02-Jun-2003
edited: 01-Sep-2005
Title: The X Faction 3/?
Author: Kitty Chou
Archive: GW Addiction
Category: AU, Shounen-ai, Angst, OOC-ness (depending on how you think of the
guys thinking)
Pairing: mentions of 3+4, past 1+2
Disclaimer: *clears throat* I do not in any way, shape, or form own Gundam
Wing or its wonderful characters! I just pull them out to play and then
clean them up and put them back when I'm done! I'm making no money and if
you sue me you will receive no money because *shock* I have none.
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, shounen-ai, angst, violence
Spoilers: Well, if you don't know who won on the show, then yes. Oh, and if
you haven't read 'Three Seconds' yet, then this has spoilers for that.
Author's Notes: Sorry this part took so long to get out... There's
been... stuff going on in life, as well there should be! I've been waiting
to do this chapter though! Special thanks to Spam and Megabitch! Spam for
being the wonderful Spammy Goddess she is and betaing my story! All revel
in her spammy goodness! Megabitch for beating me with whips and chains and
the bride's bouquet until I wrote more! But I'll never read Star Wars!
Feedback: Please send feedback! ARNIE HUNGRY!!!
Getting inside the satellite had been laughably easy, which immediately put Wufei and the others on their guard. It indicated that the X Faction could be expecting them and had made special arrangements for their arrival. Regardless of who was heading the X Faction, friend or foe, the intentions behind such a welcome were dubious.
A transport headed for the resource satellite passed through the colony cluster only about an hour after they did, which surprised them at its timeliness and sent them into a scramble to get suited up and ready to launch the MRCs at their ride into the satellite. The launch went surprisingly well, considering MRCs were notoriously faulty, and would often send their pilots up to five degrees off target, which meant a noisy landing or a total miss. But luck seemed to be smiling down upon them as they launched from Fengshen to the transport carrier, landing on target with only a soft clang.
They stayed like that for a few hours counting on luck while the ship arrived at the base, docked and was unloaded; going unnoticed as metallic lumps on the ship's irregular surface. After the workers unloaded the cargo and moved on to another ship, the three of them exited their pods, floating down in the partial gravity of the docking bay. They checked their transmission and parted, separating for reconnaissance.
After incapacitating a stray 'evil henchman' who was taking a cigarette break, Wufei donned his uniform and made his way towards the men's dormitories to begin snooping. All the uniforms had an earpiece and microphone, so while Wufei could hear nothing through the little device, he hooked it to his left ear, his right being occupied by the transmitter connecting him to Trowa and Heero.
The uniform itself was rather strange, in that it was unusually comfortable for military style gear. The short-sleeved shirt was black with a white 'X' over the left breast and made of a soft, stretchy material. The dark green pants were lightweight and made of a synthetic fabric that felt like it would dry quickly, which was a good thing if you had to hike two miles to your safe house after swimming across the lake you hid your Gundam in. The uniform didn't come with a hat or matching footwear, but it appeared that everyone wore wristbands of various colors. The one Wufei took from his unconscious friend was blue.
Most of Winner Enterprise's older satellites were built from the same set of plans, so while they had been unable to get a map for this specific satellite, they found the standard blueprint for this model, which would suit them just as well. Left, right, right, left, right... Schooling his features into an expression of confidence and self-importance, Wufei made his way through the base, mentally visualizing the map he'd studied within his MRC. A meaty hand wearing a white wristband suddenly stopped him in his search, landing heavily on his shoulder.
"Hey, Blue-band. Aren't you supposed to be in combat training right now?" the owner of the meaty hand asked, turning him around. Wufei blinked stupidly at him for a moment, giving Mr. Meaty Hands time to begin steering him back down the way he came. "Come on, let's get you back to where you're supposed to be."
There were too many people around to take out Mr. Meaty Hands and Wufei couldn't think of a ploy to get away without arousing suspicion. Damn it. Wufei was terrible at infiltration and he wished they had sent Trowa in alone for reconnaissance before jumping on the first ship that passed by. Stupid testosterone...
"I keep telling Miss H that you guys need some Yellow-bands to keep an eye on you so you don't get lost and go wandering," Mr. Meaty Hands sighed. Wufei frowned at this. Miss H? "She thinks it's harmless, but there's too much going on here, you know? The whole reason Professor D designed the band system was to keep spies and traitors from getting where they're not supposed to!"
Mr. Meaty Hands steered them down a side corridor, stopping before a door marked with a blue 'X'. He reached forward and stuck his hand under a scanner on the left side of the door. It beeped twice, apparently responding to his wristband, and the door slid open, revealing some twenty-odd men and women standing in a line facing the door. The instructor, who was faced away from them, seemed to be talking, as his hands and head were moving, but Wufei couldn't hear anything. That changed the instant he stepped through the door.
"...to underestimate the enemy. Good of you to join us Mr. Meyer," the earpiece suddenly flared to life, causing Wufei to freeze in shock. He knew that voice. "Thank you for retrieving him, Daniel. You may go now."
"Sir," Daniel replied, clapping Wufei on the shoulder before he exited the room.
"Please take your position, Mr. Meyer," the instructor... instructed, indicating an empty space between two women on the right side of the line. Wufei didn't move, but stared in disbelief at the man's back. The instructor turned, looking curiously in Wufei's direction. "Is there a problem, Mr. Meyer?"
"Sir," a petite blond spoke up suddenly, drawing the instructor's odd gaze. "That isn't Joshua."
"What?" the instructor exclaimed sharply, turning back to Wufei, who was already in motion. As he darted out the door the instructor's voice rang in his ear. "All units code red! There is an intruder in Sector A, Blue Side! I repeat, all units code red! There is an intruder in Sector A, Blue Side!" Running flat out down the corridor, Wufei ignored all sounds of pursuit from behind him, a single thought registering in his brain.
Duo Maxwell hadn't changed much in the years since Wufei had last seen him.
Heero cursed silently as he ducked into a side corridor. He had remained in the hangar, taking out a technician and donning his uniform, but accidentally crushing the earpiece and microphone he wore. It hadn't worried him at first, but half an hour later all of the technicians suddenly looked up without any visible warning and began running around in what appeared to be a drill. "Report!" he barked into his transmitter, keeping out of sight of the rushing technicians around him.
"Hell of a security system they have here, Yuy," Wufei muttered over the comlink, sounding a bit out of breath. "Very effective. We must get something similar to it for the Preventers."
"I want your report, not your damn commentary, Chang!" Heero spat angrily. He hated being kept out of the loop in enemy territory.
"Duo," Wufei rasped. "He's here. I saw him."
"What?" Trowa now joined them, his tone startled. "That's impossible. Where are you?"
"Sector A, Blue Section apparently. And it's obviously possible, Barton! I'm not so blind as to not recognize Duo Maxwell when I see him!"
"Well I'm looking at Duo right now, and I'm in the ship's Commons."
"What?!" Wufei shouted, causing Heero to wince slightly at the feedback. "That's not possible, Barton. How can he be in two places at once?" Wufei broke off cursing as distant shouting sounded over the transmission. "How do they keep finding me?"
"Take off your wristband, it's allowing the computer to track you," Trowa told him. "I don't think it is Duo. He looked right at me and there was nothing, no recognition of any kind. I think... I think they might be clones."
"Clones?! So project Tulip Gonads... is the cloning of Duo and Quatre? "
Heero was only half listening to the observations in his ear, his mind having shut down after 'Duo'. Duo was in the base. Duo was in the BASE. DUO was in the BASE! His mind reeling, he turned and raced down the passage, trying desperately to remember where the Common Room was. He had to find Duo.
"So X-24 is the codename for the clones?" Trowa suggested, keeping a lookout while Wufei changed into a technician's uniform.
"That's what I suspect," his partner replied, buttoning his dark gray coveralls. "Or more likely, the name for the technology that created them." He finished dressing and placed his transmitter back in his ear. "Any response from Heero yet?"
"Negative," Trowa answer coldly, uncaring of Heero's status. He tensed suddenly, his hand tightening on his gun when a voice suddenly rang down the hallway, echoing weirdly around them.
"Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of two Gundam...pilots that is!" Duo teased, laughing at his own ridiculous cleverness, if it could be called that as he came walking towards them with an edgy grin. He stopped, raising his hands when Trowa and Wufei leveled their weapons at him. "Hey, now! Four years and all I get is a bullet to the brain? And here I was hoping for a hug..."
"You aren't Duo," Trowa growled, his gun trained and unwavering. It was almost frightening to look into the eyes of his old friend and know that it wasn't his friend looking back at him.
"Don't be stupid, Trowa! Of course I'm Duo," the clone replied, rolling his eyes.
"Not the original," Wufei retorted. "Just a copy."
"Not the original?" the clone echoed, his brow creased in confusion. He thought for a second before a look of comprehension spread across his face. "You're right, I suppose I'm not! I'm surprised you figured that out so quickly! But then, if you know that, why are you aiming at me? It's not as if you can-" The clone broke off, his attention suddenly switching to focus on something behind Trowa.
"Duo Maxwell, you are hereby under arrest for the development of illegal weaponry and conspiracy against the Earth Sphere Alliance and L4 Colony cluster."
End Part 3
Next Chapter: The conspiracy revealed?
(:./kitty/faction3)
