25-Jan-2001
Konnichi wa minna-san (Good day everyone)! Okay this is the start of all the new stuff. No revised copy is this. Nope, brand spank'n new chapter here. ^_^ One quick note, we do have a new name that you will need the pronunciation for.
Fjorten /fee-ort-en/
That's it, enjoy!
Author: Tigress Pern (tigresspern@yahoo.com)
Title: Gundam Crossfire
Archived at: GW Addiction
Type: Drama.
Warnings: Alternate Universe, some language
Disclaimer: GW isn't mine, no matter how hard I wish
on a star.
Treize stared at the papers in front of him. It was the right decision he told himself again as he signed his name on the orders. She had to go to space; she was the only person he trusted with this mission. He looked up from the paper and sighed.
"Be safe in space my dear Lady." He sighed and put the pen down. The Romefeller Foundation was pushing that all of Earth and her colonies come under OZ's control, but it would take time. OZ was doing everything in its power to quiet the Earth, but the colonies were another story. Using the tactics they had used before wouldn't accomplish anything. Instead, they were going to try diplomacy. Something that should have been used instead of force, Treize thought bitterly. He was but a soldier and therefore had to follow orders. Orders, in this case, came from the Romefeller Foundation. Treize had been a member of this establishment of the world's old noble families for years. He believed in what they were trying to do. Create peace that the Federation destroyed twenty years ago. Now as general of its army, Treize had the opportunity to change the course of history. One thing still stood in his way. The Gundams. So far they were quiet, but unit 05 and its shadow were still active in Asia.
Folding his hands, Treize glanced at the single rose that sat in its vase on his desk. It was a beautiful fragile thing. Just like peace. The Gundams fought for peace, he fought for peace, everyone was fighting for peace, yet there was no peace. Maybe when Lady Une went into space there would be peace.
A sudden sharp rap on his office door brought Treize out of his reverie.
"Enter." He called. The door opened just enough for the figure to enter.
"Your Excellency. Colonel Tolk, Commander and Chief of the Draco Project, has sent me." Treize lifted his gaze to the woman's face. It was oval with long dark, honey blond hair framing it. What didn't hang down in two equal width locks on either side, was pulled back into a bun. Eyes nearly the same blue as his own, peaked out from under long dark lashes.
"And you are?" He asked as the woman walked towards him.
"I am Sergeant Fjorten Hale, your Excellency. Colonel Tolk has asked me to deliver these documents to you." She held forth a sealed manila envelope with the red "classified" stamp on it. He accepted the envelope and cracked the seal.
"Where is he?" asked Veir as Sally stopped the jeep. She looked up at the Gundam pilot.
"Your friend has taken a little personal time." Veir groaned and rolled his eyes. Muttering under his breath, he quickly turned and marched back towards Hard Rock, which was hidden next to Shenlong in an indentation of the mountainside.
"He's gone out by himself. Well, this is a fine time to have a mental breakdown. There are enemy soldiers all over the woods looking for this place. If he gets shot it'll be on my head. I better go find him and haul him back. If he's going to mope, maybe I should get him to a Martian base where he can wander all over without worry of being killed." Veir mulled as he continued the climb. Once there, he ran diagnostics on Hard Rock, then Shenlong. Wufei would be mad that he'd touched his dear "Nataku", a nickname given to the mech. for reasons Veir didn't understand. After the check, he started back down to see if Sally had heard anything from his missing partner. Part of him was thoroughly annoyed with Wufei and the other part was patient, hoping that he'd work through his problems. Veir was used to working with people and was a very tolerant person, but the Chinese pilot was driving him up the wall. He'd been spoiled by the close knit workings of the other four Martian pilots. They'd been together for long enough that there was a strong friendship amongst them. It would take time for Wufei to come to trust him, like the others trusted him Veir knew. In the meantime, he would just have to put up with the solitary pilot.
Suddenly the ground beneath him shook. In front of him something exploded. Looking up quickly, Veir saw that the enemy had finally found them.
"KUSO!" He clenched his teeth together and slid back down the path to the camp. "SALLY!"
The rebel camp was being invaded. Leos and Aries class mobile suits approached, letting fly a barrage of missiles and bullets at the same time. Within a matter of minutes the camp was torn asunder. The rebels tried to fight back with what anti-mobile suit weapons they had, but Veir knew it wouldn't be enough. He halted in his tracks, turned and raced back up the hill. There was only one chance and that was if he and Hard Rock got into the fray. Breathing hard, he reached his Gundam's foot and prepared to climb into the cockpit. Helicopters and Aries circled nearby. They'd found Hard Rock and Shenlong. A spotlight was turned on them for the entire world to see. Well, they wouldn't see them for long, Veir thought. I'll make sure of that. Suddenly a second group of Aries appeared and fired upon the first.
The Aries were turning against each other. Wufei didn't know why, all he knew is he had to get back to his Nataku. He had arrived back in camp just as the fighting had broken out. That crazy woman had nearly gotten herself killed trying to save him. She had set herself between him and a Leo in order to buy him time to get to his Gundam. The action was one of stupidity and bravery. Sally had implored him to continue his fight, not because he was strong, but because he was weak. To look for his own justice in this world.
Another Aries fell from the sky, he didn't watch it. There must be some hidden political reason for the two different sets of Aries to be fighting each other. As long as they were doing so, he could get to Nataku.
"Hurry up Wufei!" Veir called from inside Hard Rock. "We need to do something before they capture us." Wufei understood and climbed into Shenlong's cockpit. Together, the Gundams ripped off the netting that had camouflaged them and turned towards the enemy.
"Peekaboo!" Veir said. An evil gleam in his gray eyes as he ignited his thermal trident.
"I will have my justice." growled Wufei as his thermal naginata blazed to life. As one they sprang forward and attacked.
With time on his hands and a stain on his conscience, Heero walked in silence. He and Trowa had been searching for the relatives of General Noventa, the peaceful "dove" of the Federation that Heero had assassinated accidentally a couple months earlier. Now Heero wanted Noventa's family to take their retribution, even if it meant his life. Yet none of them had. Even his widow wouldn't take the pilot's life. Instead she had turned him away, like all the others. There were no more names on his list for this area, time to try again elsewhere.
They walked through the small port town in silence. They had been traveling together ever since Trowa's attempt at self-destruction. Heero for some reason was almost glad Trowa had failed. He wasn't sure why, but somewhere buried deep he was relieved. Used to completing missions, this failure troubled him. Now someone else had failed. Someone once said misery loves company. Not that Heero Yuy was miserable; there was no room for feelings when there was a mission to complete.
"We're being followed." Trowa muttered. Heero didn't need to look up to know it was true. "I'll deal with them." Heero nodded and Trowa sprung into action. They ducked behind a passing truck, Heero leapt in and Trowa grabbed the nearest accessible vehicle. A motorcycle that had obviously been well kept and hopefully had a lot of fuel. The truck continued on with Heero in the back, hidden amongst baskets of apples.
Trowa faced the black car that had been following them, gunned the motorcycle's engine and raced towards it, taking a left just before he hit it. The car tires squealed as the tried to make the turn. They managed and soon were hot on his heels. Glancing behind him, Trowa judged the distance of the car and the added it to the rapidly diminishing alley way in front of him. Suddenly he sprang onto the seat and vaulted off of it in one smooth motion. The motorcycle kept going straight for another few yards before flying off the road into the bay. The car couldn't stop and quickly followed the motorcycle. From his vantagepoint on a clothesline suspended between two buildings, Trowa witnessed the final sputtering of the car. Calmly he walked the line to the nearest window, climbed in, walked to the door and let himself out.
Hurrying back to Heero as discretely as possible, Trowa found him munching on an apple.
"Took care of them?" He asked. Trowa nodded as he handed and apple to him.
"You should be more careful." An unfamiliar voice commented. Heero reached for his gun, as did Trowa. The woman before them held up both of her hands showing that she was unarmed. "Please, I come to you with a proposition." Trowa and Heero exchanged glances, but didn't lower their weapons immediately. "You have been exposing yourselves by going about to all of Noventa's relatives. Those men in the car are just the first. The Romefeller Foundation wants you dead."
"Who are you?" Trowa asked. The woman with dark purple hair smiled briefly.
"I am Lucrezia Noin. And as I said, I have proposition."
"You know, all those nature shows I used to watch as a kid where people would eat insects. I always thought that was pretty gross." Jeden said as he stoked the fire with a stick.
"You'll burn your caterpillar if you stoke the fire anymore." San muttered as he watched Jeden. For once there weren't Aries flying about that night on patrol.
"I still can't believe we're out of MRE's." Jeden growled picking up his now cooked caterpillar. "Doesn't it bother you that we have to eat insect larva?" He asked dangling it in front of San. San shook his head.
"I've eaten les escargot." San said calmly, his voice taking on a slight French accent. He picked up one himself and tossed it into his mouth. Jeden grimaced.
"This feels wrong."
"Just don't think about it." San advised probing another caterpillar. Jeden pulled his off the stick and gingerly touched it to his tongue. San watched with vague amusement as his friend squirmed while he ate.
"It does not taste like chicken." Jeden stated firmly. "That's it we're getting off this island, OZ or no OZ. I don't care if they have ships in the area! I don't care if we blow our cover. I want some decent food that doesn't takes like rubber!"
"Very well." San said. "It is too bad we don't have any butter and garlic, these would taste better with them."
"SAN." Jeden was getting exasperated with his comrade. As much as he enjoyed San's company, right now he felt the urge to throttle him. How could he remain so calm? Well, he hadn't been nicknamed the Stoic for nothing. Nearly two weeks of sitting on the same island with OZ flying about and having little to do but watch them had finally worn down Jeden's nerves. Whenever his nerves were shot, he'd gotten very little sleep, was riddled with muscle aches from sleeping in his Gundam or on the hard ground, Jeden lost his patients. He'd never liked camping before and he certainly didn't like it now. His father had been an etymologist and a great traveler, part of the reason his mother had divorced the man; he'd never been home. Jeden remembered when he was younger and his father would send him musical interments, dolls, cups, plates, books, and jewelry from all over the world. One of the times his father had taken him on a trip, they'd gone to someplace in the Caribbean and had camped out in little more than a cloth tent and mosquito netting. Not that the mosquito netting had done much to keep the insects away, Jeden remembered. The whole experience had been miserable. Rain, a flash flood and poisonous snakes had been the high point of the trip. It had also reaffirmed Jeden's belief that camping should be done from inside a RV or better yet a motel.
"Do you wish to leave tonight or wait for morning?" San asked chewing on his dinner. Jeden thought about it for a while.
"Tonight. We'll have better cover and we can spot the lights of their ships."
"Maybe we should stowaway underneath one of the carriers." San suggested.
"No, we don't know when they'll dock next and we need to get back and refuel somewhere soon. I think we've used up our vacation time as it is. Time to get back to work."
"Yes sir."
"We'll leave in about an hour. Pass me another caterpillar." Jeden said, tentatively accepting the insect from San. "Wipe that smile off your face. I don't like them, I just don't want to blow up ships on an empty stomach."
"Hai."
Zechs waited patiently. Noin had called to say that she and two of the Gundam pilots were on their way. He glanced up at the reconstructed unit 01, a smile threatening to curl his lips. The Lightning Count shouldn't be anticipating an upcoming duel with excitement. Nor was he supposed to have rebuilt the destroyed Gundam. Not to mention hunt down its supposedly dead pilot. Yet he had done both. Now he awaited the arrival of unit 01's pilot at OZ's Antarctica base. It was the only base that Romefeller didn't have one of its spies at. Zechs hated having them around. At least he'd fooled them with the fake unit 01 that he'd blown up to pacify them and make them believe that he'd given up his goal. He wondered how long it would take them to notice that he'd shipped down from the colonies enough Gundamium to build two Gundams. In the mean time, he wished to fight with the young man he'd met that day in Siberia. He was a brave person and Zechs couldn't wait to finish what they had started. Something inside drove him to this. Maybe he was searching for something. That something that the Gundam pilots had already found. If he defeated one, then maybe he could attain it too.
Noin told him that he was looking for a way to protect his sister. Relena Peacecraft had no idea that Zechs Merquise had once been Millard Peacecraft, her doting older brother. No, his sister had been two when the Sanq Kingdom had collapsed under the weight of the Federation. From the day they murdered his mother and father, demolished the pacifist kingdom and scattered its people to the wind, Zechs had vowed that someday he would reclaim it. He had done that and had handed its future over to Relena. His hands were too bloody to carry out his father's pacifist beliefs. Now it was up to Relena and he must remain Zechs Merquise to protect her.
Slowly he unclenched his fists, which had balled up without his notice, as he slowly remembered every event that had brought him to this moment. The flight from the burning wreckage of his home to befriending Treize and Noin and finally to OZ and the Gundam before him. He'd accomplished much in his short life. Freeing his homeland from the Federation had been one of the highlights. Yet the victory was bittersweet. He didn't know what his father would think of him if he were alive today, but Zechs knew he would be disappointed. Hadn't I taught you better than to fight, the ghost of his father whispered. Yes, but I have no choice. This will be the last time I shed blood on my hands. After this, there will be peace, he told himself. The Earth and the colonies will stop fighting each other in the name of peace.
Trying to shake himself out of his sudden melancholic reverie, Zechs began to walk about the base of the Gundam. As he moved he tried to think about what he'd say to the pilot once he met him. Dozens of lines ran through his head, ranging from sappy to arrogant. None of them seemed right.
"Sir." A young man dressed in normal OZ uniform ran over. "Message from Lt. Noin."
"Yes?"
"She ran into some problems with the Romefeller spies. They know you're in Antarctica." He said.
"Are she and the Gundam pilots all right?"
"Yes sir." The man said. Zechs let out a sigh of relief. "She and a Gundam pilot took out the spies. They've rendezvoused with the plane and are on their way here."
"Good. Notify me when they arrive." Zechs stated. "I'll be in my quarters."
"Yes sir." The young officer saluted and left. Bolting out of the hanger and into the frigid Antarctic day, he vanished from view. Crossing his arms, Zechs took one last look at unit 01.
"Hopefully Romefeller won't come before I have my duel. I want to finish this."
Fifteen minutes later, Noin's plane touched down. She ushered the two Gundam pilots out and instructed that Heavyarms be brought to the hanger where Wing and Tallgeese awaited their arrival. She glanced at Heero and smiled briefly. This was the pilot that Relena had met. From what she knew of him from their flight together, she was beginning to understand why Relena thought highly of him. They were a lot alike. Both had a mission to complete and they were determined to complete it. Relena saw great strength in this boy and was borrowing that strength to start the restoration of the Sanq Kingdom. He was her inspiration and maybe she was his. Noin didn't know, nor did she ask. It was his business.
The other pilot, Trowa Barton, was quiet, like Heero. He seemed only to speak when he felt something was of importance or it was necessary to communicate. From what Noin had seen of his work, he was well versed in battle strategies and tactics. He was also efficient. More efficient than the other four pilots in their early exploits, except for maybe Heero. They were very much alike those two, but Noin didn't get the same sense of standoffishness from him as she did Heero. Realizing that she was probably over analyzing the two pilots she led them to the hanger.
To her surprise Zechs met them on the tarmac. He stood his mask firmly on his head and his manner crisp and forthright. The heavy coat he was wearing was open at the collar, so that she could see the red of his uniform.
"Greetings." He said in a tone he reserved only for people he truly respected. He held out his hand to Heero. Heero looked at it and after a moment accepted the greeting. Trowa simply nodded. Zechs smiled. "I have been expecting you. I'm sorry our duel was cut short, so I have arranged for us to pick up where we left off." With that he turned and led them into the compound. Zechs hoped that the mechanics had finished Unit 01. They hadn't had enough parts to fix one arm, so Zechs had instructed that parts from Tallgeese be used. He knew this would leave him with a handicap, but it didn't matter. As long as Heero's Gundam was as it was before the explosion, it mattered not. Upon reaching the hanger, Zechs paused. "There is your Gundam." He told Heero gesturing up towards Wing. Heero took a step forward and stared at his Gundam. "I had it rebuilt. We tried to put everything back in its proper place and have exhausted many mechanics doing so." Heero glanced back at Zechs.
"You rebuilt it."
"Hai." Heero began walking towards Wing in a steady manner. Trowa and Zechs followed. Noin hung back a ways and let them be. Zechs started speaking again, but one of the mechanics caught her attention.
"Lt. Noin."
"Yes?"
"Do you think this is such a good idea? I mean, what if the Captain loses?"
"He won't lose." Noin said confidently. Nor will he truly win either, she thought. He would have to give up something to win against Heero Yuy and Noin wasn't sure if Zechs was prepared to do that yet. "Don't you have any confidence?" she asked.
"Plenty. I just hate to see all my hard work go to waste when those things go at each other tomorrow. I mean, we just repaired that Gundam." Noin chuckled. Mechanics could get so cranky about having their nicely repaired machines ripped apart.
Pargan watched Relena's face light up as she read the letter. He had been the Peacecraft's butler in the days before the fall. He remembered Relena as a sweet little child and was happy to serve her. Seeing her delight in a single letter after weeks of worried looks made him feel better. Not only was he once more serving the Peacecraft family, but also he was keeping a close eye on its princess. Lt. Noin had made sure that Relena was under the best care while she was gone. Pargan intended to prove to Noin that he was up to the task.
"He's alive." Relena breathed. "Heero is still alive." He knew to whom she was referring. The young Gundam pilot, which she had spent most of her spare time looking for. "I need to find him."
"I'm afraid there is no..."
"Of course there is a way." Relena eyed him. She had that determined look in her eyes again. Pargan knew she was about to grab the bit and run. "I need to talk to Mrs. Noventa first. I need to go to Sicily." She trailed off as she headed out of the room. Pargan sighed and followed her.
"I will have the private jet fueled."
"Thank you." Relena said. Pargan left her to her own musings as he went to ready the plane. What will you do if he's not in Italy any more? Pargan asked Relena silently. Why do you wish to find this boy so? Relena wouldn't share her thoughts with him. She would wander the mansion occasionally talking to herself. It was an odd habit, but it seemed to help her sort out her thoughts. Maybe she is talking to her guardian angel, he thought. Or a ghost. Could it be that the ghost of Mr. Darlian haunted his adopted daughter? Pargan didn't want to think that Relena was mentally unstable. It wouldn't do for a princess of the Sanq Kingdom to be deemed insane.
"I will believe it is a guardian angel that the princess speaks to." Pargan told the empty room. "Truly she must have a protective one because it is a miracle she hasn't been killed yet. Especially after she has known that boy." He sighed deeply and prepared to leave.
Sighing deeply, Trowa Barton ran over the diagnostics of Heavyarms once more. He wanted to make sure the adjustments he had made to it worked smoothly. Earlier that day he had witnessed Heero's attempt at piloting it. Trowa could see the blood seep through Heero's bandaged arm and knew that Heavyarms was too hard for him to handle in his present condition. Having spent a large amount of time with Heero, Trowa had drawn the conclusion that Heero was going to fight Zechs whether or not he was injured. So he had decided to help Heero out. He smiled to himself as he glanced over at his handiwork. Heavyarms' left arm normally held a robotic arm with the gattling gun was attached. With the punch of a switch the gun would fall off allowing the pilot to fight with two fists. In Heero's present condition, the usage of that arm plus gattling gun was too heavy. A faint smile curled his lips as he thought about the irony of it.
If Heero couldn't operate that left arm, then he would be a sitting duck for Zechs. Therefore, Trowa was removing the arm and setting a beam saber in its place. When Heero detached the gun, he could still fight even though he would have only one hand. It still would be enough Trowa knew. As he finished he noticed someone enter the hanger. He recognized Lt. Noin immediately. She stared up at him, then her gaze shifted to Wing.
"Why isn't Heero piloting his own Gundam tomorrow?" she asked as he climbed down. Trowa looked at the newly refinished Wing.
"He believes that Zechs has made Wing better than it was before. Therefore he would have the advantage tomorrow. He wishes for a fair fight I believe, so he is using Heavyarms instead." Noin nodded.
"I see, they are very similar." She muttered. Trowa didn't reply. "And just what were you doing?" she inquired." Trowa ducked his head and moved to her left.
"Making sure the fight remains fair." Trowa answered as he began to walk away. Noin watched his retreating back for a moment before turning around to follow him. There was something she needed to ask him.
"Wait. Trowa." Trowa stopped and turned his head. "I need to ask you something. OZ has a report of a sixth Gundam. A large black one. No one knows if it is for real or not, but since you are a Gundam pilot you must know." Trowa stared at her. His expression revealed nothing and Noin wondered if she were staring into the eyes of a ghost.
"I know nothing about this sixth Gundam OZ has seen." He continued walking leaving Noin alone in the snow.
The sky had grown gray as storm clouds loomed over the horizon. Treize stared out at them wondering what he should do. On his desk was a list of OZ installations that had been hit recently. Most of them were the work of various terrorist organizations, a few by Unit 05 and its shadow. Fortunately, the Gundam had been very quiet recently and Treize was counting his good fortune with that, but he knew it was only a matter of time. He had to go speak to the Romefeller Foundation members tonight and he wasn't looking forward to it. Their spies had been tracking down Captain Zechs Merquise ever since they caught wind of his plan to rebuild Unit 01. Now they had figured out that the Gundam that they had seen blown up at Lake Victoria was simply a shell used for the occasion, that the real one was somewhere else. Where ever it was, so was Zechs.
"I can't help you anymore my friend." Treize murmured. "Once they catch you, they'll want to destroy you. Ah, but they can't. I know you will rise like a phoenix out of the ashes to thwart them. I wish I had your courage to do the same."
"Your Excellency, General Treize?" a voice asked. Treize tilted his head away from the window. His eyes alighted on Fjorten Hale. Dressed in her neatly pressed dark green OZ uniform, she reminded him of Lady Une. Whether he had wanted her or not, Fjorten had been assigned his new secretary until Une returned. Colonel Tolk had insisted upon it. The man was in such a rush to make sure his Draco Project was secure, that OZ and the Romefeller Foundation wouldn't cut the funding that he'd sent one of his minions to sweet talk Treize. Treize wasn't falling into that trap. Fjorten was still standing in the doorway, her hand on the brass doorknob.
"Is there something you needed Sgt. Hale?"
"I have some reports that you might be interested in." She walked forward holding two folders in her hand. Treize turned and sat at his desk. "These are the results of the initial Mobile Dolls test. Duke Dermail has extended an invitation to your for the next series of tests." Treize nodded and opened the file. He sifted through the pages of readouts and wondered how Tsuborov could be so enthusiastic about this project. Tsuborov, was the main supporter in Romefeller of the Mobile Dolls. He spent much time and money making sure his dream came true. What good was a mobile suit that was remote controlled? It had no soul; it could not anticipate the move of a human pilot. They could only follow a set of given instructions, while humans had the capability to think on the spur of the moment. Treize had been against this from the start, but his voice was drowned out by Tsuborov and his supporters. OZ would have its Mobile Dolls soon. Too soon in Treize's mind.
"And this file." Fjorten continued as Treize put the first folder down. "Is a report on the incident in the South Pacific off the coast of New Guinea. We lost five ships and 34 mobile suits." Treize took the folder from her outstretched hand. "The sailors that survived claimed that two huge shadows descended upon them and proceeded to destroy everything in sight." Slowly opening the folder, Treize eyed the photos taken from the surveillance satellite. Like most of the ones taken of Unit 05 and its shadow, these had just enough static to obscure the details, but not the shape. Treize could make out a twin barrel beam rifle and what appeared to be a thermal halberd. He didn't know such a thing was possible, but apparently it was.
"Shadow Gundam." He breathed.
"Treize-sama?" Fjorten asked. Treize held a photo of each Shadow Gundam and opened his desk drawer. He took out the photo of Unit 05 and its shadow and placed all three photos down for Fjorten to see.
"Look at this photo of Unit 05, what do you notice?"
"Besides the static?" She leaned closely. "There is shadow."
"Not a shadow, another Gundam. There appears to be at least two, possibly three of these black Gundam. From the photo, I can't make out if either of the two that struck the fleet are the same one that has been with Unit 05."
"I see. Shadow Gundam." Fjorten said studying all three photos. Straightening, she brushed a tendril of hair out of her face. "So they aren't the five we know."
"No. These are new." He sighed. "Yet they haven't made themselves completely known. As you can see they are giving us glimpses, but never the whole picture. Strange."
"I wonder if they are trying to intimidate us." Fjorten suggested.
"A possibility." Treize said. "For now let us assume there are now eight Gundam."
"Eight? Wasn't Unit 01 destroyed?"
"Let us assume there are eight." Treize repeated sternly.
End Part 9
Tigress Pern
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