Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing: Psychosis ❯ The Victorian Daydreams ( Chapter 9 )

[ A - All Readers ]
Too all my pre-readers: Sorry that I didn't send you this, but it's more of a rush job than I
would have liked. I will also not be reachable during the duration that this chapter of my
Fanfic is up, so please don't send anything to my email address; nomadc@home.com

Of course, I would still enjoy comments, so if you really have something to say, just send
it, and I'll reply as soon as I return from my little vacation.

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Operation Meteor is an operation created by the colonies to fight back against the oppression of the United Earth Sphere Alliance (UESA). Five mobile suits made from the strongest substance known to man, Gundanium, and with the base blueprints of the legendary Mobile Suit known as Gundams, bring hope to the colonies for a brighter future promised by their dead leader, Heero Yuy.

Unfortunately, this plan was discovered by the UESA, and a race against time begins as Oz, the secret police force behind WF, also steps up its timetable to take advantage of Operation Meteor. Hiding behind the mask of honor and peace, the OZ leader Treize Khushrenada decides that this is a perfect opportunity to reveal OZ's true identity to the world and beyond, and establishing themselves as leader of the known universe.

Unknown to either faction, a third force has slowly begun their agenda of peace and destruction with it's own Gundam made from technology of the past. Built by a hidden power, its goals are shadowy at best, and even more obscure than those of OZ.

It is After Colony 195, and powers that seek peace in their own image are about to create a turning point in human history as their forces clash and wars flare all across the known universe. A time of chaos and beginnings, to bring an end of the past.

Gundam Wing: Psychosis
Chapter 9: The Victorian Daydreams

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Onboard his ship the 'Omron', Zechs was reading a datapad in his hands. They had left the Corsica base 18 hours ago, and heading towards the Victoria base.

"A report from the Corsica Base just came in." A soldier besides Zechs said, repeating what is written in the pad. "There are no more signs of the enemy at the site. The damage has reached as high as 55% of all the facilities."

Zechs scrolled down on the datapad until he reached the part about information on the Gundams. Smiling sadly, he dismissed the soldier and thought, "Berker... Thank you for the data on the two new Mobile Suits."

A small beep alerted Zechs that his personal viewscreen was about to be
activated. On the monitor, one of the soldier's face appeared and said, "Lt. Zechs, I have the Victoria Base on the line."

Zechs put down the pad on a small shelving area besides his seat and nodded to the soldier. Moments later, Lucrezia Noin's face appeared smiling. "Long time no see, Lt. Zechs." She said, placing her hands so that she can lean against the wall the viewscreen was placed.

"You look well, Noin." Zech greeted his old friend.

"I hear lots of stories about you. The fame of the 'Lightning Baron' has reached even here in Victoria."

"I don't like such a name." Zechs annoyingly said. "Fame makes you a visable target for enemies. It also makes your colleagues expect too much from you."

"Sometimes fame is good." Noin said, trying to joke with Zechs. "I wonder what I'm famous for...?"

"You are famous for your excellence in educating and training space pilots." Zechs said, completely serious. "Your graduates are always regarded as the best, but Noin, you used to dislike war. How come a person like you became such an excellent instructor at the Academy?"

Noin smiled. "I am honored that you remember I tend to shy away from wars, but I learned some time ago that if you run away from wars, they will just chase you until you are consumed by it. Not to mention the fact that I like space..."

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Later on that day, Noin was training some students in the Zero G simulator. Floating in midair, the instructor watched as some of her novice students bumped into each other in an attempt to move.

"What are you doing?" She yelled at the people floating in mock cockpits of MSs. "How can you afford to be confused when the speed is this slow? You've got to know the locations of all friendly units using all the senses you possess! Lt. Zechs will be here soon, and I will not show him such an embarrassment such as yourselves!"

A murmur of "Lt. Zechs is coming?" and "Lt. Zechs will be here?" concluded
with the united reply of "Right! We'll try harder!"

"Alright then! Back to the exercises!" Noin said. Inside, she was thinking of how long it has been since the last time she's seen Zechs. "Zechs... It's been a year and 22 days... How much has changed?"

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Hidden in a forest, Wufei was strapping on a handbag around his body and
hopped on to a motorcycle, heading away from the Shenlong Gundam.

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Aboard the 'Omron', a tactical screen showed a blimp heading towards the
equator then suddenly disappearing.

Zechs was rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner and was thinking about all the nearby bases in the area. "So it did disappear, then?" He asked.

"Yes." Otto, one of Zech's trusted commanders replied. "It was the only Mobile Suit which we knew the exact location of. But we lost its location right after it crossed the equator."

Zechs frowned as he completed his mental list. "I bet its objective is Noin's
Taurus'."

"The Federation Armed Forces are so careless." Otto commented. "These days, even children know that Taurus' are being built at Victoria Base. Not to mention the damage done from that Gundam attack on the transfer outpost..."

Zechs grunted in amusement. "And I'm visiting there... Only Noin could
welcome such trouble into her home."

Otto looked at Zechs for a moment before saying, "You two were classmates at the Victorian Academy, right, Sir?"

Zechs looked at him in amusement. "How did you know that?"

"Everyone knows that." Otto said. "You two still hold the highest and the second highest marks in the Victoria Academy's History. If not for someone beating the both of you at Simulator marks, nobody would have had any marks higher than you two, ever." He paused for a moment thinking of something. Taking a breath, he asked, "Do you know who has the highest mark in the Simulators? We know that someone got a higher percentage and faster time, but nobody has ever been able to access the records to check."

Zechs looked at the young man for a minute, all the while Otto was sweating in anticipation and fear. As the silence lengthened, Otto was about to chance the subject when Zechs finally spoke.

"To tell you the truth..." He begins, "We really don't have any idea who it was that got the highest mark."

Otto stared at the masked Lieutenant in shock. Never had he heard of someone getting a mark on the Simulators, but wasn't confirmed by anyone else.

"Back then, around eight to nine years ago, the Victoria Academy was still pretty much controlled by UESA, and funded by most of the richer world orders. The military was just recovering after the whole world decided to destroy all Mobile Suits after the Colony Wars fifty years back, and was concentrating most of the electronic industry on recreating the giants we take for granted today.

"Our Simulators were being hacked nearly daily by people who had the right
equipment, which isn't a lot of people, and had the skills to cut through the electronic safeguards, which were as thin as ice to begin with. At first, most of them didn't have the complete equipment or had tuned them wrongly, so they made great target practice for us novices..." Zechs mused as he thought back to his 'Academy Days', as Otto chucked as he imagined how they looked. "We didn't bother telling the instructors, and they were lacking the initiative to check for themselves, but when the 'targets' started fighting back and 'killing' us, it became serious.

"We told the simulator instructors, and because they didn't believe us, they tried it out themselves. Five minutes after they went in, they came out, and told their superiors about this. UESA was brought to notice almost immediately, and they started searching for whoever did this.

"Of course, they also stepped up security, but most still managed to get through. At that time, the system was upgraded enough so that we could tell and locate which units in the 'Sim' was from the outside and who was from the inside. It became so popular with us students that sometimes we would face off against the intruders, who seemed to always team up against the simulations or us.

"In time, some were caught, but the majority of those decided to join the
Academy instead. A few though, stayed within the simulation, and steadily began to 'kill' us each time we entered. Noin and I were one of the few who could face up to them in fair, and sometimes unfair, fights. Eventually, though, one of the simulator pilots bested every record we created in out final year, a few days just before our graduations, and we
never saw that person again."

Zechs sat down in his chair for a moment, resting. "It has been a long time." He said, rubbing his neck. "Noin helped me many times back then, and I guess I'm in need of her help again."

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A few days later in the Victoria Academy, Noin sat up from the sofa she was sitting in and picked up a picture of her and Zechs in front of a Taurus. Smiling, she gently put it back on the table she picked it up from. "Zechs Merquise... no, Peacecraft.
You finally returned."

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Outside, graduates were lining up for their commanding officer to inspect, and most of them had the impulse to fidget, though all of them had been trained well enough not to.

Noin stepped out of the jeep with a smile on her face as she stood in front of her students, and said "You are graduating this Academy today." Looking at their happy, but calm faces, she continued. "You all did well, and I congratulate all of you. From now on, you are proud members of the Specials."

At that, trucks came out from the warehouse and pulled to a stop behind her. A slight mechanical whirl sounded and each of the holding areas lifted up, the cloth dropping away to reveal the Taurus suits.

"These are your machines." Noin solemnly said. "And these are also the target of our enemy. Therefore, here is your first mission as commanding officers in OZ: Get all these machines off this base as soon as possible!"

One of the soldiers looked confusingly at Noin and asked, "But can't the
transportation unit take care of that?"

Noin angry walked up to him and slapped the young soldier. "I did not tran a soldier who cannot take care of his own machine! I repeat! This is Urgent! Get them off this base!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the base, the 'Omron' was coming to a graceful stop beside a large storage area, and slowly rested outside one of the warehouses. Zechs leisurely out and hitched a ride towards the living quarters.

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Zechs and Noin were in a bar, Zechs leaning against a wall, while Noin was
sitting down at the bar, nursing her drink. They had taken a look at each other and understood that the drink came first, then talk.

Eventually, Zechs broke the silence between them. "When can you get all the Taurus' out of here?"

"By tomorrow morning, 0700 hours." Noin evenly replied.

"That's really tight." Zechs replied in the same tone.

Deciding to change the topic, Noin said, "I've heard the Gundams do not show up on radar, so I've increased the number of personnel on watch."

Zechs nodded absently and said, "Right decision. Good job."

Noin got up and walked over to where Zechs was standing. Leaning besides him, she smiled under the dim disco light. "Thank you for the compliment, Lt. Zechs."

Zechs smiled under his steal mask. It had been a long time since they had talked to each other, much less met face to face. "Call me Zechs, Noin." He lightly said. "But, what a cafeteria this is!"

Noin laughed as if thinking of a private joke. "The cadets are all very young. It makes these kinds of places necessary."

"Don't get too attached to them." Zechs warned with a frown. "These kind of things are necessary."

Noin snorted in contempt. "Thank you for your concern, but the soldiers I trained are never going to die. They are not trained to die." She absently played with her belted sword. "I believe the value of human life is not comparable to war."

Zechs shook his head to show his feelings to her. "I've seen my men die many times, Noin. I have to disagree with you."

A short silence rang between the two while Noin finished her drink. "Any kind of operation that risks anyone's life should be considered flawed in the first place." She brought up the glass wine cup up to her face and peered through the empty cup. "It is unfair for soldiers to die in an operation where everyone can anticipate casualties."

Zechs was about to reply when the phone to the bar suddenly rang. Noin walked over to where it was and picked it up. "Noin here." Seconds later, she pointed the phone in Zechs' direction. "Zechs, it's Lt. Otto."

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At the repair bay where the Tallgeese was placed, Otto was on the phone giving a report to Zechs. "The engineers here are amazed! This Mobile Suit turned out to be even more advanced than we originally thought. It looks like we can complete this sooner than expected, but it'll still take a month or two, though..."

"I see." Zechs said through the phone. "That's good news. I want to talk to you later tonight. Meet me at storage bay 1 in half an hour."

"Storage bay 13? But that's abandoned years ago!" Otto complained.

"I'll show you when you get there." Zechs' voice replied as he hung up.

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"Noin?" Zechs asked. "Want to join us?"

Noin grinned as she remembered his cadet project. Or rather, his Secret Project that she had been watching over since she took over operations at the Academy. "Sure. I want to see what you're going to do anyways."

The pair were laughing lightly as they exited the bar, walking casually as they thought back to what they did in their Academy days.

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