The Forgotten

Chapter 6

by Dustin

Preventer Hanger

Colony New Argentina

Calder sat on Wraith’s open cockpit armor, staring into the quiet hanger. When his chip had been accessed, he thought he’d been prepared to face his parents. But it had left him shocked and hollowed out. He thought he’d separated himself from any emotions that surrounded his mother. Obviously he hadn’t. Frustration welled inside him. He shouldn’t be having to deal with this, not now. He couldn’t be distracted in any way when he faced her again.

He tossed his helmet to the floor and watched it drop slowly and bounce against the cold concrete. He heard footsteps approach softly, then stop below him. “May I join you?” Quatre asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Calder said. Quatre jumped through the low gravity up to the catwalk and sat next to Calder. He held Calder’s helmet in his hands. “So…” he said.

Calder met his eyes. “So?”

“How are you?”

Calder sighed. “Okay, I guess.” He didn’t want to talk to Quatre, but he felt he could at least be honest with him. “Just thinking. I didn’t think seeing my mom again would affect me so much.”

Quatre nodded. “I know I can’t begin to understand how you must feel towards your parents.” He smiled. “You’d be an interesting psychiatric study.”

Calder just made a noncommittal sound.

“What was it like when you a kid, living with them?”

Calder shrugged. “It wasn’t horrible. I mean, it’s not like they mistreated me all the time. You might say they were even fond of me. Like a pet maybe. I could do most anything I wanted. I had a part-time nanny to take care of me so they could focus on their work.” He sighed. “After some test or procedure they performed, I was in a lot of pain, but I never understood that it was them doing it until I was recruited for Operation Meteor. They took a great risk by doing that. Exposing me to something other than their controlled environment might mean losing me.” He closed his eyes. “I realized the kind of situation I was in, how abnormal it was. But I didn’t run away till after the Zero system.” He opened his eyes again and Quatre could see the agony from the memory.

“That I can definitely understand,” the older boy said.

Calder nodded. “When I understood what was going on, I had the notion to run away. And I did, after a week of testing. My parents were smart, but I had learned a lot by living with them. And they weren’t prepared for me to leave, not in the state I was in. I still don’t remember exactly how I did it. It was months before I felt even slightly like myself again.”

There was silence and Calder poured over the memories of that time. He thought about living on the streets and the girl he’d met and worked with there. He wondered where Nyah was. Where Meela is, he mentally corrected himself. When he’d talked to her, during the incident with the Barton Foundation, it had been definite that she wasn’t the girl he’d known before. Another victim of the Zero System.

Quatre spoke again. “Well, I’m glad you came to us. And your personality was certainly resilient to the effects of the system.” He smiled. “You haven’t turned into Heero.”

Calder laughed cynically. “Well, he can control the system.”

“But it hurt him along the way. He’s recovered, and Arys certainly helped that. But don’t think it didn’t cost him.”

Calder just nodded. He noticed Quatre hadn’t mentioned his own experience with the system. He wondered how it had cost him.

The hanger door slid open and Duo ambled in. Catching sight of them, he grinned. “Would you two like to be left alone?” he asked.

Calder made a face and jumped down to the ground. Quatre followed and they moved to the door.

“Next time you can come Duo, and we’ll all tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets and have a big manly cry,” Calder said with a grin.

Duo laughed. “No thanks. I don’t even tell Hilde my deepest, darkest secrets. Come on, they’re gonna need your help in the situation room.”

Calder spent two hours going over scans taken of the colony, consulting with Colonel Une and the Preventer techs to put together what the Forgotten were doing. Once they’d pieced together a plan, the other pilots were called to the conference room. As they settled into their seats, Colonel Une moved to the front of the room.

“We evacuated sixty percent of the colony,” she started.

“An amazing percentage, considering,” Arys said.

“Indeed. But there are still twelve thousand people on it. Meaning that destroying the colony is out of the question. What we’ve learned is quite disturbing.” She pressed a button dimming the lights and turning on a video screen (the smaller facility lacked a holographic table). Everyone leaned closer. The enhanced image, taken at great distance, revealed a swarm of work pods surrounding the upper part of the colony’s axis. The weapon, looking like an oversized buster rifle, was being attached directly to the colony’s hull.

“They’re building the beam right down the colony’s central axis,” Trowa observed, allowing a hint of surprise to show in his voice.

“So they’re using the colony’s systems to power it?” Duo asked.

Une nodded. “The weapon was brought in mostly assembled. They cut into the colony’s hull and are attaching it to the power systems. And they’ve already adjusted the colony’s orientation to point it right at the sun.”

Calder spoke up. “Judging by the rate of construction so far, they’ll be able to test the beam just eighteen hours from now. Depending on a few things, they could be ready to fire it in as little as twenty hours.”

“We can’t retake the colony directly, not with the amount of mobile suits they have protecting it, and we can’t destroy the colony.” Colonel Une said. “Therefore, we’ve opted for a commando assault to disable the weapon, covered by a diversionary attack.” Colonel Une allowed herself a slight, proud smile as she brought a picture up on the screen. “Led by this.”

The pilots leaned forward with interest, studying the image.

“I give you the Typerion-class battle cruiser,” Colonel Une continued. “It’s freshly commissioned, only six days out of the shipyard. Its six hundred twelve meters long and has a crew of six hundred.”

“Armament?” came Heero’s inquiry.

“Gundanium armored, eight turret-mounted gatlings, eight missile launchers, six forward, two aft, two heavy plasma cannons and capacity for twelve mobile suits or fighters,” Une finished.

“But it’s drawback is that there is only one,” Wufei said.

“Correct. But it’s the best diversionary tactic we can use. The fact that we’re using it should draw all attention to it and let a commando unit slip past.”

“So who’s going on the commando unit?” Arys asked.

“It will look suspicious if not all of the Gundams are involved in the attack,” Quatre pointed out.

The colonel simply nodded. “Quatre’s right. I’d like to have you all in the space battle and on the boarding party, but that’s simply not possible. Everyone except Calder will be part of the diversionary assault.”

No one looked happy about this. They all glanced at Calder, who shifted uncomfortably. He knew why he would be part of the boarding party.

“Calder, you will accompany the assault team because you know how to disable the weapon,” Une said.

He nodded. “Understood.”

She continued. “The assault team will be on two cloaked personnel carriers which will board the colony at the axis’ maintenance hatches.”

She paused. “Ladies and gentlemen, failure is not an option. The president cannot decide between sacrificing the Nation, and sacrificing twelve thousand people. Choose between losing the government, and defacing the very ideals the government stands for.” She looked at each one of them. “Good luck.”

Dominique LeShey was on a mental auto pilot as she guided her Taurus into the Preventer hanger on the colony New Argentina. She didn’t at first register that she’d docked her Taurus and had shut down all systems. Then she slowly released her harness and opened her cockpit. She stepped down in the low gravity to land on the deck ten meters below her. Her short, brunette hair was sweaty as she pulled her helmet off. She caught sight of her best friend among the subdued pilots. She walked over and gave Andrea Ford a hug. Andrea breathed shakily and Dominique felt tears sting her eyes. She couldn’t cry now. If she started, she’d never be able to stop…

“Ensign LeShey? Ensign Ford?”

The girls separated and turned to the source of the inquiry. A Preventer captain watched them expressionlessly. Dominique blinked to clear her vision and saluted. Andrea did the same.

The captain returned their salute. “If you both would follow me please,” he said. They looked at each other and followed. He led them to a transit car that ran through tunnels in the outer sections of the colony. After a short ride, they got off and walked through a short corridor. Dominique could see that the doors up ahead would lead to another hanger. They entered and her breath caught in her throat. In the alcoves lining the walls were the Gundams. Her eyes were drawn to the massive, dark green one that she’d seen in the battle. “Sir, they’re all here,” the captain said.

Dominique tore her eyes to the woman who approached. With a start, Dominique realized she knew who she was. The dark purple swath of hair was unmistakable.

“Very well, thank you Captain,” Noin said. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she began and Dominique noticed two other pilots that looked as lost as she and Andrea.

“You’ve been brought here because of your performance in the recent battle,” Noin said. “You will join an elite wing of pilots on special assignment. Eight specially equipped Taurus’ will be escorting a pair of assault shuttles to the colony. Your Taurus’ will be equipped with cloaking technology to allow you to sneak past the Forgotten’s forces.”

“Wait a second, did you say ’recent performance’? ” a voice said. “Are you telling me that these guys aren’t elites?”

Every one of the four pilots’ mouths dropped opened as Duo Maxwell walked into view, wiping his hands on a rag. “Did I hear you right?”

Noin shot an irritated glance at him. “Duo, I’m trying to conduct a briefing here.”

“Yeah, I can see that. By why are these rookies here? Selling cookies for morale?” Duo said with a smirk. Dominique felt a flare of anger.

“Come on Duo, give her a break,” another voice said.

Dominique had to roll her eyes at Andrea, who blushed as she saw Quatre Winner. When they were younger and the Gundam pilots identities had become public, Quatre had become People Magazine’s Most Attractive Bachelor of the Year, and Andrea had made no secret of her crush on him.

Duo noticed and smirked. “Hey Quatre, I think one of the girls was in your fan club,” he said, nodding at Andrea, who turned bright red and looked away. Dominique’s temper got the better of her. She didn’t care who this guy was, he’d just ticked her off.

“Hey! We’re mobile suit pilots, not little girls,” she said angrily. “Show some respect to the people who died so those colonists could escape while you were taking your sweet time getting there.”

Duo blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth to protest, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again. Finally he said, “Fair enough,” and walked away. Dominique let her breath out in satisfaction.

Noin gave Dominique an impressed look as she continued the briefing. “You four were selected to supplement the elite wing,” she said. “You were selected based on your records and your performances today. No promises, but after today you will probably be giving permanent postings in the Elite Squadron.” She hesitated.

If we survive, Dominique filled in. She looked at Andrea, who returned her gaze. She was thinking the same thing.

Quatre nodded to them. “Good luck,” he said and stepped back towards his Gundam.

Noin continued. “Technicians will brief you on the specs of your new Taurus’. Any questions?” No one had any. Noin nodded and stepped aside.

A tech approached Dominique and motioned for her to follow as he moved to one of the ten dark-painted Taurus’ across from the Gundams. As she watched, the rest of the famous Gundam pilots filed into the hanger. She couldn’t help but stare as they quietly went to their Gundams and began to prep the machines. She felt a wave of jealousy. If she could just maybe touch one of the powerful suits… she smiled and shook it off. Then she saw a face she didn’t recognize enter the hanger. A boy, about the same age as the other pilots it looked. He went to the unfamiliar Gundam and looked up at it. Then closed his eyes. Dominique blinked as she saw the Gundam’s eyes light for a second, then go dim again. The boy opened his eyes again, then started out of the hanger. He looked back and caught Dominique’s eyes. She quickly looked away and moved after the tech again. When she looked back, the boy was still watching her. He smiled, almost embarrassedly, then turned and walked out the door.

Dominique’s stomach fluttered a little. Who had he been? Why wasn’t he preparing his Gundam like the others? She shook her head and climbed to the cockpit of her new suit.

The sun shone through the window of a governmental office on New Siberia, the light glinting off the cold metal of the colony structure. Shadows were cast with eerie movement by the scores of work shuttles swarming around the colony, assembling the particle beam.

Randell watched this as he paced past the thick window. He could just make out the plumes of exhaust in the distance from the engines of the mobile suits that protected the colony. The Preventers hadn’t tried anything yet, but he knew they would. He was ready for whatever they would throw at him. They had little hope, being hindered by not being able to destroy the colony outright. He was counting on the fact that they wouldn’t. The door chimed and Randell turned and seated himself at the desk. “Come in,” he said.

Commander Trent walked into the room and handed Randell a small personal computer. “Progress report,” he said. “Work crews say the beam will be ready to test in eleven hours. A little over an hour after that, the colony will be in optimal firing position.”

Randell studied the display. “And the absorber stations, are they ready?”

“Yes sir. They’ll be monitoring the baradian reaction from the second it occurs and have more than enough absorber sails to make sure we can sustain it.”

“Good,” Randell said. “I know how hard it is to wait for…”

The door chimed again. “Come in,” Randell said, knowing who it would be. Sure enough, Alexia Slandovich walked in and sat easily down in a chair against the side wall. “How’s progress?” she asked.

“Well enough. To slowly, but…” Randell left the sentence hanging.

“Nichevo,” Alexia said.

“Pardon?” Randell asked.

Alexia smiled. “It means ‘it can’t be helped’ in Russian. A very useful word. I often miss it in English.”

“Ah, yes. That would be a useful word,” Randell said, looking back at the report.

“I’ve been going though some of the other files I retrieved from Calder’s chip. Very fascinating stuff. Some of it very ingenious,” Alexia continued, staring straight ahead, a preoccupied look on her face. She slid her hand casually underneath her jacket.

“Hmm. Yes, Nicholi was very brilliant. To bad he couldn’t see those ideas come to fruit,” Randell said, not looking up.

Alexia laughed softly. “Yes, to bad.” She laughed again, as if at some irony only she knew. “Yes indeed.”

Trent turned towards her, suddenly suspicious. He saw a glint of medal and managed to get his sidearm halfway out of its holster before a bullet entered his forehead. Randell looked up as Trent stumbled back and hit the wall with a wet smack, sliding to the floor. He stared at Alexia as she stood and expressionlessly moved the silenced gun to him. “You…” he started. Alexia pulled the trigger.

Eight hours after being introduced to her new suit, Dominique guided the Taurus out of the hanger and alongside the Peacemillion II. She turned to look at the battleship, admiring its sleek lines and dark hull with the Preventers emblem emblazoned proudly on the side. Raptor fighters and Taurus’ swooped around them as they and the ship headed for New Siberia. Dominique looked out ahead and could see the Gundams flying in formation at the head of the pack. She frowned. The green Gundam was moving in formation alongside the others, but she hadn’t ever seen the pilot come back to the hanger. She shrugged. She must have missed it.

They made an impressive force moving relatively slowly as they passed by the Forgotten’s sensor buoys that alerted the terrorists to their presence. Old space Leos approached, but kept their distance, monitoring the armada. The Preventers kept moving, not heeding them. Dominique smiled to herself, wondering how nervous the pilots of the Leos were. If someone had decided they didn’t like them there, there was nothing they could do to stop one of the Gundams from obliterating them.

Her radio chirped and Noin’s voice followed.

“Be ready to engage hostiles in case anything hits the fan.”

Dominique smiled. Even the cool-headed agent couldn’t keep the edge of excitement out of her voice. She prepared her weapons.

Calder floated back to his seat and closed his eyes. Their assault shuttle was cloaked, moving parallel to the main force. Twenty Preventer soldiers sat on the long benches against either wall. The squad leader, Captain Roland, was talking to one of his men as they bent over a tactical display pad. Calder would point out and execute the plan for disabling the weapon once he figured out how to. He glanced sadly out the window, seeing the formation of Gundams. Wraith was being piloted by remote to keep up appearances that this was an all-out frontal assault. It would be withdrawn before the battle began, but without a pilot, it was virtually defenseless. He could exercise limited control from his chip, but not enough to fight. “Don’t let my baby get hurt,” he muttered to himself.

Calder suddenly found himself thinking about the beautiful girl he’d seen in the hanger. With a smile, he wondered if he believed in love at first sight. Nah, it wasn’t exactly love, but he did hope he saw her again.

“Assault team, strap yourselves in,” the pilot’s voice said from a speaker on the wall. “We’ll be entering the battle in two minutes.”

Calder pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, checked his weapons, and fastened his harness.

Not far away, another cloaked vessel was keeping station with the battle group. Emotionless green eyes watched her displays. This was the deciding battle. The scrambled message traffic had finally been decoded by her computer, and she’d determined that Calder was on a cloaked assault shuttle that was going to try to board the colony and his Gundam was being flown by remote to keep up appearances. It wouldn’t be involved with the battle. Now was time to execute her plan. Help stop the Forgotten and reveal herself to the Preventers. And to Calder. Her hand shook slightly as she punched controls, bringing her weapons to standby. Her vision flared yellow for a second at this display of emotion. The Zero system, trying to silence the anxiety. But she’d become good at keeping it at bay. It no longer controlled her. She took a deep breath and waited.

The colony’s control center now had only three live bodies in it. Alexia frowned as she studied the diagram of the Preventer ships. A last ditch effort to destroy the weapon? If so, it may greatly help her. But she didn’t take what she saw at face value. She turned to one of her men.
“Brooks, how long now?”

“Another half-hour or so,” her first officer said with a slight British accent.

She hesitated. Then again, if the Preventers did somehow manage to get through the defense perimeter… They didn’t know what that battleship could do.

“Wait till everything is ready before you launch any of the freighters. We don’t want to tip them off that anything has changed.”

Brooks nodded and relayed commands to the freighter pilots.

Alexia turned to another console where the other man was working. “Are you ready?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Play the message.”

Eric Randell’s voice, artificially produced of coarse, echoed dramatically for all the Forgotten forces to hear. “Comrades, the day of reckoning has finally arrived! The Preventers are desperate now, knowing that they have no time left. But they cannot stop us. Everyone here today will be remembered as a hero in the new future! Never be Forgotten! Annihilate them all!”

Alexia nodded in satisfaction. That would convince the commanders. She cleared her throat and opened the channel again. “This is Alexia Slandovich. Be prepared for anything. They may try to sneak something past the battle, or even ram us with that ship. Don’t let anything through.”

She frowned. There had to be something else to the Preventers attack. She couldn’t let herself forget that Colonel Une was one of the greatest military minds OZ had ever produced. She checked again. Yes, all of the Gundams were attacking, including Calder’s. According to her intelligence, this was an even greater force than she had thought the Preventers could muster. If it was a diversion, it was an extremely good one. It didn’t seem like the Preventers would sacrifice such a large force if they had something else in mind. But there had to be something…

She sighed softly in frustration. There was no time. She turned to her men. “Don’t let anything through. Anything. Don’t let them realize what’s happened until we’re long gone. We’ll leave as soon as we have everything loaded.”