Crossover Fan Fiction / Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Crossing Barriers ❯ Taking Note, Info from Kira, Informational Counterattack ( Chapter 21 )

Crossing Barriers

 

Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed are the sole property of their creators and distributing studios. I have no financial interest in either series. Nor am I receiving any financial gain from this fan fiction work. I do however own all plot elements not part of the original and all self-created characters. Thank you. Enjoy.

 

Special note: Yaoi (homosexual pairings) is a plot element of this story. There will be NO explicit material but there will be sections where it is reasonably clear that sex is happening or has happened.

 

Beta Reader: T'Amara

 

 

Taking Note, Info from Kira, Informational Counterattack

 

Commander Hannam stepped briskly through the hatch that connected Purity to the docking port of Leadership One. He forced himself to pretend the pretentiousness of the names didn't bother him. Actually, they pissed him off more than anything else. The names had been intended for much more impressive units than a ship barely larger than a glorified gunboat or an orbital platform less than a fifteenth the size of a PLANT! They were a very, very pointed reminder of just how far Blue Cosmos had fallen in the aftermath of the second war.

 

Still, at the moment they weren't his problem. He barely paused long enough to acknowledge the base commander's salute before he strode quickly down the hallway toward the small shuttle that would get him quietly down to Earth. Behind him he could hear the man begin his report to Crystal; the resentment not quite as well hidden in his voice as Albert was sure the man thought it was.

 

And that wasn't his problem either, at least not at the moment. Besides, the man knew his sister better than that. Only an idiot tried to pull the male superiority trick on her on a good day. All the gods of history knew today didn't even remotely qualify as a passable day! He deserved what he was going to get.

 

He boarded the small craft to find a complete set of briefing papers laid out at his seat, the eight folders neatly caught under an elastic band on the broad tray top. Three different colored pens for making margin notes were tucked under their own short strip set comfortably near on the right hand side. Two zero-g drink bulbs and an assortment of zero-g safe snacks were arrayed in a secured basket to the right of his seat. Someone was thinking ahead here and wanted their commander in as good a mood as they could get him. He wondered if it was for a favor or just something on the line of general principals.

 

Whatever the reasoning behind it, he was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. He gave the shuttle crew a courteous nod, slid into the seat, and fastened the harness that would keep him secure even if the small craft had to take the most violent evasive actions. It would be a bit before they had his luggage transferred so he pulled out the first of the folders.

 

It had no title. None of them did any more. He couldn't prove it but he suspected a foolish habit of labeling these analysis folders and leaving them on desks had made a notable contribution to the destruction of LOGOS and the present reduced state of Blue Cosmos. It really wasn't all that smart to make it easy for spies but in their arrogance and blindness both organizations had failed grievously when it came to security during the Second Valentine War. It was a failure he was doing his level best not to repeat. That was why there was an armed guard standing beside the tray after all.

 

This first one came with a brief note and was nothing more than a quick overview of the Mendel battle. It had very little to add to what he'd seen for himself really. It broke it all down into neatly digestible bits but that was about all. Major Roman did however have connections in the rescue fleet and could promise more detail when the ships got to Mendel.

 

Hannam nodded wearily. Yes, there would be more detail. It wouldn't be likely that there would be much more useful detail though. The Kusanagi was going to be the first ship there and the ZAFT Nazcas would be there second. Between them, they would be very careful of what they let any Alliance ship see. He put a small tick mark on the jacket and slid the report back in place before he pulled the second one out.

 

He was deep into the current analysis of the manpower resources available to the organization as a whole when he felt the small jolts and shivers that indicated the shuttle was beginning to uncouple from its docking berth. When the familiar pattern continued with no unusual interruptions, he let himself ignore it. They had been in space for some time before he finished and set it thoughtfully to one side.

 

A search through the other six quickly found the report on the Eurasians that he was interested in. Just how he was going to allocate some of their manpower resources was going to depend on what might be changing as the Chinese took greater control of the Federation. He hadn't liked any of these so called `new men' that he'd met so far and he didn't expect to like any more of them now. The report did not disappoint him. It appeared that at least some of the more remote offices were growing backbones again. This was far more honestly worded than most he saw. He was beginning to make notes on both reports to allocate personnel and direct political action when the cabin steward handed him a message that had the potential to change every priority he had.

 

Aube had launched the Archangel.

 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

 

“Captain!” The low, tense call came from the comm officer and arrested Yuki Hartono's attention instantly; there were very few things that rated that tone from Pierson. Her cold-blooded communications officer, whose face so did not match his name, feared almost nothing and respected very little more. There has been both fear and respect in that call.

 

“Juri?” She asked softly as she leaned over his shoulder to eye his boards quickly.

 

“I just picked up a transmission. It was sent to Kusanagi.”

 

“I really don't want to play twenty questions here,” she warned.

 

Black eyes turned to her, burning savagely. “It came from Archangel. She's outbound to the Moon to pick up her Captain, Mobile Suit Commander, CIC, First Officer, and Captain Zala. She's going to meet the Mendel rescue ships at Aprilius One. And Captain, Cagalli Yula Athha is aboard.”

 

Yuki froze. Archangel, the Archangel was back in space. Picking up her full compliment of experienced and lethally effective officers. With the Chief Representative aboard to authorize anything and everything instantly. How had Terasawa known this would happen? No wonder she'd ordered the diaspora!

 

“You have a clean copy of this I presume?” She managed to ask evenly.

 

The man nodded grimly. “Yes Captain. I don't think we have all of it but I'd lay fairly long odds on having the meat of it.”

 

She just nodded and accepted the small disc the comm officer offered her. She didn't have to tell him to keep monitoring any transmissions to or from that ship; the man valued his own life far too well to make any such idiot's mistake. Nor did she waste time ordering him to keep silent. With the three ships still active and the cutter coming on line, he wasn't the only comm watch-stander and at least twenty percent of their personnel had private equipment that was capable of picking up that transmission. Someone would have heard it and word would spread, fast. Yuki simply headed for Captain Terasawa's office; how the Vulture Fleet handled this was going to be her decision.

 

Ilene looked tired when she entered the office. Yuki almost blinked. It had been years since she'd seen the other woman permit pure, physical fatigue to show so plainly. She was so very conscious of just how much appearance affected people's reactions; she usually maintained rigid control of what people were allowed to see and when they were allowed to see it.

 

“You have something for me?” Ilene's eyes were as focused as ever despite their weariness.

 

She held out the disc. “It seems Aube is getting very serious about something. They've sent up the Archangel. From what we've intercepted, she's going to the Moon to pick up her people and then to the PLANTs to meet the rescue fleet they expect to be getting back there about the same time from Mendel. Athha is with them.”

 

“Shit!”

 

“Agreed.”

 

Terasawa took the disc and popped it into her computer. They listened to the brief exchange between the ship and Onogoro Island Command together. There was really nothing there beyond what they already knew. Even the inflections in the voices told them nothing new. Ilene insisted on listening to it three times through but if there was something to be gained in that effort, she kept that to herself. Finally she just turned it off and leaned back in her chair.

 

“Oh, hell!”

 

Yuki let one eyebrow rise. Given that tone, it was safer to ask the question silently. Her friend and leader just gave her a dirty glare.

 

“We need to move up our timetable,” Terasawa said grimly. “We have to get our people out of here as quickly as we can and the ships into hiding. I honestly don't know why they've sent her up and that bothers me. I can usually read a situation well enough to make at least an informed judgment call but having Athha aboard throws this completely out of whack. What the hell do they need her around for if they're pirate-hunting, eh? What the hell else would you send that ship out here to do? This makes no sense!”

 

Yuki Hartono frowned thoughtfully. “Well, I can only think of one thing but I don't see where Athha fits in with it unless they're just dropping her off at the PLANTs to hold a pow-wow with Clyne.”

 

She looked up, eyes flatly serious. “I don't know what kind of science facilities the Archangel might have but she's rumored to have one damn fine sensor suite. And Nobi picked up that strange, gold radiation shortly after the main explosion that seems to have been the end of the ambush. He couldn't get much of a reading on it from here but you remember he said he couldn't identify it. Maybe it really was something new. If I was Aube, that's the ship I'd sent to check out something like that.”

 

Terasawa was looking at her like she'd been trying to breathe hard vacuum. “What? You honestly think Napci really had some new propulsion system on the Saucy Annie?”

 

Yuki shrugged uncomfortably. “I honestly don't know. But, Ellie, someone had something weird aboard! And it reacted very, very strangely to whatever Yamato hit it with. You know and I know that George was a fool but he was also the only one making any claims to having anything new and different on any of his ships.”

 

The commander of the Vulture Fleet scowled angrily. She clearly wanted to deny the whole idea. She just as clearly couldn't. The evidence wouldn't allow a dismissal out of hand even if it didn't support the claim either.

 

“Fine then,” she growled. “We'll check that too while we look for the Blue Cosmos bases.”

 

Terasawa stood up, the earlier weariness shoved almost completely out of sight. “Get your senior people together and let them know officially that Archangel is back in space. Then let them know they need to get a new, accelerated timetable for getting the ships mothballed and everyone out of here. We can't afford to take three or four months. I'm not sure we can afford that many weeks. I want the best they can come up with nine hours from now.”

 

She stared, eyes unfocused at the far bulkhead. “We may or may not actually be part of their mission plan Yuki but we both know they wouldn't pass us by if they stumble on us.”

 

The dark eyes focused diamond sharp again on her. “And send Moto here. We need to step up getting the Hatchling ready too. She can't be here when Archangel leaves the PLANTs. We're just too close and their record of finding things by accident is too good. Once the reactor comes online, I'd have had to launch within twenty-four hours or risk bringing ZAFT down on us anyway. With that ship around, I think we should cut the launch window to twelve hours or less.”

 

Yuki glowered angrily. “Captain, I frankly question just how good the Archangel's equipment really is. Honestly, if you listen to all the stories, they've got gear that hasn't even been invented yet!”

 

Ilene Terasawa just smiled grimly. “Truth? It doesn't honestly matter what their gear is like. Not when they have the kind of luck with it they do. And Yuki, there is no sign luck is ready to leave that ship any time soon.”

 

Oh, yeah, luck. And theirs was too clearly waning. It would be real stupid to forget that.

 

Shit.

 

Captain Hartono nodded quietly and left the cabin; she had people to find and orders to pass.

 

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

 

“Miss Clyne?”

 

Lacus looked up wearily at the soft call. Shiho didn't look any better than Lacus felt but the other young woman was stronger than half the idiots on the Supreme Council. She hadn't spent what passed for the morning shouting stupid things or making idiotic suggestions. Really, they were supposed to be adults! Dearka at his sarcastic worst was a model of restraint and maturity next to some of them.

 

At least they were all off with their various committees right now. Maybe they'd even get some useful results from those meetings. It had looked like they were mostly over the screaming and starting to focus when the Council had dismissed.

 

“Hello, PLANTs to Lacus! You with us?” Shiho smiled.

 

Lacus smiled back. At least one of them was back to the point where they could at least fake humor. Meyrin had managed to go back to FAITH headquarters. She was holding down the office there with the help of Voril Joule and Adrian Ito. It gave the two Commanders something to do that needed doing and kept them out of everyone else's hair while they waited for more answers from both the Moon and Mendel.

 

“I'm right here Shiho,” Lacus told her gently.

 

“Dean Koudelka is asking if you might have some time when she could speak to you.” Shiho's face was suddenly quite neutral. “She didn't outright say anything but, well, I've seen the stuff that crossed Yzak's desk. And just looking at her, she's nervous. Kira's reasons for getting Dearka and I those new mobile suits weren't the only ones he had for it either. I think she's got some new information.”

 

One eyebrow rose slightly. “The Dean is here? Right now?”

 

Shiho nodded curtly. “Yes.”

 

Lacus reached to tap the comm that would give her the Security desk. “This is Lacus, is Commander Dietrich available?”

 

“Dietrich here.” The reply crackled as someone unmistakably crushed something that sounded suspiciously like a potato chip bag.

 

“Dean Koudelka is here and I will be in a meeting with her for a bit. If any important data develops, please call ahead.” Which as good as told the man she was going to be discussing very high level secrets.

 

“Yes Ma'am!”

 

A call to her outer office assured the meeting would be uninterrupted. Shiho arranged for a light meal to be sent in and included strong coffee in it at Lacus' request. For the Chairwoman of the PLANTs would be very surprised if this wasn't going to take time to go over. The Dean wasn't the kind of woman to come to the Council offices unannounced without very, very good reason. And Lacus was almost positive she knew what had brought her here.

 

“I'll go back to the office and help Meyrin.” Shiho said quietly as she slid the rather well-laden tray onto the small table. “I'm sure she's all right; with both Voril and Ito there she has plenty of backup, but I don't know how much experience any of them have had with dealing with the press.”

 

Lacus shook her head. “I'd rather you stayed. If the Dean is bringing the information I think she is, well, Yzak will appreciate your viewpoint on it when he gets back.”

 

Shiho looked up sharply. Lacus simply looked back. Information was exchanged without words and the Lieutenant went to escort the Dean.

 

The older woman looked both harried and relieved. Lacus offered the food and coffee but was not surprised when they were waived aside. Nor were the discs the Dean laid on the table unexpected.

 

“They're alive, Lacus,” Svetlana Koudelka said very quietly. “And they had help.”

 

“When did this arrive?” She asked softly.

 

“About an hour ago. There was a good deal of interference between our station and the L4 colony cluster but I doubt that was the real issue.”

 

Both younger women looked intently at her, silently demanding the story.

 

She took a deep breath, picked up the topmost of the discs and slid it into the waiting slot in the table-top unit. “We didn't lose all the probes released at Mendel just before the battle started. Would you like to see how it really ended?”

 

Lacus watched, her heart beating painfully, as the battle she's seen in broken but surprisingly complete detail earlier played out again from a single, shockingly close viewpoint. The blind folly of the attackers in their final strike was even more obvious in this presentation than it had been from the colony's perspective. The probe had chanced to be in a position to record the fight from almost exactly the same plane as the fatal attack. It made it easy to see the two pirates who'd clearly come to their senses at the last moment as they managed to frantically claw their way clear of the instant destruction that swept all others into it's maelstrom.

 

Unlike the pirates, who seemed to stagger about for the first, critical minutes, the probe did not appear to have taken any damage from the terrible detonation. Space was capricious that way. With no air to create a blast front, anything that wasn't actually struck by flying debris went completely unaffected by the destruction. So it was easy to see Kira and Dearka towing Yzak to safety too.

 

The probe picked up several audio transmissions as well. The Dean had already set them up to play in a definite order, one that allowed surprising clarification of the limited action they could see at first. It was a bottomless relief to know Yzak was not seriously injured. Lacus and Shiho suddenly smiled at each other as he snapped a truly foolish order to Kira never to give him a negative report. Oh, yes, Yzak was going to be just fine.

 

Then a brand new voice, one with a marked accent said cheerfully, “That Yzak guy's a grouch.”

 

“He's injured,” Another new voice, with a different but equally marked accent replied gently. “How cooperative is Heero when he's hurt?”

 

Lacus' hand tapped the pause and she looked very quietly at the Dean. “They watched?”

 

“Let it play Lacus.” The dark eyed woman replied softly. “You need to see the rest. They did more than watch.”

 

She obeyed, and stared as the sense of what the strangers were saying penetrated. They didn't understand what they'd seen, not really. And it was crystal clear that they didn't really know what a Coordinator was either. But they were just as clearly experienced enough with mobile suits to grasp how far beyond simply `good' Kira was.

 

She was sharply intrigued by the deep, hard voice the others called 01, who wanted to capture Kira, Dearka and Yzak. This one understood at least something of what he was dealing with and wanted to make sure it didn't bite him. It surprised her that the other two had the good sense to recognize that they couldn't do it for him. She was much more used to Naturals underestimating Kira than to the idea some of them might know when to back off; and these were aliens as well!

 

She let her consideration wander from the screen as she glanced at Shiho as events now almost two days old continued to play out. The other sat tensely but silently as she listened closely to what was being said and matched it to what little she could see being done. There was deep concern but no panic and Lacus permitted herself a small smile. One Yzak Joule might not know it yet but he was not going to be single much longer. Shiho Hahnenfuss was not going to let that young man go wandering off without her again. Then her attention was jerked back to the recording as the voice called 04 suddenly started snapping orders.

 

“04 to 01! Mission compromised! Colony endangered! He's only going to be able to get one of them! You must get the other!”

 

“Mission accepted,” the hard voice snapped instantly.

 

In wide-eyed shock, Lacus watched Kira launch alone to deal with the remaining pirates. Then her eyes widened even further as another mobile suit launched from a point surprisingly close to where Kira had been. It was only as the white wings suddenly spread clearly that she recognized it. Fractions of a second later, death exploded in two directions as Kira and the stranger struck with perfect coordination.

 

She had expected the destruction Strike-Freedom created. She knew the power of Kira's suit and how much more there was to it than was generally ever seen. He so very rarely used everything in a single strike it was easy for most to miss the actual degree of danger the suit could pose to something her beloved really, really wanted to destroy. It was a mistake anyone who saw this would never make again.

 

But the destruction caused by the alien suit was even more complete. There simply were no fragments of his enemies left. That golden beam, widening as it elongated, just removed everything in its path as though it had never been there at all. And that clear path ran out a long way indeed.

 

And when the lights on both sides died away, there was only an impossibly beautiful image left of two winged mobile suits guarding each other's backs, the colony safe below them.

 

Dean Koudelka was the one who paused the recording this time, letting Lacus and Shiho take in that amazing view. As the first shock began to recede, Lacus began to notice the similarities in the two suits. It really was rather shocking just how much they resembled each other, right down to some of their colors actually.

 

“Why two sets of wings?” Shiho muttered, staring intently at the picture.

 

“We don't know,” Svetlana replied calmly. “They don't seem to carry weapons and while they are quite striking displayed like that, it doesn't seem to serve any combat-effective purpose.”

 

Lacus gave a tiny snort. “Oh but it does. If you were in front of that unit, seeing it like that would be very intimidating. Especially if you knew what that weapon could do.”

 

“Ah!” Enlightenment clear in her voice, the Dean leaned closer to study the image again. “Yes, I see what you are saying. However, I doubt the wings are intended solely for that purpose. It just doesn't seem enough to justify them.”

 

“Maybe they're primarily for atmospheric flight,” Shiho said thoughtfully. “They look reasonably aerodynamic from here. I still don't see why you'd need two sets though.”

 

“I am sure we will find out in time.” The academician leaned back again just gazed considerately at the picture. “Are you ready for me to resume the playback?”

 

“Yes, I am.” Lacus picked up one of the small sandwiches and began to nibble on it. She'd long ago learned that great shocks, like seeing the alien suit not only here but helping Kira, had a tendency to make her shaky. Balancing the blood sugar with food was the surest and fastest way she knew of to deal with the problem. It did not surprise her to see Shiho pick up another of the delicate sandwiches and begin nibbling herself.

 

She watched with intense interest as Kira's opening of the comm line let her see and hear what he did as well as the wider view that showed her all five of the alien suits. It was actually a shock to see just how human these visitors were to the eye. But it was a bigger shock to recognize one of them.

 

Heero Yuy; that was his name. Who had she been touching in that dream to have seen this man? He meant a great deal to someone, as much as Kira meant to her really. She studied all five of them but her eyes kept coming back to Yuy's intense dark blue gaze. Why? What was this curiosity about a complete stranger?

 

Then, as they turned to lead the way to their base she saw it. The pain and the loathing in the back of those eyes for what he had done. And she began to understand. He was a lot like Kira, who also hid the same pain and self-disgust while he did what only he could do to keep others safe.

 

“They're troubled people,” Shiho said quietly. “They didn't want to tell anyone they were here. They don't want to spread their problems. Lacus, I think I like them.”

 

She looked up with a small grin. “You just know that Duo guy is going to drive poor Yzak half insane.”

 

Lacus smiled. “Yes, I believe he will.”

 

She sobered, “Kira thinks he's a very brave man you know. He seems to be their scout. Well, you saw that almost-not-there image I showed Yzak and Athrun just before he left for Endymion. Kira said he couldn't imagine the kind of courage it took to sneak out to look around, never knowing if his invisibility was really working against our detection gear.”

 

“I suspect we will find they are all brave beyond their home's norm,” Dr. Koudelka said quietly. “Somehow, I doubt anyone of less than extraordinary courage would have dared step across that hole. I have more for you to review as soon as you can by the way.”

 

“Why did it take so long for that probe to send the data back?” Shiho suddenly asked.

 

The academician smiled tightly. “When we set up these units, we set the record function to automatic. It began to collect data on its surroundings within fifteen seconds of being launched. But the send function isn't on automatic. That has to be externally triggered. We set it up that way to prevent it from flooding the launching ship's sensors.”

 

“What triggered it?” Lacus enquired, head cocked in interest.

 

“Commander Yamato did that. He sent the trigger from his mobile suit, using Mendel Colony's secondary transmitter. He also set it to pass along data that he found in the mainframe.” She smiled a bit grimly. “It seems the visitors have appropriated space on the mainframe for their use, intending to clear it when they leave probably. But at the moment, those files, active and inactive, are downloading into our database at the Institute. And while I haven't had the chance yet to fully assess any of them, I can tell you one is a language translation file and another appears to be data they are receiving on current events back in their home space. We will know a great deal about them very shortly now.”

 

Lacus looked up sharply. “Security?”

 

The Dean grinned, a rather cunning expression actually. “Miss Clyne, we're the Science Institute. We are drowning in secrets. We work with everything from experiments in deep space exploration to weapons development. What is a bit of data on extra-dimensional alien visitors in that mix?”

 

“That's not an answer,” Lacus pointed out calmly.

 

“No,” the older woman admitted quietly, “its not. Let me give you a very brief overview then. Each project maintains its own records. There is no central database. We do have a research database that is more or less open to all but that is the only shared database we have. Once a project has `gone public', all sections of the research that are not classified are included in that public database. Until then, they are held inside their specific project and nowhere else. Most projects keep no more than a master record and a backup on-site and one secure off-site backup. A very special few, like this one, are so deadly sensitive that there is one stand alone machine holding the records.”

 

Lacus gave Shiho an enquiring look which the other girl immediately recognized and answered. “You stand a better chance of breaking into the main computers of the Supreme Council and ZAFT Central Command than you do of getting into one of the Science Institute's sealed research pods.”

 

The Chairwoman of the Supreme Council considered the current security as described and made a decision. “The data is too vulnerable to lose. Please find a way to generate a single backup copy and store it somewhere other than the PLANTs themselves. Someday, we may need the information again. We can not afford to have it lost if a single machine fails.”

 

The Dean of the Science Institute considered the instructions and replied, “We have a secure facility hidden on the dark side of the Moon. Materials there are maintained on permanent storage media, not in computers, will that suit?”

 

Lacus nodded. “Excellent. Two different places, two different methods of storage. It should assure the preservation of the information from all but a monumental disaster.”

 

“Now,” she eyed the Dean gravely, “how do we explain away the remarkable destruction of that weapon of Mr. Yuy's?”

 

“I can answer that one.” Shiho put in. “We don't. We just say something startling happened when Kira destroyed one of the pirates. And we don't admit to knowing a single thing about it beyond that.”

 

“That's actually a rather smart move.” Svetlana agreed, a slow grin spreading across her face. “Let someone else do the speculating. Unless Commander Yamato or one of the others is careless enough to actually say something specific, unlikely given the caliber of those young men, that non-story should stand. A lack of answers is occasionally more convincing than having them ready to hand, especially when what everyone wants explained is something truly unique.”

 

Lacus nodded. “Then we will take the simple way out and admit to ignorance for once. I think I will rather like being able to say `I don't know' and ending the interview there.”

 

“We'll hope the press cooperates then.” The Dean tapped the table unit and removed the disc. “The rest of these are very interesting but not in our language really. One is largely understandable with concentration as it is a translation record. I currently have it running in my private lab in an effort to set it up in reverse, translating their words into our language so we can translate the rest of the data. The other three discs are an orientation for their current hideout, a very interesting view of our history with some startling gaps, and, most significantly, what appears to be a running series of reports, news pieces, and propaganda bits inept enough to have been made by Blue Cosmos. It has given me at least some feel for what has driven them here.”

 

Lacus looked up sharply and Svetlana did not disappoint her. “They are survivors of a legitimate government. I would say the government probably did have some very significant corruption issues; the revolutionary's heavy handed propaganda is simply unmistakable on that. Still, given the visuals in the less polished of the news reports, and I do think the lower quality reports belong to the currently losing side, I think the replacement government may be much worse. Their people are continuing to resist despite what is an unmistakably vicious response on the part of the revolutionaries. I am guessing here but given that they came over with those mobile suits, I would judge that they are somehow either directly or symbolically overwhelmingly important in the battle. They are so vital they can not afford to allow them to fall into enemy hands. So they have removed them from that chance. We will have to speak to them to understand the rest of it.”

 

Lacus often wondered just where the discussion might have gone from there if they hadn't been interrupted. The soft but insistent chime could not be ignored. It was Security calling and they wouldn't be disturbing this meeting for anything trivial.

 

She tapped the comm and asked, “Is there a problem Commander Dietrich?”

 

The man gave her a look that spoke volumes for his own uncertainty. “I'm not really sure, Madam Chairman. But we've just received a transmission from the Aube Ambassador. It appears they have launched the Archangel. She is outbound to the Moon to pick up those of her command staff who were attending the aborted dedication at Endymion. Chief Representative Athha is aboard. The Ambassador has forwarded Representative Athha's request for a very low key meeting with yourself and such others as you may wish to attend to discuss the issue of piracy and the attack at Mendel.”

 

He hesitated, then added slowly, “Apparently not all the equipment on the base they had up there was destroyed when the pirates took it. The Aube are offering to share that data.”

 

Lacus was nodding before he'd quite finished. “Of course. Please see to it that the Council is informed that Representative Athha will be coming to see her brother. We all have firm faith that Commander Joule, Commander Yamato and Wing Elsman will be found alive after all. I would be pleased to have a first hand report on Endymion as well so I hope those of the staff who were there would consider coming with the Representative. A meeting with those besides myself most concerned about the pirate risks should also be discussed with the Ambassador before the Representative arrives.”

 

“Yes Madam. When would you wish me to send in your Chief of Staff?”

 

Lacus looked over at Dean Koudelka to find the woman had gathered her things together. The four dangerous discs though were stacked neatly on the table. Shiho raised one eyebrow and at Lacus' nod, picked them up and tucked them safely into a pouch on her belt. The Dean gave them both a sharp nod of approval.

 

“Dean Koudelka must leave very shortly. Please inform Mrs. Risuli that I will need her assistance within the half hour.”

 

“Madam!”

 

Dietrich cut the line from his end as he hastened to get the various balls rolling. Lacus and the Dean worked out an equally hasty system for getting the dangerous data out of the Science Institute and into her office. Once they had that settled, the older woman took her leave and the Chief of Staff entered. The busy day of the Chairwoman of the Supreme Council began to pick up speed.

 

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The middle of the night was not Anne Une's favorite time to be awake. It was not her favorite time to be out hiking either. Hiking in the mountains in the dark was simply stupid. But that was a pre-war opinion. Right about now, it made a fairly insane kind of sense.

 

Crimson Dawn had an odd preference for daylight operations. They, like Oz before them, tended to leave the night to others. If you were a guerilla, this was a very fortunate thing. She shuddered whenever she considered how things would have gone for the Preventers if the Dawn had been anything close to as night-savvy as the old American Army had once been. They had ruled the night as much or more than they had the day. Any resistance force that had let its self get strung out along a narrow mountain track like hers was right now would have been snack food for the owl-sighted helicopters and their deadly guns. They were unbelievably lucky the most of the technology had been stupidly dismissed as out of date with the advent of mobile suits. There wasn't much of it left anywhere now to be used against them.

 

Even so, the largest part of the advantage the Preventer resistance had right now was the simple fact that for all its flash, thunder, and savagery, Crimson Dawn was still actually a small organization when one thought in terms of global government. They were actively recruiting right enough but really, at this moment they were in the process of attempting to conquer and hold a planet and all the space colonies with less than six hundred thousand soldiers. The Dawn could field less than a thousand mobile suits too.

 

They would be able to manage this conquest only so long as they could project invincibility. Once something broke that illusion, they would discover they were ruinously short-handed for dominating the world. Unfortunately, General Une hadn't managed to find the needed illusion-breaker yet. Because for all that the enemy had so few soldiers and mobile suits, the Preventers had even less to work with. And with public opinion still leaning more to the Dawn than the Preventers, their efficiency was considerably lower than it would have been if the citizens had been helping them.

 

The Lady Une who had served General Khushrenada had held no great faith in the collective wisdom of the human race. The General Une who now commanded what was left of the Preventers actually had less regard for it than her younger self had had. But, and that but was so very real, once something convinced the human mass to truly believe a thing, then that mass could accomplish almost unbelievable things.

 

The Rational Revolution had not managed to achieve that popular conviction. All her hopes were pinned on that one fact. They were more popular than the Preventers solely because the Preventers still represented the old ESUN to far too much of the populace, not because the Revolution had won any `hearts and minds'. There were situations where a side in a conflict was set so well that unless they threw it away, victory would be theirs. Anne Une knew neither side could claim that position yet. The Preventers had not yet lost. More importantly, the Dawn had not yet won. It was vital to keep that balance intact as long as she could, then, if fate was at all kind, tip things at least enough her way to make it possible to bring the Gundams back.

 

Which was the whole point of being out on this goat track in the dark in the first place. In the very first days of the war, she'd managed to get into a studio and record three eight minute messages for the public. They'd outlined what she knew of the Rational Revolution's real goals and the methods they would use to achieve them. And she'd reminded everyone that the Preventers did not work for any single political entity but for all the people of the Earth and the colonies.

 

Sent out over the Internet, those brief statements had made her something of an icon for the resistance. When those idiots in the Dawn had followed her predictions almost to the letter, it had given her tremendous credibility with that portion of the public that favored the Preventers. They had also forced most not outright dedicated to the Revolution to at least admit she'd told them the truth.

 

The value of those short presentations had been immeasurable for Preventer moral. They had also been seen as something at least a step above mere propaganda by the public. So she had gone out of her way to make more of them. It was dangerous, high risk work but the payoff was too high to ignore. So far, she'd only managed to get into one other studio and they'd not had time to record more than two more statements.

 

The Dawn might be spread thin but, unfortunately, it wasn't stupid. A significant part of the value of the presentations was their very high, professional quality. That quality said the speaker was a legitimate force with significant resources at her command. In practice, this limited her to making these short pieces in genuinely professional studios. And those with the truly top flight equipment needed to keep that confident, forceful image intact for the viewer, even over a third or forth class internet connection were relatively few and far between. That scarcity made it easier for the Dawn to guard them.

 

Yet, even though they watched like hawks, they couldn't be everywhere. For not all truly professional grade studios were business enterprises set in cities. A rare few belonged to very wealthy performers, who did their own masters at home and then sent them off to their contracted studios for reproduction and distribution. One such studio was in a very large chateau that would be going on the market only days from now.

 

The aging star who owned it had decided to base herself entirely in two major cities and leave the rural alpine beauty to someone with the youthful legs, lungs, and absurdly deep pockets to enjoy it. The star hadn't been to the chateau in five years, leaving it in the capable hands of a resident property manager. That man's grandson was the Preventer scout leading them tonight.

 

As she delicately worked her way around a jutting rock, Anne Une realized the dark mass she'd noticed earlier had far too regular lines to it to be anything natural. Major Fruehauf's hand on her elbow steadied her as she put a foot ever so slightly wrong and gravel rolled quietly, almost tipping her backwards until the man's grip tightened. She gripped his forearm back, letting him know she was steady again. His hand slid down to her wrist and he tugged gently.

 

The goat track abruptly opened onto a meadow that could only be called steepish rather than truly steep. The chateau was a black bulk against the starlit skyline, the outline poorly defined once it dropped below the land horizon. Much of the upper story was white but even that was hard to see in the bad light. It was clear though that it was a very large place, possibly the equal in pure size to the Khushrenada hunting lodge Treize had so loved.

 

“Sir,” the scout's voice came softly, “the car's gone and the gatehouse is empty. Grandfather and Grandmother have gone to dinner and the opera as planned. The security systems are set but the camera for the door we need has a prerecorded tape being fed into it. So do the rest of the cameras on the lower floor. As long as we stay clear of the main stairs and are gone in four hours, we should be clear.”

 

“Get the windows covered as quickly as you can then. And test those covers before you turn on any of the main lights! Any leaks may be seen for a very long way in these mountains.” Fruehauf ordered quietly as the rest of the team slipped up to the building and crouched beside the walls.

 

There was a bench set beside the wall and General Une wasn't the only one to sag gratefully onto it. Really, manning a desk in a skirt and heels did not condition one to life on the run. Her back hurt, her legs hurt, her feet hurt, and her knees were killing her. Not to mention that her arms wanted to fall off from all the times she'd had to grab onto rocks to keep from falling several thousand feet down some mountain! Yet the sad truth was, this trip had been mostly made by car and truck. The hiking part had covered less than two kilometers. If she managed to survive this war, she was certainly going to be in much better physical shape than she'd been in when it started.

 

She didn't know how long she sat recovering but she doubted it was even fifteen minutes before the Major was back to tell her the windows and doors were light-sealed and it was time to go. As badly as she'd needed the rest, she was glad it hadn't been any longer. She was dangerously stiff already as it was.

 

It was one of the girls on the team who guided Une to the small bedroom probably used by either chateau staff or the assistants of a guest. But it was ideal for her very simple needs. It had a full bath and no windows.

 

She had to look the part of the professional leader of the Preventers when she made these short counter-propaganda pieces. One did not do that when one had the appearance of something the cat had dragged in, detouring through a particularly grubby mud hole on the way. Baths weren't something you really, honestly, truly appreciated in life until you couldn't get one. Moving from one safe-house to another, the plumbing always open to question and the concept of hot water often no more than a fond memory, she'd discovered this guerilla warfare game was a very dirty business in more ways than one. It had been harder to adjust to just plain being grubby almost all the time than it had to any other single thing.

 

The hot - really hot! - water of the shower was wonderful. And it did wonders for her aching body too. But time was not hers to waste no matter how splendid the water was. So she scrubbed as thoroughly as she could, paying particular attention to her face and hands, the two points that would really show on film. Because it was also important to the overall look, she did spend a few extra minutes letting a good conditioner soak into her abused hair but that was her only indulgence. She was clean, dry, dressed, and had her makeup on in just under half an hour.

 

She left the small bedroom, two of the team already scouring the bath to remove all traces of her visit as another tossed the used towels into a washing machine at the end of the hall. It would be the same in any space any of the team had even walked into. Two very brave people were risking their lives to give them this chance. The very least they owed them was to cover all their tracks.

 

Most of the first hour was gone by the time she reached the actual studio. Two more were spent setting up the three pieces she would be doing. The experienced production team, even cut to a minimum number of hands as they were, still had everything ready to record her portions and lay them onto the rest of the film to complete the shorts before they left.

 

Finally she was seated in a very good office chair with the Preventer five pointed pale blue star outlined in gold on a field of darker blue inside a circle of more gold at her back. Her uniform was spotless, her dress heels polished to a degree just below the level that would refract distracting flashes back under the brilliant studio lights. They had forty minutes to complete the recordings, do a final clean, pull the light covers off the windows and doors and get out of here.

 

Anne Une smiled warmly at the camera as the prompter began to scroll. “Citizens of Earth and the Colonies, I am General Une, Commander of the Preventers and I have information for you.”

 

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