Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Worlds ❯ Calm Red Morning Sky ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Teancum

Forgotten Worlds

by Teancum

Chapter 10: Calm Red Morning Sky

November 18, A.C. 200, 23:15

TORONTO

Shtatë looked out from his hotel room over the sparkling cityscape as it shone through the falling snow. Just then, Dow called him over to her communications station. "Sir, message coming from HQ."

He walked over as the printer printed out the coded message. He tore off the paper when it was done. He read the paper and smiled. "Dow," he said, "prepare to send coded messages to Sautján, Jedan, and all our other Terran forces."

"Yes, sir," she replied with a smile.

* * *

ISI HEADQUARTERS, TROS, GANYMEDE

"So you followed my example and became a political officer," Peninta stated to Scott.

"Yep. And thanks for your help. I am sure much of it was made possible due to your influence," Scott said.

"So what ship did they give you?"

Scott smiled. "The Enforcer."

* * *

TIS Viperfish

Captain Zéwo was sitting in his small quarters aboard the attack submarine when he was notified of the incoming ELF message. By the time he got to the communications room, the signal was still coming in as three letter "words" with a letter every two seconds. After the message was complete and decoded, his political officer followed him to his quarters. They went up to a safe. The safe had two key slots, two combination dials, and four heavy handles. Each man pulled out a key and unlocked a respective key slot. Each man also did a combination. Each handle was pulled, and the safe was opened. Zéwo pulled out a packet and broke the seal. He then read his orders: "Proceed to point 'Tora' 1 and stand by."

* * *

December 4, A.C. 200,

IMPERIAL TRAINING FACILITY, NICHOLSON REGIO, GANYMEDE

"Wait a minute!" Hrand said. "We have been training all these years, and they are still not having us to be part of this big event, Operation....What was it called again, Scott?"

"Anvil."

"Thanks. But they are allowing those newbies from the Earth Sphere?"

"Well, remember, Hrand," Deborah said, "they are more familiar with the territory. Furthermore, as I understand it they are holding us in reserve since we are so exceptional. Isn't that right, Scott?

"Yes. Apparently, the plan is to hit the Earth fairly hard the first time and give the Earth Sphere time to think about surrender. But if they still don't submit, then the Empire will show them what they are truly capable of; that is why you a few other units, as well as the new mecha and ships, for that matter, are being held for later. By the way, Osiem, how is the Enforcer coming along?"

"It is generally ready," Osiem replied. "Mainly needs a crew and accommodations, although the engines may still need a few more tests."

"So we just wait?" Pedwar asked.

"Not just wait," said Deborah. "We will also observe carefully so that we can seize opportunity."

* * *

December 8, A.C. 200

THE MOON

Shtatë looked out over the plaza from the window of the rented studio apartment. After the Eve Wars the Moon had returned to being a popular tourist spot as well as a place of trade. He turned away from the sight of revitalized shops and commerce and returned to his guests.

"These really are good biscuits, Mister Shtatë," Nina Tekvsmet'i commented.

"Thank you. I made them myself," Shtatë said. "And may I also thank you, all of you, for joining me here at the Party's lunar office."

"Yes," Åttio asked. "Why did you call us here."

"Oh, yes, of course, Senator. Oh, congratulations on your election."

"Thank you. Your contributions helped greatly."

"You're welcome. Well, anyway, the Party originally wanted to give the Moon its own representation. However, due to its present low representation, even after what the Colonies have gained, this may not be possible. Granted, this is greatly due its low population." Also right now it has strong capitalistic leanings that we cannot allow.

"Yes, that is a problem," Åttio commented.

"So, how shall we deal with it?" Tekvsmet'i asked. "Will it be centrally controlled?"

"Not really. You see, that's why I called you two, particularly you, Senator Tekvsmet'i, since you regularly have dealings here. You see, the Moon will be controlled by Colonies L1 and L2. Partitioned very simply, L1 will get the Near Side and L2 will get Far Side."

"Sounds simple enough," Åttio said with a smile.

"Glad you're happy. Of course, this would have to be approved by my associates."

"And this great revolution should happen within a few months?"

"Glad to see you are paying attention."

* * *

December 10, A.C. 200

ANTARCTICA

The Trojan soldiers were doing jumping jacks when their commander received their orders. They started to break down camp and mobilized.

* * *

December 15, A.C. 200

IMPERIAL HEADQUARTERS, TROS, GANYMEDE

Grozny began his broadcasted address. "Fellow workers, two hundred years ago, those in the Earth Sphere decided to forgo continued expansion into the Solar System and build large colonies around their home world, leaving our ancestors to generally fend for themselves.

"We have had a rough start, but we have built up a strong, enduring civilization. Within the past decades, we have retained a solid, firm, ordered government that has united workers under a common banner, and not only in the Jovian and Trojan Spheres, but also to other systems.

"However, while we have been on the incline in recent years, things have not been so progressive for the Earth Sphere. The leadership has been dominated by aristocracies and family-controlled corporations. Furthermore, within only the past five years, they have experienced wars, coups, and all sorts of political turmoil.

"The time has come that we must no longer just look on and watch the home world suffer. Although the Earth has forgotten about us, we have not forgotten about them. We must let the Earth Sphere understand this. We will help them cast off the shackles of the dominating upper class families."

Grozny continued with his speech.2 Finally, he concluded, "Soon the entire Solar System shall be under a unified, ordered rule. We shall go forth and reclaim those who have gone astray." He raised his palm in salute. "For the glory of the Party." He put it down. "Thank you."

* * *

LOKI PATERA, IO

The man stepped into the darkened room. He saw boss behind his desk with the chair turned around looking out the room's single window over Io's landscape and with Jupiter looming in the sky.

"What is it, Scoban ?" his boss asked without turning around.

"The fleet has just left, sir. The entire armada is now leaving Jupiter's gravity."

"Excellent, excellent. Now we must keep in touch with our agents aboard, and see to it that they contact our new potential associates. We must stay ahead of our competitors."

* * *

December 24, A.C. 200

TROJAN SURFACE FLEET, ATLANTIC OCEAN, 15E24'16"W, 33E19'12"N , 07:39

Sautján was leaning over the railing of the deck when the Waterknife's captain came up.

"Morning, Admiral. Get up to see the sunset?"

"As a matter of fact, Captain, yes. Look out at the sunrise on horizon in front of us to the East," Sautján said, pointing to the dark red natural display with his finger. "You know, for millennia, mariners here on Earth have had a saying: 'Red sky ay night, sailors' delight; red sky at morning sailors take warning.' It seems we are going to be running into some rough seas."

"Yes, sir. As you know our access to the Earth's modern weather services have confirmed we are headed for a storm."

"Yes, but it is still nice to play like an old time mariner."

"You still don't want us to change course do you, sir."

"No, we have to stay on this course to stay on schedule. You don't have doubts, do you?"

"No, sir, actually it seems thrilling. As you said, ' it is nice to play like an old time mariner.' It's amazing. Many of the crew have some anxiety of going into battle, but a even higher amount of anxiety of braving the weather of the Earth itself. After all, we never had to deal with anything like this under the seas of Europa. But the common feeling that is if we can survive this so-called Mother Nature, then the actual militaries have no chance against us."

"Love your enthusiasm. Very well, what do you say we take this Mother Nature straight on? Full speed ahead."

* * *

HEIDELBERG, 13:25

"Come on, Duo," Hilde demanded, "the others our waiting for us, our ride will be here any minute, and we still have to pick up my parents."

"Just trying to get my braid just right," he responded while managing his hair in the mirror.

"Aww, geeze," she said as she came from up behind him and took his braid. "Maybe it would go faster is some one else just did it for you." She quickly redid his braid.

"Thanks, I like it how you do it, anyway," he smiled.

She gave him a suspicious scowl as she wondered if that was what he wanted in the first place.

After a few adjustments, they were ready to go. As they left their townhouse, they met Heero, Relena, Quatre, and Dorothy waiting outside. Since they still were going to school, the newlywed couples decided to stay fairly close together, particularly for Relena's safety, even though the danger had seemed to died down over the months. The three couples moved into a townhouse complex, while Wufei and Sally each had separate apartments on the other side of campus. Speaking of which, the two Preventers drove up in a large van. They all piled in and headed off to Hilde's parent's house.

"Hey, thanks for helping my folks to be able to come, Relena," Hilde said.

"Oh, no problem. After all, what are friends for?"

"How did you pull it off so easily?"

"Oh, I just explained how your family was broken up by the factions during the war and later reunited and made peace. They PR guys thought it would great to have them as an example during the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the end of the war."

"Well, I for one," Heero said putting his arm around his wife, "I am content enough to celebrate it with the girl I met and fell in love with."

"My mother will be there, too," Relena told him mildly tauntingly with a smile. She then turned to Quatre and Dorothy. "Speaking of relatives and in-laws, Quatre, how many of your sisters will be there?"

"Just Iria, since she was present at our father's death," he responded.

Sally called back from the front seat. "Well, even with out a whole lot of family, it will be quite an event. Dignitaries from all over the Earth Sphere will be there."

"Great!" Duo bemoaned. "Just the way I wanted to spend my evening: with a bunch of stuck-up bigwigs." After a short, embarrassing pause, he quickly added, "Nothing against you guys."

"It is okay, Duo," Dorothy said. "Actually, over the past few years it has been nice being a humble college student."

"Yeah," Relena said, "Come to think about it, I can count the number of public speeches I have made over the past few years on one hand."

"Well, back on the matter of who is coming," Hilde said, changing the subject, " Trowa and Catherine are going to be there too, aren't they?"

"Already checked with Une," Sally said. "She made sure both of them had clearance."

Quatre sighed. "You know, sometimes I wish we were able to see more of them instead of these big events. I am glad they are taking correspondence courses for college credits, but I think it might be better if they were actually going to class and socializing with more people their own age."

"They seem almost too attached to that circus," Wufei said.

"I suppose we can't blame them too much," Duo said. "After all, the circus took them in as orphans and has been their family for years. I, for one, can relate. Then again, they really should each get into the dating scene and start families of their own, and regular dating, not just the occasional dance."

"We do what we can to help, Duo. Oh, here we are," Hilde said as the van came to stop. "I'll run in and get my folks."

* * *

RABIN KIBBUTZ, SINAI PLANUM, MARS

Tashim Rabin looked out over the darkened Martian landscape from the window of his living room. Beside him were several of his close friends, among his closest, Anim Magsaysay . "Five years. Five years since we lost everything," Tashim said with remorse.

"Yes," said Mordecai, his eyes searching the sky. "Right about now their fleet should be overhead doing their ceremonial fly-by as part of the celebration of our 'incorporation' into the Empire"

"As they go to acquire the Earth Sphere," added Ramon "Speaking of the celebration, could you believe that parade they had today? It was so much propaganda I had a hard time keeping my stomach easy."

"Yes, fortunately," Tashim noted, "our people haven't done much on this anniversary in protest, just a nonviolent sit out."

"I am sure Tizenkilenc was hoping for an all out riot or at least a bunch of loud, screaming protests," Anim noted. "He is itching for an excuse to send out his ISI storm-troopers to gun down a ton of 'examples'."

"Look up over there," said Mordecai.

They looked up to see over fifty lights streaking in the dark Martian sky. "Sure enough," said Ramon. "There they are. You don't think that our..."

"No," Tashim said, "she is not on any of those ships nor are any of her command."

"But how do you know?"

"Call it divine inspiration. I just know."

"Well, either way," Anim said, "a storm is brewing that will likely set everywhere man has ventured in to chaos."

* * *

TROJAN SURFACE FLEET, ATLANTIC OCEAN, 10E 12'52" W, 36E56'16" N, 12:42

Lightning lit up the darkened winter sky as the fleet plowed over and through the rough seas. Sautján stood proudly on the bridge despite the rocking of the ship. He looked out the forward window, pass the moving wipers, to see the rain and the waves douse deck outside. He smiled. The Earth's weather was tougher than he imagined, they had even lost some time, but the fleet still stayed supreme as remained afloat and moved on.

* * *

BRUSSELS, 17:37

The gang was all seated together along with their families in the reception hall.

"Herr and Frau Schbeiker," Une said to Hilde's parents, "a pleasure to meet you. You must be so proud of your daughter."

"Danke, Hofdame Une," Karl responded. "Yes, we are, and her husband isn't half bad either."

"Well, it is nice to see that Duo must be getting along well with his in-laws."

"Thanks," Duo said. "I got that by always being on my best behavior."

"Especially when you're mooching off a meal," Heero said with a smile.

"Well," Hilde said, "now that we are married and I no longer live with my folks, he has to just settle for my cooking. By the way, Heero, how well are you getting along with your in-laws?"

"Okay, I guess," Heero replied in his monotone.

"Especially since we now know that he will always protect her and never hurt her," Milliardo said with his son and pregnant wife at his side.

"Much less kill her," Mrs. Darlian said with a smile. Relena blushed while Heero and Milliardo sweat-dropped.

"Well, I," said Dorothy, "have been getting along great with my new sisters. Haven't I, Iria?"

"Yes, very well," Iria said.

"Almost too well," Quatre said.

They all laughed for a while, but it was Duo who stopped laughing first as a grim and annoyed expression appeared on his face. "Uh-oh. Trouble at four o'clock." They looked up to see Tekvsmet'i, Åttio, Visim, Satrah, and Saamsap approach their group.

Satrah was the first to come forward with a calm expression. "Ah, Mister and Mrs. Winner, please allow me to apologize for my behavior from the last time we met. Although I may disagree with both of you on many political matters, that was no reason for me to attack your personal lives. You really do make a nice couple. I am sorry."

"Apology accepted," Quatre said with a extended hand.

Åttio then turned to Duo. "So, Mister Maxwell, I understand you are affiliated with the Sweepers and maintain a salvage yard."

"Yes, that's true," Duo responded, wondering what he was getting at, "although I have been dedicating most of my time to my studies over the past few years."

"I take it you always catalogued and registered every item you acquired and sold."

"Well, I..."

"Actually, he didn't do that much," Hilde quickly interjected. "After all, back then, he was not much of the brightest. Fortunately, he had me as his business partner to keep the books straight. So it was up to me to do the registrations."

"Oh," Åttio said, "so the two of you are going to return to L2?"

"Of course; it is our home. We are just here on Earth as students, but after graduation, we do plan to return to L2 as registered voters, Mister Senator," she ended with emphasis that seemed to make Åttio squirm a bit. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I am just concerned about my arms smuggling and possession. As you must know, it was the issue that I emphasized the most in my campaign. I am just concerned about the push for universal pacifism that used to be pushed by Miss Relena," he said, gesturing to her.

"Well, Senator Åttio," Relena started, "let me assure you that I know Mister Maxwell very well; in fact he is a close friend, and he would never do anything that would that would upset my visions. And may I remind you, it's Mrs. Relena now."

"Yes, that is right," they heard a voice say from behind. They turned to see Shtatë and his entourage all in civilian formal attire. "I suppose it will take much of the world a while getting used to, although, one should expected this to be sooner or later," he said with a charismatic smile. " Now your new last name is Yuy, correct?"

"Yes, that's right, Mister Shtatë , right? My husband's name is Heero Yuy."

"Thank you, and yes, it is Shtatë ."

"Yes, speaking of which," Tekvsmet'i said toward Heero, "you are named after the Colonial leader Heero Yuy, are you not?"

"Yes, I am," he responded simply in monotone.

"Are you going to follow in his footsteps and get involved with the Colonies' politics?"

"I don't know. I may be too busy with my wife to get involved, but since they believed in similar principles..." He then shrugged.

"Speaking of following legacies," Saamsap started, "Mister Chang, as the only living member of the Dragon Clan, are you going to succeed with its role of leadership in the L5 cluster?"

"Perhaps," Wufei answered, "although I am busy with the Preventers right now, and of course, I would have to find a wife to help carry on the clan." Each the other college students, as well as the Schbeikers, let out a mild cough, but Wufei brushed them off.

"Well, it seems to be an interesting discussion," said a man hobbling with a cane, approaching the groups.

"Mister Harrington," Relena said getting up to shake his hand, "you seem to be a lot better."

"Thank you, Mrs. Relena."

Shtatë was trying hard to control his disgust at the man. A few years ago, Harrington had miraculously escaped an auto accident that was actually an ISI assignation. Shtatë never considered Harrington or any of the Jeffersonians as a factionists such as the Epyons or New OZ, but he did consider him and his ideas of non-central control and an armed citizenry a threat to his vision of a new order. Shtatë did to start get worried when Satrah started to speak. Oh, please, Satrah. You did such a good job keeping your cool with Winner. Don't make a scene now.

"Well," Satrah started, "I see that the anarchist has shown up."

"Oh, really?" Harrington said. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you go around the Earth Sphere preaching against disarmament."

"Against disarmament."

"Letting the common person keep arms."

"The focus of my travels is local control, which I might add, your jurisdiction has benefitted from. I understand that you have very restrictive gun laws, and no higher power has the power to make you change, just as other communities have the right to have very lenient gun laws."

"So, although you don't focus on it in your travels around the Earth Sphere," Åttio said, "you do support the personal possession of firearms."

Harrington put up his hands in a humble surrender. "Yes, I do."

"Don't you think that is a threat to universal pacifism?"

Relena quickly came in, "Not really. That is total arm restriction may be even more of a threat, since that pacifism through coercion is a horrible oxymoron and would be even more counter productive. And, by showing the responsible non-aggressive use of arms by example, eventually total pacifism could be achieved. Wouldn't you agree, Mister Harrington?"

"Couldn't put it any better myself," Harrington said cheerfully.

Who asked you? Satrah thought before simply answering, "I wouldn't. Seems to idealistic."

"We are each free how to think we want," Quatre said.

Hmm. Shtatë thought. She may be more dangerous than I first realized. And, Mister Winner, we will have to see how to change that.

An aide then came up. "Fifteen minutes."

"Well, suppose we should get ready to speak," Relena said to Quatre, Dorothy, and Une.

As others departed, Visim turned to Trowa and Catherine. "I understand that you two are from L3. So what are your plans...."

* * *

BRADBURG, CHRYSE PLANITIA, MARS

Zoltan Tizenkilenc, Chief Director of the Martian Division of Imperial Security and Intelligence and State Police sat in his office finishing off the day's paper work.

"It's been a slow day. Hasn't it, Chief Director?" his aide commented.

"Yes, not as eventful as we were expecting," Tizenkilenc responded. "It does seem we now have pacifism completely ingrained in these Martians." He chuckled. "Ironic, isn't it? It seems we have accomplished what those on Earth have been striving for. That reminds me. The commemoration program should be just about to start. Tune it in, please."

"Yes, sir."

"And, prepare to send a message to Shtatë as well as Hiliada."

* * *

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 18:05

Relena step up to the microphone. "Dear people, five years ago to this day, on the eve of a day that is regarded for peace on Earth, a horrific battle took place. A battle that concluded the worst war in living memory. Tonight, we honor those who died and suffered, not only during that one battle, nor that one war, but every...."

* * *

TROJAN SURFACE FLEET, STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR

The fleet stealthily passed by. Sautján and his command crew listened to Relena continue with her speech. "... Throughout history, people have fought in wars over various..."

* * *

IMPERIAL TRAINING FACILITY, NICHOLSON REGIO, GANYMEDE

Deborah, Scott, and their associates also watched and listened to Relena. "...People have also suffered suppression under..." Deborah turned away in tears while Scott hung his head and sighed and cried in self-loathing.

* * *

TIS CALIGULA, THE TROJAN FLEET

The fleet had left the orbit of Mars several hours earlier. On the bridge, Grozny, Hiliada, Tysyacha, Lezare, and Tusen listened to the speech coming from Earth. "...But now, on the dawn of a new century, we can begin a new..."

* * *

KAMCHATKA PENINSULA

As Jedan and his forces waited, he listened as well. "...With reduced standing armies..."

* * *

BELGIUM, BRUSSELS

Relena concluded her speech. "Now, I encourage everyone, not just government leaders but everyone, to make the choice for non-aggression so that the peace of this night may last forever. Thank you.3"

The audience exploded in a standing ovation. The Gundam gang smiled with pride, especially Heero for his wife. Shtatë also joined in but barely controlled the style of smile.

* * *

TIS CALIGULA, THE TROJAN FLEET

"Well, that was an interesting speech," Grozny commented.

"Quite," Hiliada simply commented.

* * *

BELGIUM, BRUSSELS, 20:06

The reception was in full swing along with a ballroom dance.

Hilde was dancing close to Duo, but she noticed he was a bit distracted, as was she. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"I am just noticing your parents dance. They sure are close together," he noticed. "They sure are a sweet couple. Of course, you are enough evidence of that."

She blushed. "You know, that is getting kind of old."

"So, you want me to stop?"

"I didn't say that." She laughed.

He chuckled too. "So, what were you looking at."

"Well, actually, I was looking at Une and her dance partner."

"Oh, yeah," Duo simply commented.

What they saw was Une gracefully dancing with a very refined Shtatë.

"It is a pleasure dancing with you, Lady Une," he commented

"Thank you, Mister Shtatë. You dance very elegantly."

"Oh, thank you," he said with dignified smile. "I have had good lessons in etiquette."

Also looking at the couple was Mariemeia. She let out a loud sigh as she watched other couples dance. She sat alone, but not for long.

"Hi, cousin," Dorothy said with Quatre by her side.

"Oh, hi, Dorothy," Mariemeia said.

"You seem a bit down," Quatre noted. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I am kind of bored. Not many guys to dance with when you are only ten."

"Well, how about me? Or would you feel awkward dancing with you cousin's husband?"

"Well, I guess you are family. Actually, you are kind of like and uncle. I guess it would be okay."

"Okay with you, Dorothy?" Quatre asked.

"Sure." Dorothy leaned closer to Mariemeia and whispered with a smile, "Just be careful with this guy. He may look harmless, but he can get pretty rough."

Quatre blushed as he took his cousin onto the dance floor. After he adjusted his hold on the young girl, he friendly danced with her for a while. He noticed something still seemed to be bothering her. "Want to talk about it? he asked "Although, I suppose you really should be discussing this with Une."

"Well, it's just that I want her to find somebody, but I don't know about some of these guys she has been dancing with. Actually, a few of them give me the creeps for some reason."

"I am sure none of them would turn into a serious relationship."

Huit accompanied by Sally walked up to Shtatë and Une as they just finished a dance. "Ah, Shtatë, Une, you look very nice this evening."

"I take it you mean she looks nice," Shtatë said with a smile.

"About as nice as nice as Miss Po," he said, smiling at Sally.

The two ladies blushed slightly as they joined in the two men's light laugh. They turned to see Dow walk up. "Excuse me, Mister Shtatë, " she said.

Shtatë asked her, "Yes, you mean to tell me something?"

"Yes, I wanted to inform you that a message has come from Tizenkilenc."

"Tizenkilenc? Can't be very urgent. Is it?"

"Not really, sir."

"Well, then I will take it later."

"Are you sure you won't take it now?" asked Huit.

"And let you have free roam of the ladies? But really, we must be gentlemen." He extended his hand to Sally. "May I?"

Sally made an amused smile as she took it and let Shtatë lead her off. Une also accepted Huit's invitation.

Shtatë called back to Dow. "Why not enjoy yourself while you are here? Go dance with Barton." After all, this may just about be the last time we will meet on these terms.

* * *

22:15

Shtatë had just returned to the house that was being used as their temporary headquarters. He went over to his personal console and played Tizenkilenc's message as he changed out of his formal attire

"Ah, good day, Colonel Shtatë. How was your day? Things went quite smoothly here, quite uneventful. No riots. Not even loud demonstrations. The only protest was a sit out. They just sat there and even humbly submitted to my police forces as they hauled them off, not saying a word.

"Yet, despite the boring day, I love this job. You know, after what I have done on Mars, and especially after what I have seen you have done on Earth, I have absolutely no qualms about you replacing me."

Shtatë smiled as he reminisced

* * *

May 1, A.C. 192, 23:15

VOZYSENNOST REGION, RUSSIA

The young girl ran faster through the trees. She had to notify the Alliance about this new threat, or if not the Alliance, anybody, even a rebel group. She wondered if anybody would believe her, believe that there was another organization beyond the Earth Sphere that was a greater threat than any other encountered. She had to hurry. She knew she was being followed. She started to pick up her pace.

Suddenly a young man stepped in front of her. He was in his early twenties with dark hair and Albanian features. He glared at her with cold, tight, brown eyes as he pointed a gun at her. She tried to stop, but her momentum carried her right toward him. Before she collided, he smacked her on the side of the head with his pistol. He grabbed her by the collar and threw her down on the ground. He holstered his gun. He grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her so that the hand of one arm met the elbow of the other. He pulled out a pair of manacles and cuffed her at the midpoint of her arms.

Another man with a dark beard came up. "Good work, Enver. Bring her for interrogation."

Shtatë tried not to glare at his superior. He could not believe that Tizenkilenc would allow this mere girl to infiltrate their hideout while they were actually discussing the Empire. He picked her up and dragged her back.

* * *

She had been strapped to the chair for about six days. During each of the days, they interrogated her. Occasionally, they would feed her and give her some water. They also pulled her pants down so shw could use a bedpan. They beat her some and gave her some drugs but generally did not do much of torture.

In the next room of the cabin, Tizenkilenc was talking to Shtatë . "For someone so young, she has been trained very well."

"Yes, she has been in the business since she was ten, The Alliance must be desperate to use one so young."

"Maybe, but you must admire them for using a young girl as a spy. Not many would suspect that."

"Did we get the information on her family?"

"Yes, just came in today."

"Good. May I see it?"

"I supposed so," Tizenkilenc said handing over a folder. "May I ask why?"

"Sir, I think I can use it to get her to talk."

* * *

"Ready to talk, Miss Une?" Shtatë asked.

She stayed silent.

"I understand that your father is recovering from an illness that has afflicted him for quite a while. It must be hard for a man who is trying to take care of three sons."

She looked up in surprise.

Shtatë smiled. "Yes. They seem to be doing much better now." He showed her several surveillance pictures of her family. "It would be a shame if anything happened to them."

She spoke. "So, I suppose that if I don't cooperate you will kill them."

"Not exactly. If you don't cooperate, I will see to it personally that your father will not get the full treatment he needs. Not only that, I will see to it that complications will arise that will ensure the severity of his illness, prolonging his pain and suffering over the span of decades. I am yet to think of something for your brothers, but most likely, we will either give them a similar fate or just bring them here and torture them in front of you." He smiled slightly at the new sense of fear in her eyes. He grabbed her by the jaw and held her. "Now, will you cooperate and tell us what we want?" With his free hand, he pulled out a syringe and injected the contents in to her carotid. Good, the stress of worry for her family will compound the effects of the drug. She should submit now.

* * *

She eventually did break. When she did talk, it was with light headiness, due to the effects of the drugs. But at the end she was crying. She had failed in her mission.

Shtatë was satisfied that he had exhausted what information he could get out of her, which was more than what Tizenkilenc wanted. Tizenkilenc accompanied him as he walked up to her. After a nod from Tizenkilenc, Shtatë said, "Thank you for cooperating, Miss Une. I do hope we will be able to use what you gave us, even though most of what you gave us, we knew already." He smiled as she looked up back at him with an expression of disbelief. He aimed his pistol at her forehead. "Good bye, Miss Une." He fired.4

The bullet entered her forehead and burst out the back of her head, splattering blood and gray matter on the walls. Her body slumped lifeless as Midii Une died.

"Good," Tizenkilenc said. "Now, dispose of the body."

* * *

It was about a month later when they were called to rendezvous with the Culigula on the edge of the Earth Sphere There, Hiliada promoted Tizenkilenc to colonel and reassigned him to be in charge of ISI operations on Mars. Shtatë was promoted to major and put in charge of all ISI operations of the Earth Sphere. Shtatë was also assigned two new agents: a young man with crisp, short brown hair named Louis Huit and a young woman with blonde hair that bowed down to her ears named Mladenka Cxetiri.

* * *

December 24, A.C. 200, 22:22

BELGIUM, BRUSSELS,

Speaking of which, he was brought back to reality when he heard them talking in the kitchen. He went to the kitchen to find them chatting with Devetdeset and Shopedi. "Greetings, everyone. May I join this discussion?"

"Of, course, sir," Cxetiri said. "We were just reminiscing about our past accomplishments, particularly about this," she said holding up a small device.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, sir, the primer from the bomb the Epyon de Teros tried to use."

"And, you kept it all this time?"

"Well, it was one of our greatest accomplishments. Not only over the pathetic Epyons but also over the Preventers and the Gundam pilots, we proved to ourselves that our technique was and still is superior."

* * *

April 8, A.C. 197, 12:12

SCHAFFHAUSEN

"How did they get a hold of a nuke, anyway?" Devät asked.

"Actually," Huit noted, "that should not be surprising. With all the disarmament programs, it is to be expected for things to fall through the cracks."

They were driving in their van en route to the Sankt Kingdom. They just got done viewing the Preventers' debriefing.5

"So, now what?" asked Devetdeset.

"I am afraid the matter is quite grievous," Shtatë started. "A nuclear detonation in the Sankt Kingdom could create quite a bit of instability. Aside the irony that disarmament crated the situation, this can deter the disarmament policies. We cannot allow that to happen, which is why we are going to intervene."

"What about the Preventers and the Gundam pilots?" asked Shopedi.

"We just saw their plans," Shtatë said, gesturing to the monitor. "We cannot expect their plan to go so smoothly. We cannot blame them too much, after all they are primarily pilots and do not fully understand the irrational criminal mind. There is too much of a risk that the Epyons will not cooperate or even panic."

"Right," Huit said. "It is very likely that these guys are nervous. If Maxwell 'panics', it is more than likely that another will panic - with live ammo."

"Furthermore, they can also panic and commit mass suicide by detonating the bomb, especially if they do see the dummy Gundam."

"Yes, I cannot believe they would use a Gundam to scare infantry. It almost makes them no better than these dregs of the human race that think they are big just because they have a nuclear warhead. Speaking of which, that is our first objective, to invalidate their trump card. Cxetiri, how long would it take you to disarm the warhead?"

"Not long, especially since I know what kind they have," she responded. "If the area is clear, I could run in, open it up, remove the primer that initiates the chain reaction6 and be back out in aboooout . . . fifteen or twenty seconds."

"Good. After that, we can take care of the Epyons directly."

"How direct?" asked Devät.

"Kill them," Shtatë said sternly, "every single one. The twenty of them divided among six or seven of us should be no problem. But we must act quickly. We must be in and out before the Preventers get there."

* * *

SANKT KINGDOM, 13:00:25 7

Sneaking in was no problem. Locating the Epyons was easily done with the help of ISI's own miniature cameras and microphones placed years earlier. They were also able to override the Epyons own surveillance system. And, since patrols were regular, they were easy to predict. Relena, Dorothy, Une, and Mariemeia were sitting quietly among the other hostages. It was about the time the patrol was being changed when two men suddenly started to argue loudly. Several Epyons came in to shut them up, leaving only two guards with the bomb.

From her vantage point at the window, a woman with tightened black hair smiled as she saw them go to investigate the small electrical fire she started in the adjacent room. She ran in and reached the bomb. She was not too concerned about anyone coming back at this point, since her OMPC-49 fiber vest would protect her from being shot. She removed the primer and placed it in her bag with her tools. Now these vermin were all good as dead. She ran back the way she came. Back outside on the ledge, she hit her watch, sending out a simple transmission.

13:00:53

Outside, two of the guards surveyed the ground. The spread out to search through some trees. One of them stopped when he heard an odd twirling sound. He looked up just in time to see a man in a tree twirling a weight on the end of a line. The man then threw down the twirling line so that it wrapped around the guard's neck. The man leaped off of his branch, still holding onto the other end of line so that the middle rested on the branch, and as he went down, the guard went up. Now on the ground, the "hangman" then tossed up his end of the line, which also had a weight, so that it wrapped around the branch, literally leaving the man hanging.

13:00:57

Hearing the commotion, the other guard turned around. A white large brawny man dropped out of the trees, grabbing the guard by the head and chest and snapping his neck. "Brawny" looked at "hangman" as each hit a switch on his watch.

13:01:26

Soon after more guards came, the arguing men quieted down. It was also discovered that the fire was a frayed cord to a lamp. Four guards stayed with the hostages. One of them noticed that one of the young ladies was sneaking off as he saw her skirt wave as she snuck out the door. But he did not yell about anything being confused that she seemed to smile at him as she left. He followed her down a hallway. When he caught up to her, he asked her, "Where do you think you are going?"

"Somewhere I can be alone with you, big boy," she said playfully. "You know, despite the situation there is no reason two people can get together." Her hand went seductively along her leg and up her skirt. She smiled as she heard the man's breath change as she unsnapped the garter under her skirt. She was able to see through his sunglasses, his eyes following the strap as it fell. She then brought the same hand up to his chin, the pinky and the ring finger bent into her palm and the ring finger and forefingers extended. "After all, you guys are in control. You can do with me whatever you want." She traced the extended fingers down his chin to his chest down to his crotch. She made a broad, playful smile as she flicked the other fingers out to free her razor-sharp stiletto, which she stuck into his crotch and used to slice up to his neck, followed by a slash across his neck, cutting both the carotid and the jugular. As he fell down, she grabbed hold of the bandana he was using as a mask. She looked at the shocked look on his revealed face with satisfaction as she used the banana to wipe off the blood off of her stiletto and hands and anywhere else blood might have spilt. She lifted up her skirt and re-snapped the garter into place, as well as placing the stiletto back into its sheath attached to the garter. She then tapped her watch.

13:02:12

Figuring that his comrade had taken care of the guard that followed her, one of the men who was arguing carefully snuck away when one of the remaining guards got up to look for the one who went after the lady, but not unnoticed. However, that was what he wanted. The fiery red haired and bearded young man ran down a side hallway as he put on a pair of dark gloves.

"Hey, you! Stop!" one of the guards called out as he followed the man down the hallway. He saw the man turn to go down another hallway. As he turned the corner, he saw no one.

The man was up on the ceiling with his arms and legs spread to keep him aloft. Before the guard could look up, he put his legs and hands together, making him drop. As his hands came together, he also reached for his watch, releasing the zip-line with a vzzzz sound. The line quickly came down over the guard's head, and the strangling began.

The guard dropped his gun as his hands desperately reached to his neck to stop the line that was literally cutting off his breath. A second guard came around the corner. "What the h*** is going on here?"

Before the second guard could react, the fiery-haired man, using the strangle hold, swung the first guard into the second guard making him fall to the ground and drop his gun. Still holding the strangle, he smashed the first guard's head onto the second guard's temple. He smashed two more and stopped as he saw the body convulse. By this time, he also noticed the first guard's body go limp. He released the hold and let the body simply drop as he hit the switch for the line to retract. He then hit another switch.

13:04:47

One of the Epyons was walking down one of the hallways on an upper floor when he heard an odd noise. It seemed to be coming outside one of the windows. He opened the window and looked down to see the "hangman" scaling the wall. He quickly tried to ready his weapon, but not before the other man flung a line up that wrapped around the Epyon's neck. The "hangman" pulled on the line, bringing the Epyon out the window. The other end of the line was already attached to a fixture on the wall. As the "hangman" heard the neck snap and saw the body dangle, he smiled. He pulled himself up to the ledge and sidled to a window above the entry hall. He tapped his watch as he readied a harness

13:05:30

A man in a dark overcoat approached the main door carrying two large briefcases. He had tall but tight blonde hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion. When he was about ten meters from the door, it opened, and he was greeted by three Epyons. He could see three more behind them in the entryway.

"Did you bring the ransom?" one asked.

"You could say that," the blonde man replied calmly.

"Wait," said another, walking right up to him, "open your coat."

"Blondie" shrugged and complied. He opened his coat to reveal a large assortment of weapons strapped to his body that made the guards gawk.8 Taking advantage of their surprise, "Blondie" smacked the briefcase that was in his left hand at the man right next to him letting the case go. He backed away, flinging away the right-handed briefcase toward the furthest of the three as he pulled out two 9mm submachine guns, which he used to take out the one closest. He turned around as the second opened fire, but the bullets were harmlessly stopped by the armor woven into the coat.9 Meanwhile, the right-handed briefcase had opened up in front of the third man to reveal two flamethrower nozzles that doused the poor man with flames. As the second man turned to the sound of the screams of his comrade, "Blondie" took advantage of the distraction to finish him off.