Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Area 51 ❯ Arrival to Groom Dry Lake, Nevada ( Chapter 2 )

Warning is first chapter. Too long to repeat.
To Swordy, who reviewed. Thank you!! ^_^

Chapter Two: Arrival At Groom Dry Lake, Nevada
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It was exactly 1830 hours (1630 hours Mountain Tine) when they arrived at Las Vegas, Nevada. The landing was a little rough for everybody, they hit a turbulence when they went to go land, which forced the fighter jet to remain in the air for a extra half hour, landing was no good due to the heavy rain fall and lightning storm. But when they finally landed, the pilots didn't need to be told twice to run to the military bus that awaited them a foot away from the exit of the jet, they ran on their own accord, knowing that leather jackets and rain did not mix well. The scientists took a little longer to board the bus, since their old age did not make them as fast as they could have been, altering their bodies seemed also to have a drawback to them, after all. Metal and speed didn't make a good partner. When they finally got on the bus two minutes later, they noticed Duo and Quatre deep in discussion in their seats, along with WuFei hanging over Trowa's and Heero's seat, engaged in some conversation. Master O sat in the seat across the aisle of WuFei, and WuFei focused his attention with Master O about different martial arts techniques. Doctor J and Professor G sat next to each other, discussing how they were 'too old to be of any good to the military' while Doctor S and Instructor H discussed new mobile suit technologies that they may be able to try out at Area 51, feeling that this was the only reason why they were wanted, because of their roles in Operation Meteor and Mariemaia War. None of the scientists believed in aliens, which made Duo the only sole believer in them. Litchenberger and Rodgers soon boarded the bus, and signalled to the driver to drive away from the base.

"As you know," Litchenberger started, grabbing everyone's attention for the moment, "we are now headed to Groom Lake, Nevada. Once we get inside of the boundary lines of Groom Dry Lake Air Base, we will drive two miles inside, and the bus will stop. At that time, you are required to get off of the bus, with your ID's in hand. There, you will meet Major Matthews and Lieutenant Sellers. Lieutenant Sellers will be checking your ID's, and she doesn't mess around. Major Matthews will point his rifle at you, but it's for precautionary measures. Once that is cleared, you will then be boarding the bus again, and we will head off to the base, which will drop you off at your hangers. From there, there will be another instructor, Lieutenant O'Toole, who will talk to the young men, she will instruct you on where to go once you're settled in. Lieutenant Arnold will instruct the older men, she will also instruct you what to do when you are settled in. From there, Sellers or Matthews will call the Preventer's office to inform Lady Une of your arrival. But you will still be unable to communicate with her, without our supervision. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Sir!" the ten passengers shouted out.
"You may resume your conversations. Get comfy, the next two(1) hours are gonna be tough. Driving conditions aren't the greatest when raining out…"

Everyone laughed at the comment, knowing very well how tough things are in the rain. Duo made a comment about piloting Deathscythe was a bitch when raining, which had Heero agreeing that Wing was also a pain in the ass when raining. Doctor S claimed that trying to drive to the hangars to fix the Gundams with Howard was a pain indeed, since many of the roads were just dirt roads, and driving over mud proved to be a hazard that he is glad he could live without. Soon, everyone had their eyes focused on Las Vegas, disappointed a bit at the dark tint that covered the windows, not being able to look at the casinos and strip joints that covered the many different corners in the heart of Vegas. But were happy to see some of the main buildings.

"Duo?" Quatre asked.
"Yeah?" he responded, looking out of the window.
"Would you ever go to a strip joint?"
"You bet! If I had the opportunity, that is…" Duo whispered, which brought Quatre down a bit. "But the only body I'd worship would be yours" Duo whispered into Quatre's ear, making him blush.
"Duo!" Quatre softly giggled out. "You're making me blush!"
"Ahh, mission accomplished!" he cheered out, causing a laugh from Quatre.

Heero just looked over the seat at Duo and Quatre, noticing Quatre's face was a light pink, and Duo was smiling like the cat who killed the canary. Heero rolled his eyes at the duo, and sat back down.

"Perv" Heero whispered to Duo.
"Proud of it." Duo whispered back.

It was silent again, everyone just kept looking out of the window, soaking in the sights for one last time, knowing they'd never experience the thrills of Vegas. Which meant the depressing feelings the young boys shared hung over them, and clung to them like a disease. The scientists claimed that Vegas wasn't anything thrilling. Just a bunch of rich people leaving broke, and women degrading themselves by stripping. Duo went to say something, but Trowa told him to watch it, they were on a military bus, and he doubted that the three soldiers wanted to hear them discuss the conversation any further. So the subject was dropped, and the passengers started to engage in small talk, but not finding anything interesting to talk about, which meant when they were done talking, they were either looking out of the window, getting something to eat or drink, or taking off their jackets to sleep a bit. Or some of the pilots decided to let go of the past, and they walked over to the scientists to engage in some small talk. They figure since they will be working together frequently, they might as well start getting along now. However, Duo had no plans to bite the bullet and talk to Professor G, even if Duo was the one who snuck onto the Professor's ship to steal something to either give to the colonists, or to pawn off at the local pawn shop for money. Duo decided to curl up against the window to fall asleep. He was tired, he didn't get much sleep last night. And since Quatre was talking to Doctor J, Professor G and Heero about the Wing system, Duo decided to lay his feet where Quatre once sat. He overheard them discuss some of the flaws that the Wing operating system had, like the kinds of people who would be able to handle it, which ones would probably go insane from the system, and which ones would commit suicide afterwards. Duo decided he's heard enough, and covered his ears, hoping to fall asleep. After about five minutes, he was out, his jacket protecting his head from banging into the glass window.
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Quatre was bored again. He kind of lost interest in discussing the Wing system, figuring that no matter what, Heero nor the scientists agreed with his own opinions about Wing, anyways. And he couldn't talk to Duo, he was asleep, and Quatre hated waking people up. And now Trowa was talking to Master O and Professor H, so he was hoping at least WuFei would still be awake. Walking to the rear of the bus, he was relieved to know that WuFei was still awake, so Quatre sat down next to WuFei, and brought his knees up, crossed his arms over his legs, and leaned his head onto his knees. Looking at WuFei, Quatre smiled.

"Hey, WuFei. How has it been?" Quatre asked.
"Boring. You?" WuFei replied.
"Just as bored. I got sick of hearing about the Wing system…"
"Heh. Let me guess, nobody wanted to hear your side of the story?" WuFei asked.
"Yep." Quatre said, and sighed.
"Well, care to tell me? I know nothing about Wing, and I want to hear your opinions of it." WuFei said, and joined Quatre in sitting with his knees up. "And please call me 'Fei for short, if you want to."
"Ok, 'Fei." Quatre said, smiling.

WuFei smiled too, and Quatre started to talk. At that same time, Duo has woken up, and noticed WuFei and Quatre talking. So Duo got up, and walked to the rear of the bus, and sat across from the duo, listening to Quatre's opinions of the Wing system, neither boy noticing Duo was there.

"…and I think maybe that within Wing, lies a weakness. You see, I think that if the system *needs* to control *you* to function properly, then it is not a reliable system, you see what I mean, 'Fei?"
"I know exactly what you mean, Quatre. Mind over matter, and matter should never over-power the mind, cause then Wing operating system becomes a unnecessary weakness." WuFei agreed.
"I agree" Duo replied, shocking the two boys. "Although I wouldn't call it a weakness, more of a distraction. I always thought the pilot should control the Gundam, not the other way around."
"That is true, Duo. I couldn't think of the word, distraction. Heh." WuFei responded.
"Yeah, I tried telling Heero, Doctor J and Professor G that, but they claim that because of my own weakness, I feel that way." Quatre responded.
"No, I think you have all rights to say what you feel. You're weakness is not the fucking Wing system. It'd probably be mine, but not yours. You handled it better than what I would of." WuFei said. "I probably would of ran out of my Gundam, pulling my hair out!"
"Now, that's a sight I'd like to see, 'Fei." Duo responded, and then laughed out.
"How about you do that first, Duo?"
"Um, how about not, WuFei?"
"I was just playing anyways."

The trio laughed, and got up. Walking to the cooler, they started to talk to Rodgers and Litchenberger talk about blue plans for a new fighter jet using the Wing system, which lead to the whole Wing discussion again, and Quatre was disagreeing with the Major Lieutenants about installing the system into the new fighter jets. Doctor S over heard and he decided to join in the debate."Quatre, you see, to prevent further casualties in the Air Force and Army, we'll need the Wing system to control the pilot's mind, to focus more on their destination and target." Doctor S stated.
"But it'll bring more, because what if the said soldiers commit suicide afterwards? Or go insane? They'd be of no use!" Quatre stated back.
"That's why we would use test runs, first. To make sure that the pilot can handle it, first." Litchenberger said.
"And if they kill themselves?" WuFei asked.
"We're bury them in a private cemetery." Rodgers replied.
"If they go insane?" Duo asked.
"We have a on-base psychiatrist. Who is also a scientist on base, too. You'll talk to Lieutenant Cho after you're settled in."
"I see."

They continued to debate the issue, and then Quatre gave up half way, knowing that he couldn't change the way they thought. Disappointed, he walked back to his seat, a soda and sandwich in his hand. WuFei and Duo followed, also with a drink and sandwich. They sat down, to eat in silence. Trowa and Heero then walked in the back to get themselves and Doctor J something to eat and drink. Professor G turned down the offer. At that time, the driver said that in two minutes, they will be at their destination, and that everyone should have their ID's ready. The pilots had their ID's hanging around their necks, so they pulled out the chain their ID's were connected to from underneath their shirts. The scientists pulled theirs out from their lab coat pockets. The rain has now stopped, which everyone was thankful for. Everyone hurried in eating, and finished by the time the bus stopped. When the bus finally stopped moving, the doors opened, and everyone got off of the bus, relieved that it has stopped raining, but the storm clouds were still looming above head. Just then, a woman and guy came running towards them, and the man was pointing his sniper rifle at them, and the female saluted Litchenberger and Rodgers.

"Lieutenant Sellers." Rodgers and Litchenberger stated.
"Good day, sirs." she replied, and they went to 'At Ease.'

She walked over to the bus, a clipboard in her jacket. She pulled it out, and had everyone stand in alphabetic order. She started to call off their last names.

"Barton!" She snapped, and he came up, ID in hand. Matthews stood there, ready to fire if necessary.

When Trowa was done, he was sent back on the bus.
"Chang!" WuFei walked up, ID also in his hand.

She checked it over, and sent him on the bus. She did the same thing for everyone else, and when they were all back on the bus, she boarded the bus, with Matthews, while Litchenberger and Rodgers stayed to resume Sellers' and Matthews' duties. Lieutenant Sellers stood at the front of the bus, her arms crossed, looking at the clipboard in her hands, and then at the ten passengers. Everyone was afraid to speak, she just had this aura around her that could scare even a local terrorist. Two minutes later, they arrived at the base, where Matthews got off of the bus, punched in a few numbers, and boarded back on the bus. The metal doors protested when opening, by squealing loudly, but when they were opened, the bus drove inside, and the doors slammed shut, sealing everyone inside of Groom Dry Lake Air Force Base. The bus headed towards Hangar 16, where the five Gundam pilots were dropped off. Everyone but Duo waved goodbye to the scientists, not knowing when they'll cross paths again. Outside of their hangar stood a woman of about 23, in a blue Air Force uniform, which was different from the green fatigues the ground soldiers were wearing. She walked over to the boys and introduced herself as Lieutenant O'Toole. They all introduced themselves, and were brought into the hangar. There was already a boy in there, and he looked truly terrified.

"Guys, this is Eddie Ribbons. I'll be back in five minutes, I need to get some paperwork for you guys." O'Toole said, smiling at the boys. "So introduce yourselves, you'll be working together a lot."

She left the hangar to get the said item, so the boys sat there to take the time to study the youth sitting there. He was sitting on a bed, knees drawn up to his chest, dressed only in purple jeans and a red ADIDAS t-shirt. His black shoes were lying on the floor. He was as pale as Quatre, and wore a black sock cap with three white stripes, some of Eddie's black hair was sticking out of the rear of the hat, black eyes, and was as skinny as WuFei. (2) Eddie stared at the boys, and took in their uniforms. But he didn't make any movement. The boys just stared at each other, not saying a word. Soon, Lieutenant O'Toole came back in.

"Okay, well, here's all the paperwork that you need to fill out." she said, handing out the pamphlets to everyone. "Your uniforms will be ready after all the testing you will be going through. A physical and mental exam has been scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 hours at Hangar Twelve. You have exactly a hour to get the paperwork filled out, then I will return to pick up the papers. Until then..." she said, walking out of the hangar. The boys shrugged their shoulders, and looked for a pen.

"Pens? Where are they?" Heero asked.
"On that desk…" Eddie muttered out, walking to the desk. He grabbed six pens, handed the pilots each a pen, and then sat down in the corner opposite of the pilots.
"Shy, aren't you?" Duo asked, and Eddie nodded.
"Don't worry, we don't bite. I'm Quatre" Quatre said, smiling.
"WuFei Chang here."
"Duo Maxwell here! I may run, I may hide, but I never tell a lie!"
"Heero Yuy."
"Trowa Barton."

Eddie waved to them all, but still didn't make any move to go sit with them. Duo sighed, and made work to his paperwork. After a half hour, they were all finished, and they all looked at each other.

"Umm, well, since we're all done, now what?" WuFei asked.
"Sit outside?" Eddie mumbled out, crawling over to his shoes.
"Sounds like a plan. Hey Ed, care to tell us about yourself?" Duo said.
"I come from a little town in British Colombia, Canada. I left behind my two best friends, and a quiet neighbourhood. I was going to be a scientist for the Providence of British Colombia, but it looks like that's not going to happen…" Eddie said, disappointed.
"I feel you. I left behind twenty nine sisters on colony L4 that I will never get to see again…" Quatre said.
"I am sorry to hear that, Quatre..." Eddie said, picking up the clipboard of papers he left at his corner.
"Yeah…" Duo said.

The five pilots got up, grabbing their clipboards and followed Eddie out of their hangar. The humidity was high, so the five pilots said they'd be right back. So they walked back into their hangar, and placed their Preventer jackets on the chair, and felt much cooler in their white button up t-shirts and black ties. Walking back outside to Eddie, they sat in the shadows of the hangar, watching as the sun was setting in the western horizon.
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Author's notes:

1: Is it two hours from Vegas to Groom Lake? Like I said, I never went to Nevada so I dunno.
2: He's based off of Double D from Ed, Edd, n' Eddy. He's my favourite character, but copyright of Cartoon Network and a.k.a Cartoons. So I guess it was wrong of me to claim him as my own. *fixes warning page* Ahh, I feel better, it's changed! ^_^

Come on people! Flame me or praise me!