Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Girl?!?! ❯ The Beginning of a Mission ( Prologue )

Diclaimer: I most certainly do not own Gundam Wing, but I do own Selene. I hope you enjoy. Please ask my permission if you'd like to use her. (Not that'd you'd want to.)

Author's Note: I have revised this chapter because her characterization has developed more and I wish for this chapter to be consistent with the later chapters.

A Girl?!?!

There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

-Abraham Lincoln

The wind blew through her black silk-like hair causing to wave like the gently rolling sea. The time had come, and she knew her heart was ready or at least, she hoped it was. All her training, all her life, all her pain. everything had come down to this, this one mission that she yearned to complete successfully. But thoughts of failure still clouded her mind, "What if I'm not good enough? Why me? They should have picked someone better. What would my father have said if he knew?" The only daughter of Heero Yuy shuddered.

"You know what you need to do, Selene, all that's left is to actually do it," a resonant voice whispered, "you're absolutely ready, I have no doubt about it, you're an elite soldier. Go make OZ pay!" The sixteen-year old girl nodded her head, her dark blue eyes filled with a desire for revenge, but her stomach twisted in anticipation. It was her first real battle, what if she really wasn't as well trained as she thought? Her mind wondered if the other pilots had felt such anxiety before their first battle. One word came into her mind that pushed out all the negative thoughts. Revenge. She had waited so long for its sweet taste, maybe after all was over, she could finally sleep peacefully. With hands now calloused from her hard work, she pulled herself into silver colored mobile suit and quickly pressed the multiple buttons to activate it just like she had in all her drills.

"Well, Lunar Eclipse," she commented to the gundam as if it would understand her, "sad to say after this battle, I'll be working for the enemy, which means you and me won't be seeing each other for a while. Enough of my yapping, anyway, let's go make those ozzies pay for all the pain they've caused everyone!" The words streaming out of her mouth made her have a warm fuzzy feeling inside. With that said the gundam lunged forward, opened its metallic wings and gracefully took flight.

* * *

"There's a mobile suit heading towards this base, Colonel," a young officer reported to his Colonel. He examined the radar readings and recognized in horror what it was, "Looks to be a gundam, sir."

"Huh?" it was obvious colonel Zech's focus had been on something other than the radar. He was leaning back in a leather chair, staring up into oblivion with a mind shrouded in the horrors of his past.

"There's an enemy suit coming here!" the soldier shouted impatiently, he was a new soldier just out of training and he was growing apprehensive at having to see a gundam so soon.

"Oh," Zechs answered rather nonchalantly. His mind had still not returned back to earth.

"Well? Aren't you going to do something?" the subordinate soldier began to wonder if his colonel was even listening as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Hmm. why don't we give it a nice warm welcome, and invite it to use our carrier planes for traveling?" Zechs asked when he finally realized the situation, a sly smile forming on his face. Though, it was hard to tell, since a helmet like mask that was obviously hiding some great secret concealed most of his face.

"Are you out of your mind, Colonel?" the officer asked supremely shocked and trepidation clouding all his thoughts. Surely they would die if action was not taken.

"Perhaps," Zechs muttered, "Actually, I plan on going out to fight this thing alone to avenge the men I've already lost to that other gundam." Honor had gotten the best of him. He knew in the back of his mind that such an act would surely be equivalent to suicide, but he wanted desperately to end this game himself. "You'll know what the pain of loss is, pilot," he thought as if sending a mental message to the pilot of the gundam.

" You ARE crazy! What's wrong, is that mask cutting off the blood circulation to your brain (according to Katie: your gray matter) or something?" the soldier knew he was going past his boundaries; however he wanted to be able to say at the colonel's funeral, "I told him so." Or if things went as they were going, he wouldn't even be around to say that.

Zechs seemed unaffected by the scathing comments; instead he smirked as he walked off to prepare for battle.

* * *

The computer in front of Heero began to develop some static. In annoyance, Heero slapped the side of the computer; he wasn't too fond of interruptions when there was important work to be done. An image of Dr. J. appeared on the computer, "Hello Heero." Heero almost jumped back in shock; almost, but his sense of composure got the best of him.

"Do I have another mission?" Heero asked monotonously. Though his voice was void of emotion, he secretly was anxious to get out again and battle. There was no excitement with planning, and it wasn't helping the curtailing of the war either.

"No, but, I wanted to inform you Operation Lunar Asteroid was under way. Selene, our sixth pilot will be working for OZ, but at the same time she will be taking all their plans and sending them to us." Dr. J spoke quickly as if he had something urgent to attend to after the session. "Selene was trained well, but I fear that the tyro still has a bit of apprehension. I could sense it."

Heero froze for a second and then replied, "And how will I be able to tell him apart…"

Heero was interrupted by Dr. J.'s warm laughter, "She! Not HE! I thought I had made that clear before. "

"She?" Heero sounded quite shocked, even though he tried to hide it. "No wonder she was apprehensive. Infiltration is not a job for a woman. But then, again, I suppose in an organization full of men, it might be."

"Well, duh Heero, Selene is a female name!" the braided wonder who had been standing there all along answered. He had seemed invisible in his corner, watching quietly.

"How long have you been here DUO?" Heero questioned Duo, he was trying desperately not to lose his temper, since that would be unHeero-like. It was irritating to think he was being spied upon.

"Long enough," Duo answered flashing the famous Duo Maxwell grin, "So as Heero was saying, how can we tell this chick apart from all the other baddies?" He folded his arms and leaned against the wall, waiting for the scientist's answer.

"Well, I've instructed her to tie a white band on her mobile suit, and physically she has dark blue eyes, and wavy black hair. If that isn't enough, I'm sure it will be obvious by her different fighting style than from the OZ soldiers. She might not end up being one of the best among them, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell. Besides, she'll be the one restraining from the fighting since she is on our side." Duo laughed some more at the prospect of Heero mistaking their new pilot as a boy.

"A girl." Heero whispered, " makes sense, a girl would have an easier time getting information from Zechs or Treize than someone annoying like you."

"HEY!" Duo shouted, "Watch it, I have feelings unlike you!" Heero suppressed a smile.

* * *

Selene looked down from her gundam at the rolling countryside searching for a place to hide her gundam after the battle. "Hmmmm... How odd," she muttered, "They haven't sent out a whole fleet of Leos against me... yet. Perhaps I won't have to fight them first. That would be a relief. Oh, Selene, will you stop acting like a baby. That would NOT be a relief. I'm here to obliterate them all!"

Just then, she felt a strong blow from behind. Her body trembled slightly, but then she quickly shifted the gundam to that direction expecting to see a swarm of Leos except, that wasn't what she got. There was a single Leo floating with its beam saber drawn. It amused her, "What are they thinking? I didn't know OZ was fond of suicide missions."

"I challenge you gundam," a voice boomed in through her communicator. It was assured and unwavering, for a second it sent chills through her back. But then she quickly changed moods when she realized what an easy battle this would prove to be.

Selene couldn't contain herself…she had tried… but now she couldn't… she burst out laughing. But even as she laughed, her subconscious warned her not to grow to assured as to lose her concentration. "Man, you ozzies sure don't know too much," she stated between small bursts of laughter. It seemed it was too late, though; assurance had already seeped into her mind and taken the form of a light sort of arrogance. Little did she know that sometime soon her arrogance would catch in quite a quagmire.

In the Leo, Zechs was becoming aggravated, "I'll show this foolish pilot," he thought. His Leo raised its sword to strike again, but Lunar Eclipse was faster. It grabbed his Leo tightly in its strong hands silvery hands. Sweat dared to trickle down his long blonde bangs, which were concealed by the ivory mask. "Will this mobile suit become my casket?" he thought trying to guess what the pilot's next move would be.

"Quite a turn of events." Selene smiled maliciously, "What is your name Ozzie?" She couldn't resist tormenting before she finished him off. "No, Selene, no, just finish him off and go. Don't dawdle here," her subconscious screamed.

Zechs couldn't believe it, "Why doesn't she just finish me off?" he pondered, "Maybe I can use this time to my advantage. Stupid pilot. You should kill your enemies while you have the chance." "If you must know I am Specials Ace Zechs Merquise," he answered while his mind ran through different ways to escape this quite unpleasant predicament.

"Quite an elaborate name Zechsy-boy, of course, it might not fit on your tombstone!" she found herself really getting into this. It would be over soon. And this appetizer to revenge would content her quite a bit.

Zechs felt his whole body feel tense, this pilot was playing around with him like a cat toys with a mouse before pouncing, and he couldn't think of any way to escape. "Listen Zechsy-boy, and listen well, I can sense all your emotions, your heart is beating, the adrenaline is rushing, you're afraid... terrified…intimidated…panicking… in other words, scared."

Zechs winced at the nickname and then interrupted, "Are you planning on killing me anytime soon?"

"Since I am in a generous mood, which happens scarcely, I've decided to let you go, but make sure you inform all your Ozzie friends that next time our paths cross, they won't be quite as lucky as you!" Selene laughed vindictively and flew off to the overhang where she had decided to hide her gundam. There was a soft whoosh that penetrated the air as gundanium alloy cut through the air.

Zechs shivered and then smiled; he had come out alive after all.

* * *

Selene stood in front of the OZ building, her hair pulled in a low ponytail. To the untrained eye, she looked like any other schoolgirl - reticent, innocent, and certainly not lethal. "Wow, nice place, too bad its at the expense of lives and happiness of the people," Selene thought while gazing at the massive edifice that held the OZ headquarters.

"May I help you ma'am?" one of the soldiers on guard asked, he was well groomed and stood erect against a marble pillar.

Selene began to speak trying to mask her anger towards OZ with sweetness, " I heard Colonel Treize was looking for soldiers, and here I am." She hoped it didn't sound too peculiar.

The man laughed under his breath, "Colonel Treize was looking for men to fight for him, and you, clearly are not a man!"

"What difference does it make if I'm a woman? Is Colonel Une not a woman?" Selene tried to keep the anger seething within her from overflowing. "Must keep calm," she thought. Luckily, she was calm enough to think of the only female member of OZ she had really heard of before.

"Colonel Une is an elite soldier, you on the other hand would not even survive to become a low ranking officer," answered the soldier pompously.

"I wouldn't?" Selene asked, her eyes glimmering. "On second thought, forget the whole 'keep calm' issue," she whispered to herself. The soldier laughed to himself quietly some more, but his laughter ceased when the girl drew her sword. "Alright, you've insulted me, now, you will have to duel me."

"Sure," the man answered pompously drawing his own sword; it was much frailer than her sword. In a flash Selene made a swift movement with her sword and the soldiers sword lie on the ground broken in two pieces. The pieces gleamed in the noonday sun as her eyes did while she stared angrily at the obstinate guard.

"I want to see Colonel Treize, would you please direct me?" her voice sounded soft and angelic, as if nothing had happened at all. The soldier nodded obediently and led her in silence to his office.

* * *

Treize sat at his desk, gently petting one of his many canaries. "I wonder what is taking Zechs so long. He should have been here by now." He gracefully stood up and walked to the window.

"At least some of us should be entitled to freedom," he commented as he let the canary out the window. He knew that much greater battles were eminent and compared to what was to come, right now was just child's play. Just then there was a light knock on the door. "That must be Zechs now," he thought. "Come in." It wasn't Zechs though; it was Haft, one of his officers with his forehead dotted with sweat. "What's wrong?" Haft quickly moved out of the way allowing the seemingly innocent young lady step forward.

"How may I help you?" Treize asked eloquently.

"Wow, Treize has really changed since the last time I saw him," Selene thought. He looked nothing like the young friend of Milliardo's who used to throw snowballs at her in the winter. Haft seemed in a hurry to leave, but this did not surprise Selene at all. She knew she had acted rashly and that she should watch herself more carefully, but it had been so tempting to wipe the grin off his face. "I wanted to become a soldier under your command, sir."

"A soldier?" Treize mulled over the thought, "but you look to be just a little girl." Haft, who was standing behind Selene shook his head trying to warn Treize but obviously Treize did not get the message.

"A little girl?" Selene seemed quite insulted by that, but she was patient unlike she was with Haft. "Bring me your best soldier Treize, and I'll prove to you what this *little* girl can do." She felt hesitant at being so bold and hoped to herself that her painstaking training would finally pay off.

Treize seemed up to the challenge, "Alright then, when Colonel Zechs arrives, we'll have you duel him, with swords of course, mobile suits would give him an unfair advantage. If you win, I'll let you be a soldier." "But you won't win," Treize thought.

Selene took a deep breath, her fear melting away like snow under the scorching summer sun. She forced herself to keep from laughing, "Zechs, where have I heard that name before," she thought, even though she knew the answer. But yet her body twitched, "He was in a Leo," she thought, "if he had a gundam, he would probably have me beat."

* * *

Zechs jumped out from his Leo feeling exhausted, he knew he needed to rest before commencing some more training. He swore to himself that it would be the last time he would be beaten by the ruthless gundams. "Treize wants you in his office," one of the officers informed him, "says it's urgent."

Zechs muttered incoherently, but orders were orders. He picked up his pace and ran up to Treize's office. Several of his own men started to follow him. "What are you doing?" he asked perplexed.

"We want to see you fight this woman everyone is talking about!" one of the officers answered. News spread like wildfire on the base. Already tall tales had spread some talking about a fifty foot woman and others talking about an Amazon that was holding Treize hostage that very moment. All amusingly extreme exaggerations.

"Woman? What woman?" Zechs hoped he was hearing everything correctly.

"This woman in Mr. Treize's office is going to duel you, if she wins she gets to be a soldier for OZ."

"How is that fair? She'll never be able to beat me, tell Treize I refuse," it hurt his honor to have to fight someone that he knew he could easily beat. However, he was underestimating the skills of his challenger.

"She won't let you back out," another officer added.

Zechs sighed, "Well, that's too bad for her then."

He opened the door and found many other soldiers gathered in the room. He couldn't understand what the big deal over this girl was. "Well where is she?" he asked, quite annoyed. The men all pointed to the young girl who had her sword unsheathed. She was taller than most of the men, but one could still tell that she looked much younger than the rest.

"That's not a woman! She's merely a child! Now this is truly unfair," Zechs whispered. "This isn't like Treize," he thought and he began to wonder what exactly was going on. Treize stood in the corner, smiling; he knew something was oddly familiar about that girl, and he could tell from the look on Zechs's face that he hadn't caught it.

Selene circled around Zechs like a lioness stalking her prey. "Is this all you can bring me?!" she commented. Zechs was red as a beet but it wasn't apparent; he couldn't understand what all this would accomplish, "Alright, child, I'll fight you."

"Good. And also, you might not want your men in the room to witness the shame of their own colonel losing to a mere little girl," Selene smiled, this was more fun than she thought it would be. And then her stomach twisted in anxiety, she was most comfortable with the sword because she hated and feared guns. But this was a colonel in OZ, and she knew it would take luck as well as skill to win.

"No, girl, you're the only one who will feel any shame," Zechs sneered, but he soon wanted to take back his statement. He didn't think he had any reason to hate this girl yet, but for someone reason he didn't seem too fond of her.

"By the way, my name is Selene, engrave that name on your mind," she hissed while trying to keep her composure. She could tell the man was well conditioned with his uniform creasing over ample muscle.

"I'll engrave it on your tombstone too," Zechs whispered to himself. However, it seemed it was audible enough for Selene to catch his words.

"Hey!" thought Selene angrily, "that was stolen from my line!" And then a startling thought struck her, "If he's assured enough to single-handedly attack a gundam, what will be left of me after this duel?"

"Whenever you're ready," Treize said leaning back in his chair. "Perhaps I'm wrong," he thought, "perhaps she isn't who I first thought she may have been. If that were the case, Zechs surely wouldn't be acting so hostile. That must be it; I was foolish to think that that girl made out alive. My memory must be growing dim, she doesn't really resemble her either." Selene stayed back, trying to make herself look weak, allowing Zechs to make the first move. He fell right for the bait, the poor fool. He lunged at her, and she moved aside causing him to hit the desk, lucky for him, he had his mask, or else it might have ended there. It was unlucky for Selene, though, she feared that if she couldn't end it quickly, she would be as easily chopped into pieces by him as a professional cook chops vegetables. The men, who had been chattering away nervously, fell silent. Selene ran on to the balcony. She couldn't think of what else to do.

"Are you running away, little girl?" one of the braver soldiers taunted her. Zechs quickly came after her, and the excitement began. Their swords clashed, as they moved back and forth. The dance of clashing swords was perfect, and the two fighters moved about with the grace and precision of ballerinas, though much deadlier.

"He's good," Selene thought to herself, "but I need to be better." It was harder for her to predict his moves when she couldn't see the expressions on his face, but she still seemed to be doing well. Then she began to wonder why he even wore that mask.

"I'll get her right where I want her," Zechs thought; he had been shocked by the skill of his opponent but was till determined to be the victor. There was a fierce look in her eyes, the desire to win. "Why does she want so badly to join Oz?" he asked himself, "she should get out of here, she doesn't belong. She can get better than this." His own thoughts shocked him, because he knew it shouldn't matter to him what this silly little girl wanted to do. He let the thoughts dissipate, and he prepared to play out his plan to get rid of her.

Selene could sense his plan. "Alright, I'll play along," she thought lunging for Zechs with quite a bit of force. Zechs's plan worked perfectly; at least he thought it had. He dodged swiftly and Selene went flying over the balcony railing.

"Quite a pity," he said, "I think I could have grown to like her." "No more of her," he thought, "thank goodness."

All the soldiers cheered and clapped, but all of a sudden silence came over them like an ominous cloud. Zechs felt himself hit the floor hard losing his sword as well. He looked up to see Selene standing above him, with her sword and his sword in her hand. "You underestimated me, that's why you lost," she said throwing Zech's sword to Treize. "I expect you to keep your promise, you will make me an officer of OZ." She secretly let out the breath she hadn't even thought she was holding while she pondered, "I won out of luck. His skill preceded mine. As much as I hate winning this by chance, I can't afford to duel him again."

"No," Treize answered, "I will make you a lieutenant under Colonel Zechs." "It would be an ironic twist," Treize thought, "I just hope they don't kill each other first."

Selene smiled in satisfaction, "that works too." She soon noticed her silent audience, "What are you staring out, get to work!"

Treize smiled, "I do believe you've given them your first order... Lieutenant."

"Lunata," Selene added, giving the name she had decided would be her pseudo-name. The men were obedient and left the room as soon as possible; they had already decided that this new soldier would pay for mortifying their superior officer.

"Wait a second, Haft!" Treize shouted as the officer tried to scurry out of the room, "Please escort Lieutenant Lunata to suite 12."

Haft nodded, his eyes filling with fear, he too had sworn revenge, but at this moment he wanted as far away from that girl as possible. Following his orders, however, he led the girl away. As soon as they left the room Treize went over to Zechs who was staring at her coldly as she left. "So, I guess this means your going to learn to like her," Treize commented as Zechs walked out.

"Don't bet your life on it, Treize," was his terse reply.