quatre searched for the center of his being and started to find
the balance for everything. Then, it was over, as he felt something refreshing
came into his being.
He wiped the sweat that was
trickling down his forehead and exhaled. “Thanks, Heero,” he said. ‘Thanks,
Instructor,’ he silently said as he began to assess the battle once more. Duo,
Wu Fei and Kylie were already engaging the troop at the colony while Heero and
the others were still defending the headquarters. Evaluating their predicament,
Quatre started to make new strategy to get Zechs and Heero out.
>>>@@<<<
When the aliens had started
attacking, Relena was taken completely by surprise. Sitting beside her, she
knew that Vincent was also wearing the same expression on his face. She turned to
Celcie. “What’s the meaning of this? I thought we had a deal?”
To her surprise, Celcie took out
a gun and trained it on her. “Settle down and enjoy the ride, Miss Relena.”
When Relena and Vincent refused to sit, she looked at them disgustedly. “Do you
think that us Telrhani would put ourselves equal to the lower beings such as
you?”
Suddenly Vincent leapt at her,
trying to get the gun. But Celcie, swatted him aside easily and shot him.
Relena screamed and knelt by his side, checking his wound. Vincent winced as
she touched the blood that was seeping through from a wound on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he said. “It just grazed me.”
“That shot was to remind you
that if you decide to do something stupid, I will inflict more pain than you
could imagine,” said the alien. She motioned for them to sit as Relena helped
Vincent out. Looking at the battle behind them, Relena wished that Heero was
there. Only he could get her out of any mess.
>>>@@<<<
Despite of being able to break
themselves away from the battle at MOV, Duo’s team weren’t doing any greater.
Not only that they were forced to face the Mican trooper, the Mican warriors
were also giving them a hard time. Although Wu Fei was using the Zero system,
even he had his own limitations that forced Duo and Kylie to watch their own
backs.
In Nova, Kylie struggled to keep
her temper in check. She knew that losing her focus would only shorten her life
span and so she tried to handle K’Rin and Trecna with a cool head. But even her
patience was wearing thin and she knew if she don’t do anything now, she would
be killed. And so, she flipped the comm button.
“What is it, Little Fire?” asked
Lady Une, concerned.
Kylie didn’t looked at her, her
full attention was on her enemy around her. “Give me the password,” she said,
her voice cold. Demanding. The older woman looked away, still refused to give
her access to the Zero system.
“Give me the password!
Before I do something we both regret,” she shouted, the very thing she never
did all her life. She had always been calm and cold but Lady Une’s refusal was
starting to bug her like nothing else.
For a moment Lady Une looked at
her and then resignation crashed on her like a tidal wave. “It’s
14-15-22-1_ZERO,” she answered as Kylie entered the password and braced herself
for something to happen.
It happened almost immediately.
First the cockpit seemed to lit up as the image on the screen seemed to dance.
Then, Kylie began to experience freedom, unlike anything she had ever felt
before. A freedom that was never granted to her since the day she was born.
Then she felt alive. She could
see everything before her. Everything, including the battle that was taking
place at the Preventer headquarters. She could see her twin brother and the
rest of the team struggling to defeat the enemy. And she could see all the
enemy around her, clearly. In fact, she knew who were her enemy and was so
certain of it.
Gundam Nova soared through the
space, killing everything in sight. Its movements were too fast and too agile
for any other alien fighters and Mican Trooper to get a good shot at her. Even
K’Rin and Trecna found themselves unable to contain the wild maneuvers of the
new Gundam. It was as if the Gundam was a newborn Pheonix, the bird of fire.
Then, suddenly, something was
trying to break down the wall Kylie had put in her mind a long time ago.
Startled, she almost let it crumble but quickly held it in check. Then, her
vision started to blur as images played in her mind.
She had heard Heero telling her
that the Zero system had the ability to show the future, telling the pilot his
or her true enemy. Maybe this was her future. Maybe this vision could guide her
through. In the vision, she saw herself and the others, fighting the enemy. In
fact, she saw some of the Mican Warrior were killed by one or two of them. At
that she felt triumph overwhelming her.
Then, she saw the faces of the
Gundam pilots and their allies. To her horror, they were all killed one by one
by the Warleader with his own hands. Fear and hopelessness started to grip her
as she tried to pray to end this nightmare.
“Quatre!” she called out when
she saw the blond pilot. He turned to her, as he smiled at her. Suddenly a
shadow came and swallowed him whole. He cried in pain as she struggled to get
to him, to save him at any cost. But soon, his cries died down as Kylie found
herself on a meadow.
“They’re all gone, Kylie,” said
a voice. She turned to see Dorothy, standing over Quatre’s grave. Then, the
girl came to her and buried her head in her shoulder. “Quatre’s gone from our
lives.”
At first, Kylie tried to
comprehend what she had just heard. Then realization hit her like a hammar.
Dorothy Catalonia was in love with Quatre! And because of Kylie, he had let her
lead him to his own destruction!
Then and there, she closed her
eyes. ‘Please, let it all stop. I don’t want to see it anymore,’ she pleaded,
for the first time in her life. Then, everything stood still.
Suddenly, she heard a cry. ‘What? What was that?’
she thought, looking around her. She found herself in the dark, darker than the
night. For a moment, she wondered what happened to the battle. Why wasn’t she
seeing the enemy?
She heard the cry again and when
she turned towards it, she saw a little girl. The girl was on the floor,
hugging herself. The room she was in was dark except for the faint illumination
from the moon coming through the window and bathe over the girl. “Mommy!” said
the girl, sobbing. She had buried her face between her legs so Kylie couldn’t
see her.
Then, the girl looked up and for
a moment something in her winter blue eyes mirrored the fire in Kylie’s eyes.
That was when Kylie realized something. “You’re me!” she said, astonished. But
the girl didn’t hear her. Her only attention was focused on the figure that
moved in the shadows.
When the figure stepped into the
light, Kylie found her fist clenched as rage was burning through her body. She
realized then that the Zero system had unlocked something that was forgotten
long time ago. Something of a great importance. Remembering everything, Kylie
felt nothing but rage.
“I will kill you!” she
growled and started to pound him into a pulp. But the figure, a man, kept on
disappearing and reappearing but still she continued to attack him. “Kill him!
I got to kill him!” the words had a note of finality to it.
>>>@@<<<
Duo fought like a madman. With
just the three Gundams, they barely could hold off the alien fighters, Mican
Trooper and the five Mican warrior. As soon as he got there, Wu Fei had
immediately taken on Con’trai and Keil’n. Kylie was already fighting against
K’Rin and Trecna which left Duo with S’Irai and the rest of the trooper and
fighters.
At first, he and Kylie weren’t
doing so good. But when Kylie activated the Zero system, she was able to handle
the two Mican Warrior as well as helping Duo destroying the fighters. At that
Duo was glad. That would only leave him with S’Irai and the troopers. He was
beginning to say prayers to the god of luck when his world started to fall
apart.
“An enemy fleet attacking L2
colony point E,” said the comm.
“Where’s their exact location?”
Duo heard Quatre asked after a moment of silence. Then, the screen was filled
with coordinates as terror struck Duo. “My god!” he breathe. “Hilde is
on that colony!” He quickly changed course, ignoring the fires coming from the
enemy troopers and S’Irai. He also ignored what the others were saying. His
mind was only on Hilde and her alone.
As he made his way, his mind
played on the last moments they were together. Their arguments, the harsh words
he said to her. Then, a feeling of dread started to wash over him as thought
came in. A thought that said that he would probably never see her again!
“Hold on, Hilde. I’m coming.”
>>>@@<<<
When Duo broke away, Quatre was
frustrated. Now it was even more dire for him and the others to break free. Not
only they had to save Relena Darlian, but they also had to save the two
colonies. He was sure that with the Zero system, Wu Fei and Kylie would be able
to handle the four Mican Warriors and their fighters. But Duo, without the Zero
system, could barely stand against K’Vai who was leading the assault on the L2
colony as well as S’Irai who was following him. And alone, he wouldn’t stand a
chance!
“Quatre, give me a way out!”
said Trowa, breaking his thought. He looked at Heavyarms.
“Trowa, are you sure?”
Trowa looked at where Duo was
heading. “I know exactly how he feels. I’ve sent Catherine to that colony,” he
revealed, his voice barely hid the note of anxiety. Quatre nodded. “Okay, good
luck.” He said to the others. “Plans changed, everybody. Let distract the enemy
long enough for Trowa to break through and then we concentrate on getting Heero
out.” Although he desperately want to get to Relena but the lives of the
colonists were more important. And he knew, Relena and Heero would’ve wanted
it. That was proven when Wing Zero started to attack his enemy at sight.
>>>@@<<<
At last, Trowa broke through.
Then he cranked up to Heavyarms’ maximum speed to get to L2 as quickly as he
could. He didn’t feel any regret for sending Catherine to the colony. His main
concern was to get there before it was too late. Too late to save Catherine or
Duo or Hilde.
But when he saw the smokes
coming from the colony cluster, he immediately knew one thing. He was already
too late!
>>>@@<<<
“The place is secured,” yelled
Quatre over the destruction. “We can handle the rest. Go now, Heero!” he said
to the pilot of Wing Zero. The prussian-eyed pilot nodded his thanks and set
his new course.
“Roger that, Quatre,” he said
then addressed Epyon. “I’ll get her, Zechs. I swear it.” Then, he was off.
Suddenly, Lady Une appeared on
the screen. “Quatre, I’ve just received a report from Wu Fei. Kylie is running
amok! She couldn’t control the Zero system and it had taken over her,” she
said, her voice was calm but there was a note of desperation in it.
Shocked, Quatre was almost hit.
He then ducked and tried to hail Kylie. When there was no answer, he contacted
Wu Fei. “What happened?” he asked, his voice was a little shaky. His fear had
came through and he didn’t know what to do.
“How should I know?” said Wu
Fei, appearing on the screen. “When she first use the system, she was doing
fine and we were starting to win. Then, K’Rin ordered her assault team for a
retreat and I was thinking of backing up Trowa and Duo.”
“And?”
“She wouldn’t let them leave!
She chased after the fleeing aliens to destroy them.”
Quatre was startled. “But that
would put the lives of the captured slaves in jeopardy!”
“I don’t think she cared about
that,” said the Chinese pilot. “I’m taking off after her now to make sure she
doesn’t ended up killing innocent people.” At that, Quatre glanced where Wing
Zero was, wondering if Heero had heard the transmission. As an answer, Wing
Zero suddenly changed course, heading towards where Kylie was last spotted.
“Negative,” said Quatre. “Go
help Duo and Trowa.” He turned to Epyon. “Zechs, go rescue Relena. We’ll finish
up here,” he said. Without a word, Epyon left its position. Quatre turned his
eyes back to where he thought Kylie was. ‘Kylie, please control yourself.’
As if sensing his dispair, Noin
appeared on the screen. “Go, Quatre. Go to her,” she said. He was startled, not
able to comprehend what they were saying. Were they telling him to leave? Then
he heard Sally’s voice. “We can take care of things here ourselves. You must
help Kylie before its too late.”
Feeling grateful, he nodded.
“Thanks, you two.” He charted his course and made his way where Kylie were. At
the same time, he also tried to hail Nova. At first, all he got was silence but
as he got nearer, he heard her saying, “Kill him. I got to kill him.” Then, he
saw her destroying the Mican trooper and fighting K’Rin.
“What is she doing?” he wondered
but was surprised when someone answered.
“I don’t know,” said Heero, who
was overseeing everything. “But I will not let her destroy herself in the
process.”
Quatre was almost surprised to
hear the conviction and determination in his voice. There was something strange
in the way Heero talked about her. Something that sounded as if he cared deeply
for her. Whatever it was, Quatre decided to put it aside and readied himself.
“I agree. We must not let her do things she might regret later. She’s battling
too close to the slaveships.”
True enough, Kylie was too close
to the group of slaveships. But she neither saw it or care about their well
being. All she was concerned about was to kill the enemy before her at any
cost. At any cost. “I will kill you all!” she shouted, slamming Nova against K’Rin’s
Mican suit. The two hit the outer shield of the slaveship. Stunned by the
force, K’Rin didn’t see Nova’s beam lance swinging down at her.
“No, Kylie!” said someone as
Wing Zero slammed into Nova. The new Gundam were thrown off balance as Sandrock
came in and steadied her. K’Rin took the moment to strike Wing Zero, fearing
that he would attempt to rescue the slaves on the ship.
>>>@@<<<
Trowa and Duo stared at the
colony, disbelief. The colony was smoking as they almost see fires burning at
every corner. The aliens’ slaveship had already boarded the colony and was
leaving with the colonists to be turned as slave to the Empire. For a moment,
Trowa and Duo thought about the two people they love who were in the colony,
wondering if they were alive or dead. And if they’re in the slaveships.
But neither thoughts gave them
much comfort. Either way, the two of them would most likely lose their love
ones if they don’t do something about it now. Noticing that K’Vai’s assault
team were making their way towards them, Duo’s anger flared. Purposefully, he
tapped in the code to the Zero system as the cockpit fired up.
“Watch out, you all ‘cause you
had just met the real Great Destroyer!”
>>>@@<<<
Catherine looked up from what
she was doing. She was certain that she felt something but it took her a moment
to figure out what it was. When she heard a groan, Catherine quickly turned her
attention back to the person in her arms. “Hold on, Hilde. Just hold on,” she
said, gently.
Once Catherine had gotten to Duo’s house, she had managed to persuade Hilde not to move out and leave him. She advised her to wait until the war was over so they both could talk things over, clearly. When the aliens attacked, leaving L2 then seemed like a great idea but the process of evacuation was slowed due to the panicking colonists.
When the news reached them that
the aliens had boarded, Hilde had the craziest idea to hold them off while the
officials continued the evacuation. She had told Catherine to go with the
others but the circus girl was determined to stay by her side because of her
promise to Trowa.
And so, while the evacuation was
underway, Hilde and a few Preventer agents that were stationed there fought off
the aliens bravely as they were gathering slaves. There were also former
OZ-Alliance soldiers taking part in defending the colony but all fell against
the more powerful aliens. Hilde herself was shot when she was trying to save an
old lady.
Since she had no skill in
combat, Catherine helped with the evacuation process. But when the aliens
finally taken over the remaining colonists, she found herself among the
prisoners too. She quickly looked for Hilde and found her being tended for a
serious heart wound.
“He’s coming, isn’t he?” said
the younger girl, smiling weakly. “My Duo is coming for me.” She grimaced.
“Shh…” said Catherine, holding
her close to provide her with much warmth. “Yes, Duo’s coming. And Trowa too. I
can feel them,” she said, trying to lift the girl’s spirit to fight on. But
Hilde seemed to be losing consciousness from the blood loss.
“Tell him,” she gasped. “Tell
him that I’m so sorry. Tell him that I love him.”
Catherine felt tears of
desperation starting to pour down. But quickly she held it for the girl’s sake.
She had to be strong. “No. You tell him yourself. It wouldn’t be the
same if he didn’t hear it from you.”
Hilde grinned, weakly as blood
started to trickle down her lips. “I guess, you’re right,” she gasped,
struggling to speak. “That fool would probably have something annoying to say
to me so he could make me crazy.” Then, her eyes rolled up as she lost
consciousness.
Catherine looked up. ‘Trowa. Where are you?’
>>>@@<<<
Sandrock struggled to maintain
its hold on Nova but Kylie seemed intent to get herself free. “Kylie, please. You’re
among friends,” Quatre pleaded but she ignored it. All she said was, “I will
kill him. He’s my enemy. I will kill you all!” Then, Sandrock’s hold started to
weaken and she thrown him off. Charging her beaming lance, she began to take a
swing at Sandrock.
“No, Kylie!” said Heero,
breaking off his battle with K’Rin to concentrate on his twin sister. “If you
kill him, you will be sorry for the rest of your life.” Hoping that the bond of
twins were strong as he once read, he concentrated on the images of her with
the other Gundam pilots.
For a moment, Nova hesitated.
Its hold on the lance started to weaken. “Heero?” said a tiny voice. Then,
Kylie started to snap into reality as she realized what she was going to do.
She threw the lance away in disgust. “What have I done?”
“You lost control over the Zero
system,” Heero answered.
For a moment, there was silence.
When she spoke next, her voice was steady and normal, cold. “I’m sorry,” she
said, picking up the lance and put it away. She looked at the retreating
aliens. “I’m very sorry. It would never happen again.”
“That’s okay,” said Quatre,
noticing that his knuckles was white. “It wasn’t entirely your fault. The Zero
system did the same to all of us.” He smiled for her sake. Kylie nodded and
then turned her attention towards where Relena was.
Switching off to a private band
to Wing Zero, she said, “I’m sorry that we failed to save Relena.” Heero looked
at where Epyon was heading only to see the red Gundam heading towards them, in
defeat. Regret and frustration were starting to overwhelm him but he decided to
concentrate on the matter at hand. He will save Relena later. Now, there’s an
even more important thing.
“Don’t worry,” said Kylie,
answering his unvoiced question. “I’m alright.”
Quatre glanced at the report of
the other battle. “We need to help Duo and the others.”
“I’m on it,” said Zechs, who was
intent to make the aliens pay for kidnapping his sister. They then saw Epyon
entering the battle.
Nova started to move. “Me too,”
said Kylie, preparing for a battle.
“No,” said Heero. “Return to
base and rest. You’ve went through quite enough for the day.” He turned to
Sandrock. “And you too, Quatre. You have just mastered the system after a long
time without it, so it could be a little draining for you. You need to get some
rest too. The Zero system is very dangerous when you’re too tired. That’s when
it could gain control of you. Don’t worry, we’ll handle the rest.”
Quatre was tempted to protest
but remembering the state Kylie was in, he decided that he should tend to her
first. Wishing Heero luck, he led Kylie back to the Preventer headquarter.
>>>@@<<<
Duo and Trowa fought like a pair
of mad man. Each were trying to hard to get to the last slaveship leaving the
colony, believing that their love ones were in it. Wu Fei had joined them a few
minutes ago and was handling K’Vai, S’Irai and the Mican troopers while Duo and
Trowa fought their way through the sea of alien fighters and some of the Mican
troopers. But they still couldn’t get near the last slaveship.
Desperation was starting to
break their spirits. Even with the Zero system, they still couldn’t destroy the
enemy. If not the Zero system, what else? As the two were starting to doubt
their skills and abilities, they heard a voice. “Incoming!”
Then, Heero and Zechs appeared,
helping Wu Fei out with K’Vai and S’Irai. A few miliseconds later, two white
Tauruses joined Duo and Trowa in destroying the annoying alien fighters. “Get
to the slaveship quickly. Sally and I will handle these rejects,” said Noin.
Seeing an opening, Trowa and Duo
quickly took the chance. The slaveship started to fire its own cannon but they
quickly destroyed it. A second later, the two of them were docking in the
docking bay and were firing shots at the slave guards.
Then there was an explosion as
the slaveship shook. For a second, Duo and Trowa exchanged glances when their
comm chimed and they heard Heero’s voice. “I’ve disabled the ship’s engine. It
is at dead stop so I believe we’ve taken over the ship.” He paused. “I suggest
you see to the prisoners.”
Both silently thanked Heero,
knowing that the Wing Zero pilot knew that Hilde and Catherine were among the
prisoners. As they made their way to the prisoner hall, Trowa managed to ask
the status of the other slaveships. At first there was silence but when Heero
spoke, his voice sounded different.
“No go. The other prisoners are
too far out of reach. We lost them,” he said but Trowa, who had knew him better
than any pilot, could detect the pain in his voice. Relena Darlian was among
those who lost to him too.
When they got to the prisoner
hall, Duo quickly made his way through the crowd, searching for Hilde. Trowa
threw aside his concern for Catherine and announced, “Don’t worry, we’ve taken
over the ship. You’re all safe.”
Their relief was Trowa’s only
reward. But then, he heard someone calling his name and he quickly made his way
towards it. “Catherine!” he shouted, seeing her on the floor. She rose and ran
into his arms, relieving her fear of not seeing him again. “Are you alright?”
he asked, checking her over. She nodded and then shook her head, slowly. “Hilde
isn’t,” she said.
It was then Trowa noticed that Duo was holding Hilde
in his arms. The Deathscythe quickly looked at him, his eyes were desperate.
“We could still save her. I’m taking her back to headquarter in Deathscythe,”
he said, picking Hilde up.
Trowa nodded. “Go, Duo. I’ll
secure everything here.” Without letting him finishing his sentence, Duo was
already running.
Suddenly Catherine cried. All
the fear, the terrible things she saw was starting to overwhelm her. Never had
she been so afraid in her entire life. Never. Trowa held his shaky sister,
letting her cry her fear out but she pushed herself away to look at him.
“It was terrible, Trowa. I’ve
never seen anything like this. They purposely killed the old and weakest like
this sick old man I was trying to protect. They have no mercy in their
conscious,” she said, suddenly her eyes widened as she remembered something.
“The circus! Manager and the others, all of them were there!”
“There?” Trowa quoted. “There as
in with you?”
Catherine nodded. “Yes. They
came when they know I was there, saying that we should stay close. Manager was
worried he might lose me too.” She looked at him, desperately. “Save them,
Trowa. Save our only family,” she pleaded, then buried her face in his shoulder
as he held her.
Then, Catherine went limp in his
arms. Seeing that she had passed out from the stress, he lifted her up and
whispered, “I will save them, sis. I swear it.” His voice held the same
determination when he had planned to self-destruct the first time on Earth. “I
swear it.”
>>>@@<<<
Lady Une was there when Sandrock
and Nova returned. The battle at L2 had just ended a few minutes ago and the
other Gundams were returning. It was a miserable battle. Not only did the
aliens managed to snatch Relena Darlian and Vincent Dupree, they also managed
to take some of the colonists prisoners. Although it was only a small number
compared to the other abductions, it was still an unpleasant number. And the
bad news that just came from Earth told her that the aliens had won this round
successfully.
She watched as the cockpit swung
open and Treize’s former charge jumped down. But she didn’t land so nimbly as
she would, so she ended up fallen to her knees as her legs buckled. As Lady Une
was running towards her, she saw Quatre Winner helped her up, supporting the
girl’s weight on his shoulder. But he was also too weak that both of
them ended on the floor.
When the head of Preventer
reached them, Quatre was asking Kylie if she’s alright. Concerned for the
welfare of Treize’s adopted daughter, she turned to one of her agents. “Quick!
Call the medics.”
“No!” Kylie gasped. She looked
at Quatre. “Help me to my room,” she requested. Without looking at the older
woman, she said, “I just need some time alone.” Lady Une watched them go as an
agent came to her and informed her of the return of Gundam Deathscythe.
As soon as Duo came into view,
she saw him carrying a body. Quickly, she repeated her order for a medic as Duo
leapt down. She went to him and saw Hilde Schbeiker in his arms. “Don’t worry,
the medics are on the way,” she said, keeping her voice calm. She had known the
young woman and thought her as a very remarkable young soldier a few years
back. And she was glad that the young woman was involved with one of the Gundam
pilots.
Duo didn’t say anything as the
medic busied themselves with the patience. But his thoughts were in turmoil.
The tiny soul inside him kept on saying, ‘Please hold on, Hilde. Don’t leave
me. I can’t live without you.’ But deep down, he felt as if a hollow feeling
was filling his every being.
>>>@@<<<
Relena and Vincent stepped into
the bridge. In the middle of the room, they saw a familiar man sitting on a
seat. He had his back on them but when their captive, Celcie spoke next, they
realized that the man was the Warleader himself. “Miss Relena, Warleader.”
“You’ve done a very commendable
job, Sira,” he said, turning to face them.
Relena took a step forward. “Why
did you attack my people? We had a deal, didn’t we?” she said, her voice hard.
“I demand you return the captured colonists now.” Her expression was so severe
that she surprised Vincent.
Warleader Varishk raised his eyebrow. “You, Relena
Darlian are in no position to make demands,” he said, his voice was soft but
held a hint of power in it. “However, since you being one of the most
influential figure among your people, you will have the right to enjoy our
hospitality.” He turned to Sira. “Bring them to the room where we’re keeping
our special guest. Maybe he’d like their company better than ours.”
With that, Sira took them along
endless hallways. As they walked, Relena and Vincent wondered who was the other
guest. But when they got to the room, they were both shocked. “Mr. President!
What are you doing here?” asked Relena, seeing the face of a man she usually
worked with. Vincent was just speechless.
“Relena, Vincent,” said the
President of ESUN. “I’m afraid they’re going to use us to ensure total control
of our race. We’re going to be the cause of the downfall of humankind.”
>>>@@<<<
“They got the President? When?”
asked Quatre. The rest of the occupants of the room were also wearing the same
surprised expression as he did. Some even shook their heads in defeat while
some were wearing angry expressions. Those who were angry were Heero, Zechs and
Wu Fei as they thought of it as their failure of the day.
As soon as the Gundam pilots returned, Lady Une held
an emergency meeting to inform her officers of the latest development and to
discuss their next move. Still, among those present, there were still those who
weren’t there. Trowa and Duo were absent, looking after their love ones and
Kylie couldn’t be found. Despite his fatigue, Quatre had come to the meeting,
insisting that he should learn of the latest development and to contribute all
he could.
But this was definitely beyond
his help, Lady Une knew. The capture of the ESUN’s President and Vice Foreign
Minister would leave mankind vulnerable because of the lack of capable leaders
to bring them together. Even by putting all hope on the Gundam pilots would not
be enough. They had their limitations and their previous battles showed that
that was true.
“Now, the search continues to
locate the whereabouts of the President’s granddaughter, Anne. We believed that
the alien who has the girl is in hiding in the nearby towns,” Lady Une
continued, after the shock settled in. “I’m going to send a team down to locate
them before the girl is beyond our help.” Then she added, softly, “It’s the
least we could do.”
“I disagree,” said a voice
suddenly. All of them turned to Wu Fei who had rose from his seat. “Send me,
instead. I know who got the girl, from your descriptions and I know how she
worked.”
Lady Une regarded him. “Are you
sure, Wu Fei? This Mylin could have others working with her. You would require
back up.”
“Sending back up would only slow
me down,” said Wu Fei. “I work best alone. Besides, she and I have a score to
settle.”
She nodded. “Alright. But made
sure you set your priorities straight. You are to get the girl to safety not to
engage in a duel that could endanger the girl’s life. She’s been through enough
already.”
As his answer, Wu Fei nodded and
left. Then, Lady Une turned to regard the others to discuss their next move.
>>>@@<<<
Quatre walked along the hallway,
searching. The meeting ended shortly after Wu Fei left as the rest of them
couldn’t think of any other way to change the circumstances to their favor.
Heero had immediately left, saying that he had no skill for politics while
Quatre had stayed on to help. But he soon learned that he, despite his
influence on the colonists, had little to offer.
So, when Lady Une called the
meeting adjourned, he found himself looking for Kylie. He was worried about her
and when he looked for her at her room, she wasn’t there. Now, he was walking
towards the infirmary to see if she was there and to check on Trowa and Duo.
He found Trowa first. The
Heavyarms pilot was sitting next to the bed, waiting for Catherine to wake up.
He had a rather serious look o his face that Quatre decided not to disturb him.
Then, he found Duo next, sitting and staring at Hilde’s face. Quatre had
learned that the girl suffered from a serious heart injury that the medic
doubted her recovery.
But when Quatre saw the look on
Duo’s face, it got him prayed that the medics prove wrong. There was a look on
Duo’s face that never existed before. The look of pain and comtempt. His eyes
had a wildness that was never there before. It was then he realized that Duo
would never be the same person from that day on. That what happened to Hilde
left an eternal mark deep in his soul.
Next, he headed towards the
hangar, hoping Kylie were there since he had searched the entire base. But to
his disappointement, she wasn’t there as well. Not knowing what to do then,
Quatre went to Sandrock and ran a damage report.
To his joy, Sandrock suffered
little damage due to the Zero system. It was then he realized that his decision
to use it was in fact the right one. Then, wiping the sweat that was trickling
down his forehead, Quatre began to work on the repairs, his thoughts filled
with the previous incidents.
He jumped when there was a
noise. He turned and saw Dorothy looking down at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to
startle you,” she said.
“That’s okay,” he said. “What
are you doing here?”
“I saw you in here a few hours
ago. When you missed dinner, I thought I should bring it over for you,” she
answered, motioning the steaming tray on the table. “It’s not good to work with
your stomach empty, you know.” She smiled.
Quatre chuckled. “Tell that to
Kylie. She wouldn’t take a moment to eat unless I make sure she does,” he said.
At the mention of the other girl’s name, Dorothy’s face paled. But he was too
busy eating to notice it. After swallowing a gulpful of water, he looked up at
her. “It’s been a long time since we had talked. Care to fill me up what you
were up to?” He patted on the empty place next to him.
At first Dorothy hesitated, well
aware that he’s someone else’s lover. But realizing that maybe Quatre needed
the company, she sat down next to him. Putting aside her longing feelings, they
began to talk as old friends would.
>>>@@<<<
It was raining but still Kylie
kept on. Right then, she had never felt so lost, so confused and so vulnerable.
Her experience with the Zero system had opened a few forbidden doors of memory
and probability that left her confused, ashamed and most of all, angry.
Heero had told her that the Zero
system would show her a possible future among many. That she could accept. But
somehow, the Zero system did something even more to her. It had opened and
revealed to her things that she had long ago forgotten. Things that were too dreadful
for her to remember when she was small, that she locked them away. Things that
made her yearned for the day that she would finally had her revenge.
Then, came the vision of their
deaths. She was well aware that they’re fighting a losing battle against the
Telrhani. And she was ready to accept that her future was to die in the battle.
Especially now that she remembered the lost memory and felt dirty by it.
But what she could not accept
was the future of her twin brother and Quatre. And the others. That made her
set a goal not to let anything happen to them, even at the cost of her life. “I
swear to god that I will never let death touch you guys. Never,” she sworn to
herself. “Even if I should die in the process.”
As she said those words, she immediately
knew that she will die. And she was glad if her death would mean the others’
survival.
As she continued to walk,
minding the rain that was drenching her body, she looked up. There she stopped.
“Heero,” she said, wondering if he had heard her. But her brother didn’t give
her the slightest hint that he did. Instead, he looked at her as surprised.
Kylie looked into his eyes
carefully and knew he was very upset at losing Relena to the Telrhani. And
somehow he was blaming himself for his failure.
“Let’s go home,” said Heero
after a moment. He too was drenched as she was, although he was carrying an
umbrella in his hand. Kylie almost pointed that out but decided not to as the
twin walked back to the docking bay in silence. Neither was willing to express
what he or she was thinking. All they needed the most then, was each other’s
company.
>>>@@<<<
When Kylie was walking towards
her room, she found that Lady Une was there waiting. The older woman perked up
when she saw her. “Where have you been all night?” she asked but not really
expecting an answer. “You’re wet!” The former assasin looked at her and
shrugged.
“It was raining,” she said,
going into her room.
“Kylie,” said Lady Une, stopping
her. “There’s someone inside that wants to see you.” The girl raised her left
eyebrow questioningly and entered. There, she froze. The person who were
waiting was just a little girl. But from the look in her eyes, she seemed older
than her real age. Someone who had experience so many things in her short time
in life. Someone Kylie herself was starting to get to know of.
“Mariemaia,” she said the name.
The little girl smiled and hugged her legs.
“I’m so glad to see you again,
Kylie,” said the girl looking up.
Kylie looked away. “What are you
doing here? This is not the safest place for you,” she said, walking into the
room as the door slid close. Now, it was only her and the little girl whom she
almost left to be killed by Heero.
“It’s not safe anywhere,” said
Mariemaia, sitting on her bed. She looked at her sister. “I just need to see
you once more.”
“Why?”
She looked down at her hands. “I
just want to say that I’m sorry. I feel terrible for trusting Dekim over you. I
should’ve known,” she said, regret was clearly evident in her voice. When she
looked up, her eyes were filled with tears. “You must’ve hate me now.”
Kylie’s eyes softened. She knelt
before the girl. “Mariemaia, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.
It was all Dekim’s fault. He’s the one who has been filling you with hate. If
anything, it should be my fault for not knowing about you sooner and save you
from that man.”
“Then, if you don’t hate me, why
didn’t you come back to us?” she asked. “We really miss you at Christmas.”
At that, Kylie almost reached
out to hug her but realizing that she was still wet, she didn’t. “It’s not that
I don’t want to,” she said, surprised by how gentle she could be. “It’s just
that there’s so many things I have to atone for.”
She titled the girl’s chin. “But
this I promise. If I make through this alive, I will come and visit you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She looked at Mariemaia,
Treize’s own flesh and blood and only heir. “I will.”
Mariemaia nodded as she wiped the tears away. She
looked at her sheepishly, “Are you ever going to change? You’re all wet.”
Kylie smiled at that but still she didn’t move to
get a change. Instead, she waited until Mariemaia excused herself and left the
room. As she watched her leave, Kylie felt a warm feeling overwhelming her cold
body. She didn’t know what kind of game fate was playing her but she was glad
that she had found a surrogate family that she had grown to love, and her only
real family that was now part of her soul. And also someone whom she love with
everything she got. Still thinking of Mariemaia, she added her into the list of
the people she must protect. People she was determined to die for.
As she started to undress
herself, she caught a glance at the mirror. Again, rage, confusion and shame
started to resurface as she remembered what was done to her years ago. She
stared at the ugly features on her body, the scars that mark her weakness and
realized that those she love didn’t deserve to know her pain. That she’s intent
to keep her suffering to herself until the day she die.
