Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 79 ( Chapter 79 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 79

 

[Preventer Headquarters]

 

Une stared at the blank screen or a few minutes, her brain scrambling to comprehend what she'd seen. Felicity was as white as a sheet, a soft whimper escaping her lips as tears tracked down her face.

 

“Those poor people,” Felicity murmured, trying to get herself back under control.

 

Ignoring the secretary, Une reached or the phone again and to her relief, it was working. She set the handset back down and turned to her distraught secretary. “Felicity!” she barked. “Get a hold of yourself.”

 

The harsh tone worked and the secretary pulled herself from her unpleasant thoughts. “Ma'am?”

 

“Get back out to your desk and contact all sections of Preventer. I need to know what areas we still have functioning and what areas aren't. Once you have a list compiled, see what you can find out in regards to the rest of the earth sphere. I want to know exactly what this asshole has taken over.”

 

“Right away, ma'am.” Felicity darted out of the room to do as requested, happy to have something to distract her.

 

Une closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath and picked up the phone. She punched in the numbers and waited.

 

“Senator Relena Peacecraft's office,” came the shaky voice down the line.

 

“This is Commander Une from Preventer. I need to speak with the senator immediately.”

 

“Yes,ma'am. I'll put you through.”

 

Une drummed her fingers on the desk for a moment as the call was transferred.

 

“Une? What the hell is going on?”

 

“Relena. I take it you saw the broadcast?”

 

“Yes, I think everybody did.”

 

“Relena, this is serious. I need all the ESUN delegates to get together for an emergency meeting - now.”

 

“But, Une. That's impossible. Not all the senators are here. Some are on vacation, others are off planet. It will take a few days to get them all together.”

 

“We don't have a few days, Relena. We have one hour. We need to get them all together now, those that are present have them meet in the boardroom. Those that are not available in person, organize a video link. I don't care what it takes, just have them all ready, together as this is no joke. Barton intends to take over and trust me, with this virus he has, he can do it.”

 

“I'll do my best, Une. Will you be joining us?”

 

“I'll be there within half an hour.”

 

“Okay. I'll do what I can and meet you in the boardroom.”

 

“Thank you, Relena.”

 

Une hung up the phone and sighed.

 

“Commander?”

 

“Yes, Felicity?”

“Communications has called, there's a call or you from one of the shuttles, transport shuttle 121 I think they said.”

 

“Shit! Okay, thanks, Felicity. I'm on my way to communications now.”

 

“Right, Commander. Shall I send the report through to you there?”

 

“I'll call you when I've finished in communications.”

 

“Okay, Commander.”

 

Une pushed her chair back and left her office, walking as fast as she dared. Rather than take the elevator as she wasn't sure if it was still working or not, she opted for the stairs and thanked Preventer policy that she was still fit. Part of the contract insisted that all employees maintained a certain level of fitness according to their area of employment.

 

Arriving at the floor where the communications section was based, Une managed to catch her breath before stepping into the area.

 

“Ah, Commander,” Sun greeted. “We have a call coming through from transport shuttle 121. Agent Day wishes to speak with you on a matter of urgency.”

 

“Thank you, Sun.” Une followed the Agent through to the main section and took the offered head set. She sat down and nodded to Sky to let the transmission go ahead.

 

“Agent Day, Commander Une here. Report please.”

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Transport Shuttle 121]

 

Heero put on the headset and adjusted the frequency. Pushing a couple of buttons and flipping a switch, he did his best to contact headquarters.

 

“Preventer headquarters, this is Preventer shuttle PA 121. Do you copy?”

 

Zechs had also slipped on a headset and waited patiently or any signs that their communication was being received.

 

“Preventer headquarters, this is Preventer shuttle PA 121. Do you read?”

 

Soft static came down the line. Then...

 

“Preventer shuttle PA 121, this is Preventer communications, we copy you.”

 

“Thank god,” Zechs breathed.

 

“Preventer communications, this is Agent Day here. I need to speak with Commander Une immediately. It is urgent.”

 

“Copy that, Agent Day. Have requested Commander's presence and she will be here shortly. Anything we can do in the meantime?”

 

“Is that you, Agent Sky?”

 

“Yes, Sky here and also Sun is monitoring too.”

 

“Sky, can you tell me if the communications section is working properly?”

 

“One moment.” Sky turned to Sun and the pair scanned all frequencies used by the Preventer network.

 

“Agent Day?”

 

“I'm here.”

 

“As far as we can ascertain, all frequencies are operating as normal and we are in touch with all agents currently on assignments.”

 

“Thank god for that,” Heero sighed.

 

“Agent Day, the Commander is here.”

 

“Thank you, Sky.”

 

There was a brie moment of silence and then Une's voice came over the line.

 

“Agent Day, Commander Une here. Report please.”

 

“Commander, this is Agent Day. I need to confirm if Barton has released the Firecell.”

 

“Yes, he has. Didn't you see the broadcast?”

 

“Broadcast? No, we didn't get anything at all like that.”

 

Une sighed. “It wasn't very pleasant. I will have the communications section try to send it through to the shuttle for you.”

 

“I'd appreciate it. What happened?”

 

“He pretty much demanded that the entire board of the ESUN to stand down. He intends to replace them with his own people and rule the earth and colonies. The broadcast was sent to all areas capable of receiving the transmission as far as I can tell. He did announce that he intends to take over everything electronic within the earth and colonies. He's released the Firecell and given us all a demonstration.” Une went quiet for a moment.

 

“I see.” Heero didn't press for details, he could well assume what sort of demonstration Barton would have given. “Commander, do you happen to know how far Agent Copper has gotten with the data base conversion?”

 

“At this point, no I don't. I can confirm that your assumption of the filing system was correct. The Preventer communications network is still fully operational, and I think it's safe to say that the shuttles are too as I'm talking to you.”

 

“Only just,” muttered Zechs.

 

“Agent Wind? Was there a problem?”

 

“No, not really,” Zechs replied.

 

“Then please tell me what happened.”

 

“We had a brief moment when all the systems went a little haywire. Agent Day believes it to have been caused by the Firecell virus attempting to seek out and corrupt the computer system. Day managed to reboot the firewall and everything returned back to normal immediately.”

“I see.”

 

“The systems would have all come back on line within a minute anyway,” Heero stated. “The Firecell wouldn't have found any files to infiltrate so it would have given up and everything would have returned to normal.”

 

“At least that's one thing we don't have to worry about. Preventers owes you quite the debt for this foresight, Agent Day.”

 

“It was nothing, Commander,” Heero replied, blushing a little. “Have you had any contact with Fire and the others?”

 

“Not yet. They are due to report in somewhere in the next hour.”

 

Heero chewed on a thumbnail. “What about Barton and his demands?”

 

“I've contacted Relena. Barton kindly allowed the communications grids to come back on line, although I don't know if anything else is and for how long. We have an hour before he contacts us again to find out what the ESUN has to say. I have contacted Relena and she is organizing an emergency meeting as we speak.” Une glanced at her watch. “I have to go, I'm meeting them there in twenty minutes. What is your ETA for the satellite?”

 

Heero checked the console whilst Zechs typed in commands to the computer.

 

“Our ETA is two and a half to three hours.”

 

“Right. Day, Wind. You have your mission brief, I'll have the footage of Barton sent through to you as soon as I can. Once I know what the ESUN is planning on doing, I'll contact you again. If there are any changes in the meantime, contact communications and Sky or Sun will contact me. I'll be taking one of the comm units with me in case the lines go down again.”

 

“Roger that, Commander.”

 

“Une out.”

 

“Day, out.” Heero removed his head set an dry washed his face. “I'm going to go back to the cargo hold and finish off the diagnostic checks. Once that footage comes through, call me.”

 

Zechs nodded and turned back to the blueprints of the satellite. Heero left for the cargo bay, determined to have the tests finished in record time.

 

* * *

 

[Corridors on Satellite XRB 23]

 

“Duo. Duo, are you okay?”

 

The soft voice broke through and into Duo's head. Slowly the flames died in his eyes and he turned around to see Trowa standing at his side, posture relaxed, voice a low tone, the tone Trowa used when dealing with wild or skittish animals.

 

“Tro?” Duo croaked out.

 

“Yeah, Duo. I'm here. So are Wufei and Quatre.”

 

Wufei stood warily a few feet away, gun still aimed at Barnes who was the only surviving soldier of the five. Behind him, Quatre leaned against the door jamb, one hand pressed against his heart whilst his face wore a grimace of pain.

 

“Wuffers? Quat?” Duo's eyes clearly saw his friends before him, but his mind was still very hazy.

 

“Here, Duo. You're hurt. Let me take a look at that,” Trowa cajoled.

 

Duo's eyes glanced down at the blood dripping from his arm and registered the tear in his sleeve where the bullet had creased him. “Fuck!” he swore as the pain suddenly re-established itself.

 

Trowa sidled forward, not willing to make any sudden moves as it was obvious to him that his friend was in shock, not to mention he wasn't sure how far Shinigami had retreated back into Duo's psyche - and the last thing he wanted right now was to be dealing with that alter ego.

 

“H-Heero?”

 

“He's on his way,” Trowa soothed.

 

“You can stand down for a little while, Agent Night,” Wufei said, careful to keep his tone calm.

 

“Tro? I don't feel so good.” Duo suddenly slumped forward as the world spun. Trowa surged forth and caught him before he could hit the ground.

 

“Well, shit.” Quatre took a shuddering breath as the pain of his empathy eased as Duo fell unconscious. He pulled himself upright and walked towards his husband and friend.

 

Wufei shook his head. “We need to get him back to the shuttle and treat his wounds. We also have to report in.”

 

“I know,” Trowa replied.

 

“What about this lot?” Quatre pointed to the dead soldiers and one still alive.

 

“Dump the bodies in the closet, but remove the uniform off that one first,” Wufei replied. “We can dress Duo in it in case we meet any more soldiers on our way back to the shuttle.”

 

“And the live one?”

 

“Toss him in there too,” Wufei growled.

 

“Wufei! Where's you sense of honor?” Quatre asked, a little affronted that the Chinese man would suggest such a thing.

 

“Where was theirs when they took Maxwell?” Wufei returned with a lift of an ebony eyebrow.

 

“Good point.” Quatre and Wufei quickly stripped the one soldier of his uniform, handing it to Trowa to dress Duo in whilst they piled the bodies up in the janitors closet. Barnes was the last one in and still unconscious.

 

“I doubt he will be coming around for a while yet, and when he does he's not going to be getting out of here in a hurry,” Wufei smirked as he closed the door.

 

Trowa had Duo changed and had done his best to clean up the blood in the corridor. The mop came in rather handy, even if there wasn't any water. Bleach had done the trick and most of the blood was gone.

 

The strong smell of ammonia had Duo stirring and he cracked open his eyes, keeping them as slits until he was sure he wasn't in any danger and recognized his friends. “Quat?”

 

“I'm here, Duo.” Quatre settled on his haunches next to his friend, relieved that Duo's emotions were now on a more even keel.

 

“Are you for real?” Duo reached out his hand and touched Quatre's face.

 

“I'm real, Duo.” The tears began to well in Quatre's eyes. “I'm so glad we found you,” he said with a hitch in his voice.

 

“I didn't think I was ever going to see any of you again,” Duo murmured.

 

“If we don't get moving now, it's unlikely any of us will see tomorrow,” Wufei muttered.

 

Quatre gave Wufei a glare and then turned back to Duo to assist the man to rise. “Come on, we have to get you out of here.”

 

Duo allowed himself to be pulled up, his legs a little wobbly for a few moments. His head cleared and he shook off the blonde's hand. “I'm okay now, Quatre. I can walk by myself.”

 

Nodding, the blonde moved aside a little, still remaining close enough to assist if Duo should need it.

 

“Where are we going?” Duo asked as Wufei began to lead them down the corridor.

 

“We have a shuttle just outside the shuttle bay. For the sake of our cover, tuck your braid down the back of your shirt and keep your eyes low. Just walk as if we are a unit,” Wufei commanded.

 

Duo did as requested, doing his best to keep up the pace with his ankle still not fully recovered and his arm hurting like a bitch.

 

Trowa noticed the slight limp but before he could question it, Duo had another question.

 

“A shuttle? Please tell me you haven't alerted Barton to your presence by just flying in here,” Duo said with a grunt.

 

“Maxwell, we are not that stupid!” Wufei growled. “The shuttle is cloaked.”

 

“Ah, one of Howard's specials, eh?” Duo gave a slight grin.

 

“Yes, it is if you must know.”

 

“Duo? Where else are you hurt?” Trowa asked.

 

“I'm fine, Tro,” Duo replied.

 

“No, you're not. Aside from the bullet crease, your gait has a slight limp to it and your carrying yourself as if your chest is sore.”

 

“No fooling you, is there,” Duo groused. “Look, wait until we're safely back on the shuttle and I'll tell you what hurts. But before any of that I need to speak with Une, let her know all I have learnt whilst being here and what Barton is up to.”

 

“We do have to contact headquarters,” Wufei stated and looked at his watch. “We have half an hour in which to do so and Une will be keen to learn what you know.”

 

“For once the almighty Chang agrees with me,” Duo snickered and then grimaced as a fresh bout of pain washed over his arm. “Fuck, that hurts.”

 

“I suggest we speed things up a little,” Quatre said and the group increased their pace, Trowa keeping a close eye on Duo and making sure the other man could keep up without hurting himself further.

 

They were lucky and didn't come across anyone who would question their being where they were. They did pass a couple of patrols, but neither paid them any attention, they were all too busy discussing Barton's release of the Firecell.

 

As they walked, Duo did his best to eavesdrop on the conversations of those they passed. Any further information he could gather would come in very useful.

 

Wufei motioned for them all to stop and they ducked into an alcove. “The shuttle port is through there. We need to be very careful as I don't know if anyone is in there monitoring. Stay close, wait for the signals and keep quiet.”

 

Wufei took the lead, Quatre behind him, then Duo; Trowa brought up the rear. They melted into the shadows, inching forward and watching carefully. Suddenly, Wufei raised his hand and all three behind him froze. Motioning for them to remain where they were, Wufei crept forward, careful to keep himself hidden. After a couple of minutes, he returned to the others.

 

“There's two men in the shuttle bay, looks like they're servicing the shuttle. We can get to where we left the suits without being detected, but we will need to re-evaluate from there.”

 

The three nodded and once more they pressed forward. When they reached the section where they'd hidden their suits, Wufei quickly pulled them out and handed them around.

 

“Thanks, `Fei,” Duo said as he took the suit offered to him, relieved that there was one for him.

 

Quickly, they donned the suits, placing their helmets on but leaving the visors open. They wouldn't need to close them until they got to the pressurization chamber. And that's where the problem lay. The men working on the shuttle sat between them and the chamber. Even if they managed to get to the chamber the men would hear it as it depressurized.

 

“I'm open for suggestions,” Wufei said as they lurked in the shadows to the side of the shuttle bay.

 

Silence greeted him.

 

“Okay. Let me rephrase that. Does anyone have any ideas how we can get out of here?” Wufei tried again.

 

“We could always knock them out.”

 

“Why not just walk right up to them and ask them to ignore any unusual goings on, including four people aiming for the outside?” Duo said with sarcasm.

 

“Wufei did ask for suggestions,” Quatre huffed.

 

“I think he meant something a little more subtle,” Trowa soothed.

 

“Errr, guys. You might want to take a look,” Duo interrupted.

 

All four turned their eyes back to the shuttle bay and the men working there. Only they weren't working any longer. They were in the process of putting their tools away. A moment later the two men headed for the doorway and left the shuttle bay area.

 

“What time is it?” Duo asked.

 

“Eleven, I think,” Trowa replied, unable to confirm as he couldn't see his watch under his space suit. “Why?”

 

“Thank heavens for Unions, work to rule and tea breaks,” Duo muttered.

 

“Pardon?” Quatre was clearly lost.

 

“They're on their tea break. We have about ten minutes to get out of here before they return,” Duo replied. “Now, are we going to stand here and discuss the merits of working to rule or are we going to take advantage of it and get the hell out of here?”

 

“This way,” Wufei growled and the four made their way to the depressurization chamber.

 

Once inside everyone closed and sealed their visors, Wufei pushed the buttons and the chamber hummed, hissed and then vibrated softly. Within a couple of minutes it stopped and the door to the outside of the satellite opened with a hiss.

 

Duo looked around but couldn't see anything. “You sure there's a shuttle out here?” he questioned.

 

“This way,” Wufei's tinny voice said over the intercom. With the palm top in hand, Wufei was able to follow the guidance system to the exact coordinates of the shuttle. A couple of minutes later and they were all inside and once more going through the pressurization sequence.

 

The door opened and the four stepped out into the shuttle.

 

“Suits off first, then I'll contact Une,” Wufei stated and the other three obeyed.

 

“Maxwell, you come with me to the cockpit and we will report in. Barton, fetch the medical kit and meet us up there.” Wufei turned to leave and then stopped as another voice spoke up.

 

“What about me?” Quatre stood there with his hands on his hips.

 

“I think a nice cup of tea would be most welcome,” Wufei responded and then left, Duo following him and doing his best not to snicker.

 

“Tea?! He wants me to make tea?!” Quatre thundered.

 

“I'm going to get the medical kit. I'll see you in the cockpit,” Trowa said quickly and then took off running. No way was he going to hang around whilst his lover had his meltdown.

 

“I'll give him fucking tea!”

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

Barton sat in his office, hands folded under his chin as he looked to the three sitting opposite him. Taking a breath, he began to speak. “I have released the Firecell and given the earth a look at what we are capable of. I have restored all back to normal for the moment and given them one hour in order to discuss my proposal.”

 

“And if they refuse?” Wainright asked.

 

“Then the Firecell will take over and we just sit back and watch them destroy themselves.” Barton smirked. “There is nothing the ESUN will be able to do to calm the people and get them back under control.”

 

“Are you sure this will work?” Richards questioned.

 

Barton snorted. “Of course it will work. If I know the ESUN, they will refuse to stand down. That's when we let the Firecell take over completely. Chaos will ensue, panic will follow and then the citizens will begin their rioting, looting and generally falling back on their basic, animal instincts. They will force the ESUN to stand down.”

 

“You sound very confident,” Richards stated.

 

“I am. I have seen how people react when you take away all their comforts, the things they have relied upon and take for granted. Trust me, they will begin rioting. How long it will take before the ESUN is overpowered and forced to resign I can't tell you. But I know it won't take long.”

 

Wainright shifted in his chair. “And just how then will you restore law and order?”

 

“When the time is right I will head for the earth with my army.”

 

“Won't they be a little overwhelmed? There's not all that many of them compared to the earth sphere population.”

 

“That is why I will send the mobile suits first.”

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...