Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 84 ( Chapter 84 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
“Family Ties”
January 2007 ShenLong
Chapter 84
[Preventer Shuttle 121]
The six agents all managed to squeeze into the mess room on the shuttle. Once they were all present, Chang cleared his throat.
“Gentlemen, the orders Commander Une gave us were to infiltrate the satellite and look for any evidence that Mobile suits were being built here. We were also to scope out the satellite, look for Barton, plus retrieve Agent Night if at all possible,” Chang stated.
“I”d say we've pretty much completed the mission,” Quatre said.
“What about you two?” Trowa asked.
“We were to join forces with you, get as much information as possible on those Mobile Suits and seek out and arrest Barton,” Heero replied.
“And just where does he fit into the equation?” Wufei snapped and glared at Zechs.
“I'm curious to know where you came from too,” Trowa stated. “I thought you were blown up with the Libra.”
“It's a long story,” Zechs began, “and we really don't have the time to go into it now. Suffice to say I survived the Libra explosion and despite being severely injured, I was taken back to earth and nursed back to health. Une offered me a job within Preventer and I took it.”
“I've never seen you around the office, or heard of you being on the payroll at any of the branches,” Duo said.
“That's because I'm not as such.”
“He works in the Black Ops, division,” Heero supplied and earned himself a glare from Zechs. He didn't flinch, just returned it with a glare of his own. “They have a right to know,” he said.
“I was going to tell them,” Zechs huffed.
“I've saved you the trouble.”
“Whoa! Black Ops? I thought that was just hearsay,” Duo questioned.
“So did I,” Wufei said. “I've never seen any evidence to support such a division.”
“And you won't either,” Zechs replied. “It's classified top secret, only a handful of agents know about its existence - and Une will expect all of your complete silence on the matter,” Zechs let them know.
“Look, all this top secret stuff is fine and dandy, but we have a more pressing issue right now,” Trowa interrupted.
“Trowa is right. We need to figure out how we can stop Barton from executing his plan of taking over,” Quatre stated.
The shuttle's comm unit beeped and Wufei checked it. “There's an incoming call,” he said and pushed a couple of buttons. Grabbing the head set from the wall, he slipped it on. “This is Preventer shuttle PA 221,” he said.
“Preventer shuttle 221, this is Preventer headquarters. I have Commander Une here. She wishes to speak with you on a matter of some urgency.”
“Put the Commander on, Headquarters.”
There was silence in the mess room. Wufei had toggled the volume on the comm unit so everyone could hear, but with him being the only one with a head set and microphone, he was the only one who could reply.
“Agents, Une here. I've been informed that the back up shuttle has arrived.”
“Yes, Commander. Yuy and Merquise are here.”
There was an audible sigh. “Is everyone present? I need to discuss something of the utmost urgency with you all.”
“All agents are here and I have the unit on loudspeaker,” Wufei replied.
“Good. Agents, listen carefully. Barton has released his Firecell. He gave the ESUN board the chance to step down, but they refused. He's released the Firecell and let the people of the earth and colonies know why he has and what he proposes. Right now it's affecting the power systems and communications. I have no idea what he will turn off next.”
“There's more, isn't there?” Yuy asked.
“Yes. The people of the earth are rioting. Right now they see the police and Preventer as being their enemies and I'm afraid there isn't much we can do. It won't be long before they turn on the ESUN board and demand they stand down. If they don't...”
“More bloodshed,” Duo whispered.
“I'm afraid so.”
Everyone was silent for a moment as the whole mess became apparent.
“Agents, I need you to get in there, find Barton and stop him. I don't care how you do it, just stop him before he can cause any further havoc. Just leave Barton alive though, he needs to stand trial for his crimes.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Wufei replied.
“Agent Day?”
Wufei handed over the head set to Heero.
“Hai, Commander?”
“I'm counting on this arrest of Barton being successful. When it is, I will need you and your skills to try and reverse this Firecell virus and give control back to those who should have it.”
Heero frowned. “That's easier said than done.”
“There has to be a way,” Une countered.
“Professor Hawkins,” Duo said.
Heero turned to look at his husband, the question clear in his eyes.
“The professor is on Barton's tech team. I spoke with him a couple of times. He was kidnapped too and forced to put his Firecell theory into actual programming. Barton still has him, although I don't know where exactly, but I'm sure if we can get the professor out he will know a way of reversing this Firecell.” Duo gave a shrug of his shoulders.
Heero repeated Duo's words to Une.
“Good idea, Agent Night.”
“Thank you.” Duo smirked and turned to the others. “See, I'm not just a pretty face,” he said in a smug tone.
“I heard that,” Une said. “I wouldn't be getting too cocky, Night. There's still an inquiry into your disappearance and the assassination of a couple of ambassadors to be held yet.”
“Ah.”
“Agents, do your best to get in and arrest Barton. See if you can find this professor too. I will remain at Headquarters for the foreseeable future, I expect you to keep me informed of your progress.”
“Yes, ma'am. Commander, do you know how far Copper managed to get with the conversion? What has been affected and what is still up and running?” Heero asked.
“At this point I'm not sure,” Une replied. “Obviously the communications and the shuttles are still operational. We also have the back up generators to keep the power on here.”
“Keitaro,” Duo whispered and looked to his husband, the fear and concern evident in his eyes.
With that sudden thought Heero's blood turned to ice in his veins. “Commander, my son... Nurse Brown... Could you possibly check on them please?”
“Yuy, I'll find out what I can and if need be I'll have them brought here to Preventer Headquarters for their safety.”
Duo closed his eyes and lowered his head, letting a soft sigh escape his lips.
“Thank you.” Heero similarly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good luck, agents. Une out.”
“Shuttle 221 out.” Heero handed the head set back to Wufei.
“Gentlemen, I think we need to come up with a plan,” Zechs stated.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Duo said, the sarcasm clearly evident in his tone.
Trowa stood. “I'll go get the stick that has the blueprints to the satellite on it. We will be able to formulate a better plan if we know where we are going.”
“Good idea,” Wufei said.
“I'll be back in a moment.” Whilst Trowa left to fetch the stick, the others began to toss ideas around the table.
* * *
[Corridor on Satellite XRB 23]
Zaheer followed the soldier back through the corridors, his anger building with each step.
“Just around this corner, sir,” Penrose said as he led the hulk of a man through the satellite's corridors.
Zaheer grunted and turned the corner. His eyes widened a touch as he spotted the scene ahead. Moving at a speed that belied his size, Zaheer was upon the carnage within a few strides. “What the hell happened here?”
“Corporal Gibson, sir,” the corporal said and saluted. “My squad were doing a routine patrol of the area when we heard a commotion and screams. When we arrived, this is what we found. The surviving soldier was injured pretty badly; he's over there with the medic. I sent Penrose to let you know what we had found as I believe one of the dead was working on the project with Barton.”
Turning away from the corporal, Zaheer went to the pile of bodies and took in the grisly sight. He identified Duric amongst the corpses, but found no trace of Maxwell. He moved across to where the medic was treating the surviving soldier. “I have some questions.”
The medic was about to protest, but the look on Zaheer's face told him that probably wasn't a good idea so he moved to the side.
“What's your name, soldier?
“Barnes, Private Kevin Barnes, sir.”
Zaheer cut right to the chase. “What happened?”
Barnes recounted what had gone on from when the patrol first spotted Duric running away to where they located the other man inside the janitor's closet. “As soon as we opened the door he attacked us. He got me in the face with some sort of cleaner, don't know which one but it stung like hell - still does.”
“What did this man look like?”
“I only got a brief look at him before the chemicals burned my eyes.”
“Tell me what you can remember.”
“He had weird colored eyes, sort of like a violet blue color, oh and long hair.”
That was all Zaheer needed to confirm that Maxwell had also been there. But where was he now? “Soldier, can you tell me what happened after the attack? Anything at all that you can remember will help.”
Barnes frowned. “I don't remember much and I couldn't see properly what was going on as my vision was all blurry. My corporal was intending to take myself and Fletcher to the medical bay, then proceed to take the prisoners to Barton.” Barnes paused for a moment. “We'd turned a corridor and suddenly all hell broke loose. There were a couple of new voices that shouted for us to freeze, then lots of gunfire. I couldn't see who they were, just hear the shouts and screams. I took a hit to the thigh and went down. Not long after it went a bit quieter. I remember hearing Waddle talking to that guy who had the long hair. My vision was still blurry but I could make out the outline of Waddle; he had the other guy held against him. The guy with the long hair, he shot them both.” Barnes turned pale as he recalled the words he'd heard.
Picking up on the soldier's discomfort, Zaheer pressed for more. “What is it, soldier? What can you remember?”
“That voice...”
“Whose voice?”
“That guy, the one with the weird eyes. His voice, it was like something not of this world.”
Zaheer grunted. “I don't follow.”
“He said...” Barnes swallowed and when he spoke again, it was in a whisper. “He said; I am Shinigami and I have come for your soul. It was as if the devil himself was there.” Barnes began to shake.
“I think that is enough,” the medic said, stepping in to protect his patient. “This soldier needs urgent medical attention and is starting to go into shock.”
“Take him to the medical bay, I have the answers I need,” Zaheer stated and then turned to the other soldiers. “One of you give the medic a hand, the other two stay here with me.”
“I'll go,” Chester stated and receiving the nod from his corporal, went to help the medic get Barnes to the medical bay.
“What shall we do with the...” The corporal swallowed. “The bodies, sir?”
“They need to be taken to the medical wing as well, the morgue section. I will need full autopsies on each one of them.” Zaheer rubbed his forehead as he thought. “I'll send another patrol to assist in the removal.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good work, soldier.” Zaheer turned and started to walk off in the direction of the prison section of the dome, pulling his communicator from his pocket and contacting the army section of the base. He quickly filled the sergeant in on what had happened, the sergeant dispatching a unit to assist immediately. With that side of things sorted out, Zaheer concentrated on finding out exactly how the prisoners had escaped.
* * *
[Satellite XRB 23 Control Room]
Barton watched the large vid screen, his eyes darting from one picture to the next, a small smirk adorning his lips as he observed the panic currently taking place on the earth and the colonies alike. He'd been very careful to exclude the life support systems of the colonies from the effects of the virus; after all, he was trying to liberate the colonies - to a point.
Noting the anger spreading amongst the citizens, he felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him. “Good, it's all starting to come together,” he whispered.
The rest of the people in the control room did their best to continue working, but it was hard to ignore the chaos going on.
“Zaheer!” Barton called.
When the large man didn't appear beside him, Barton turned in his seat and looked around the control room.
“Where is Zaheer?” he questioned, his tone a little harsh.
“He stepped out for a moment, sir,” a tech informed him.
“Craven!” barked Barton.
“Yes, sir?” Craven appeared at Barton's side.
“Find out where Zaheer is and have him report here to me. Then I want you to contact the shuttles on the outer satellite and have them prepare to transport the army to the earth. I'll tell you when to have them fly over here for boarding.”
“Yes, sir.” Craven scuttled away, first trying to locate Zaheer and then to order the shuttles to get ready.
A young tech approached Craven. “Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Mr Zaheer, he left with a soldier a short while ago. I don't know where they were heading but I assume he's with the army in some capacity.”
“Thanks.” Craven turned back to his console and put a call through to the section of the dome that housed the army. Within a couple of minutes he knew where Zaheer was and put a call through to the prison section, informing the man that his presence was required in the control room immediately.
With the first part of his task complete, Craven continued with his communications, this time to a small satellite that sat off to the side of the larger one they were currently on. Barton had chosen this particular satellite for his base as it had the facilities he needed to bring his plan to fruition, plus the small satellite to the side offered the perfect place to `park' the many shuttles he'd attained. The small satellite was so insignificant that it barely rated a dot to mark it on the stellar maps.
“Shuttle base, this is Control.”
“We read you, Control. Go ahead.”
“Barton wishes you to prepare all shuttles for transporting the troops to earth. We will contact you when we are ready for pick up.”
“Roger that, Control. Will have shuttles ready to go on your command.”
“Thank you. Control out.”
“Shuttle base, out.”
Having completed his tasks, Craven approached his boss. “I have contacted the shuttles and they are preparing to fly over on your command.”
“Good. Zaheer?”
“He is on his way here.”
Barton grunted and turned his attention back to the rioting on the screen. “Not much longer now,” he muttered to himself.
* * *
[Mansion]
Margaret looked up from where she was sitting in the kitchen, Keitaro in her arms and Miracle by her feet when there came a soft knock on the door. “Who is it?” she questioned, puzzled as to who the visitor could be given the lock down status of the estate by the Maguanacs.
“It's Sally, Margaret. Can you let me in please?”
The nurse felt the relief wash over her and quickly stood to unlock and open the door.
“Thanks,” Sally smiled as she stepped into the kitchen.
“What the hell is going on out there?” Margaret demanded. Other than the broadcast she'd heard before everything went off, she didn't have a clue as to what was going on. One minute she'd been watching a movie, the next it was interrupted by some awful old man giving a very threatening speech. Then everything had gone off and Harim had come running to the mansion and ordered her to lock up everywhere and stay inside.
Sally gave a sigh. “Mind if I grab a cup of tea first? Then I promise we will sit down and I'll tell you all I know.”
“Fine.” Margaret sat herself back down in the chair, Keitaro still in her arms and the pair watched the doctor as she made her way around the kitchen.
With tea in hand, Sally sat down and began to fill Margaret in on all she knew. Une had come clean, telling the doctor of the current assignment the agents were on and what they were attempting to do to stop Barton.
Margaret listened to all the doctor had to say, not interrupting and taking it all in with a calm air. Once Sally had finished, Margaret took a moment to digest it all.
“I have strict instructions from Une that I am to bring both you and the baby to Preventer Headquarters should the estate become compromised at all,” Sally informed the nurse.
“Compromised?” the nurse snorted. “Have you seen the measures that have been put into place by Harim? The security system is still functioning due to the generator. The number of Maguanac guards has quadrupled and then there are the dogs. If anyone can penetrate through that lot they deserve to get in.”
Sally laughed. “Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll contact Une and let her know you're as safe as can be, in fact, you're probably safer here than you would be at Headquarters.” Sally took a sip of her tea. “I have some more news for you.”
“You do?”
“They have found Duo.”
Margaret felt her heart stop beating for a moment and she took in a sharp breath. “Is he - is he okay?” she whispered, the fear of what the answer would be evident in her voice.
“I don't have the full run down, but it appears he is functioning just fine. I do know he has some minor injuries, but he's safe with Wufei, Trowa and Quatre.”
“Thank the Lord for that,” Margaret sighed and then she turned to the infant in her arms. “You hear that, Keitaro? Your daddy has been found, he's safe and coming home soon.”
The infant gave a smile and blinked at the nanny. “Da... Da...”
Both Margaret and Sally froze.
“Did he...?”
“I think so.”
“We need to record this, Heero and Duo deserve to hear his first attempts at speaking,” Sally said, her tone excited as she rummaged around in her bag for the small tape recorder all doctors seemed to have. Locating it, she turned it on and placed it on the table.
“Your daddies will be home soon, Keitaro. Can you say daddy?” Margaret encouraged.
The child looked around, amused at this new game.
“Say daddy, Keitaro,” the nurse prompted.
Keitaro gave a gurgle, then, “Da...”
“Yes!” Sally crowed.
* * *
[Satellite XRB 23 Prison Sector]
Preston stiffened when Zaheer walked into the sector and headed straight for him. “Sir.”
“Preston, how the fuck did those prisoners manage to escape?” Zaheer demanded, his eyes blazing.
“I... I don't know, sir. Their door was locked, no one had been in to them since giving them breakfast this morning. The guards haven't reported anything unusual and when we went to check, the door was still locked,” Preston informed the man.
“So you're telling me they just managed to vanish, turn to mist and pass through the door?” The sarcasm was thick.
“Ahh...”
“Someone here is responsible, someone knows what happened or let them out; and I intend to find out who that person was,” Zaheer snarled.
Preston paled.
“Don't you have security discs?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
“Have you checked them?”
“Um.”
“Incompetent idiots,” Zaheer snapped. “Show me the security recordings, now!”
The guards almost fell over themselves in their scramble to pull up the security discs. Once they had the necessary discs pulled up, they stepped back and allowed Zaheer to take control of the console.
Zaheer scanned the recordings, fast forwarding through a lot of it. He saw the guards deliver breakfast and step out, locking the door behind them. Not much else was on the tapes, just the guards doing their patrols from time to time; then the recording went blank.
“What the?” Zaheer fast forwarded, the black screen greeting him for a few seconds before resuming again. Frowning, Zaheer rewound and let the disc play from where it went black to where it resumed. “What happened here?” he asked.
“I don't know, sir,” Preston replied, just as foxed as Zaheer.
Zaheer played the segment again, this time he timed it. The screen was blank for one minute and forty-five seconds.
“Errr, sir?”
Zaheer turned to look at the young guard, his eyes narrowed. “What?”
Doing his best not to cringe under that glare, the young guard spoke, his voice trembling a touch. “I think I know why the recording is blank there.”
“You do? Then spit it out!”
“Yes sir,' the guard gave an audible gulp. “All the systems went down for a short time when Mr Barton released that virus. I'm assuming the cameras did too.”
“One way to know for sure,” Preston said. “Check the time on the recording.”
Zaheer rewound again, noting the time the screen went blank and the time when it resumed. “It looks like you are correct in that assumption,” Zaheer told the guard.
The guard did his best not to look too relieved at being right.
“There would have been a short span of time when the virus was released for the system to switch over to the new one,” Zaheer mused. “I wonder just what systems were down.”
The com unit beeped, a guard taking the call.
“Mr Zaheer? That was the control room. Mr Barton requires your presence there immediately.”
“Damn.” Zaheer turned away from the screen and addressed Preston. “I have to go back to the control room and inform Barton of this escape. I suggest you find out what systems were down and exactly how the prisoners managed to get out of their cell and the sector without being noticed. I also suggest you get a patrol together and send them out to search for the missing prisoner.”
“Don't you mean prisoners?” Preston questioned.
“No, I don't. One of them has already been located, he's now in the morgue. The other one, the one with the long hair is still on the loose.”
“Ah.”
“I also have reason to believe he's not alone.”
~ * ~
tbc...