Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mission Complete ❯ Let's See What OZ Is Doing ( Chapter 14 )

Let's See What OZ Is Doing

You shrug slightly. "It's not really a big deal. If they're really the Gundam pilots, then they're probably fighting against OZ like last time, like Duo said. So, I'll probably meet up with them sooner or later, and we can talk then. Besides, he might not have been Duo Maxwell after all… the lighting wasn't that great, so I didn't get a good look at him." This was a lie, and you knew it. You would recognize that braid and those eyes anywhere, but you just didn't want to admit to yourself that you were wrong, and should probably have gone to meet Duo's "friends."

Doctor Y gives you a penetrating look, and you try to avoid it. "Fine, have it your way. Your next mission might not be for a while yet, so do whatever you feel like for the next few days. I suggest you train some more."

You snort. "Training, training, always training… leave me some time for fun! I don't know about you, but I'm not just going to sit around here and wait for OZ to send me my next mission on a silver platter. I'm going to check out their mainframe and see if I can find anything else interesting." Completely ignoring Doctor Y, you slide past him to sit in the chair in front of the screen. "Okay… let's see if we can't find anything interesting!" You type quickly, muttering under your breath, until you hear the door sliding open and footsteps walking out of the room. Grinning, you glance around and lean back. "Finally, he's gone! Now I can have some real fun!" Quickly breaking off the link to the OZ mainframe, you hook up to the Internet and smile evilly. "Now, let's show those boys how a shooting game's played!"

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A couple days later, you wander back into the main control room and sit down in front of the computer again. Checking your e-mail, there are at least twenty demands for a rematch from the people you beat so badly on your online game. You're highly tempted to beat them down again and show them the meaning of humility, but reluctantly, you decide it's time to do what you've been putting off for days: checking to see if OZ is doing anything of interest. So you hack into their mainframe again, sighing lightly as you find out that you're the main topic of discussion and worry. Actually, they don't know it's you in particular, but they're talking about the person who blew up the base in the area you're in. Deleting all the information you find about the incident, you come across a security picture that was apparently taken and put into the server before you destroyed the base: it's in black and white, is fuzzy, and of extremely bad quality, but there's still the chance that someone could recognize you from the photo. Shrugging, you're about to delete it, but you pause, an idea forming in your mind. Evil grin returns, and you look into the files on your own mainframe, chuckling slightly as you do so. A few minutes later, the picture of you has been edited slightly: now, a picture of Treize Kushrenada, former leader of OZ, has been superimposed over your own face. Laughing a little at your own joke, you search their database a bit more, and the smile fades from your face at what you come across next.

You stare at the screen, brow furrowed. "An attack on the city?" You skim it a bit more and facepalm, groaning. "They're doing it because their base was attacked, they think I'm still in the area, they believe their cover's going to get blown soon enough anyway, and it's a good place for a base… so they've sped up the attack. This is all my fault…" You look at the information and sigh, slightly relieved to find that the MS aren't quite ready for the battle: it'll just be soldiers with firearms, scaring the civilians to death. Of course, with the sheer number of soldiers plus the lack of weapons that ordinary people have, it would still spell out disaster, and most likely, a bloody massacre. The odds aren't quite in your favor, but then again, this also seems like it was hurriedly prepared - the date for the attack is tomorrow.

You frown. "This is so not a good thing…" you mutter. "I can't believe they'd do this. And I'm partly to blame… and even if we used all the resources at our disposal, we'd still get slaughtered out there. In other words, it would be suicide to try and fight them… that's too bad. But then again, I'm known for being crazy, wild, and all-around reckless… so I'll do it." You pause, considering letting everyone else know about what is most likely a kamikaze self-assigned mission, before shaking your head. "No… I'm the one who drove them into this. I guess, if someone's going to die fighting them on the first attack, it should be me. It'll just be a normal day for them… no one else needs to know what I'm doing." With that decided, you hesitate slightly before deleting the information.

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You wander through the shadier alleys downtown, mapping them out in your head as you weave through the complicated network of streets. You're wearing a jacket that's a bit big on you over jeans and a T-shirt. You don't particularly like the jacket, but hey, if it allows you to hide a pistol and a couple knives, it's okay in your book. Unfortunately, you can't take your sword with you, but you can't really have everything in life… but that's made up for with the sheer number of explosives you have in your bag. You plan to take out at least fifty of them before you die.

Your watch goes off, and you tense. Five more minutes… you'd better find a good place to hide and view the action. Has to be in a strategic location, too, so you can throw a bomb on the heads of an unwary troop or two… You spot a building that's about ten stories tall and head for it, using the knowledge you've gained of the alleys. You've been in them almost constantly since yesterday, and now know them like the back of your hand.

Slipping into the building, you wait in the shadows, glancing anxiously at your watch. Two minutes… when no one's looking, you go through the door that leads to the stairway and head for the third floor. Finding a window that faces the street, you grumble when you find out that it doesn't open. Well, actually, that's not really a problem… you can just break it when the time comes. Watching the road below closely, you notice a few figures slinking around in the alleys and smile grimly. Right on time.

Your watch goes off once more, signaling the start of the attack. As if on cue, the figures file out of the side streets and start firing. You wince slightly as you see some of the civilians get shot down; luckily, none of them have been killed yet. You wish there was some way you could've warned them without blowing your cover. As the screams start erupting from the building you're in, you force all of your soldier's training to come into play; blocking out all interference, you concentrate solely on the scene playing out on the ground beneath you. As you mechanically reach into your backpack and pull out the first of the explosives, a distant corner of your mind notes that all the civilians have left. You kick the window, shattering it. The falling glass attracts the attention of the soldiers below you. Their last sight is to see you, glaring at them with cold eyes as the bomb falls from your hand.

A second later, the gunshots and screams are interrupted by a blast, loud enough to be heard all over the city. You shelter your face from the flying rubble, backing away and grabbing your backpack as you dash down the stairs. Exiting through the back door, you slip away and run through the alleys to another of the many sites where the OZ soldiers have come pouring out. You catch a glimpse of the street in front of the building you were in as you pass by: half of it has been blown up, leaving a large crater in the middle of the road. The sight of it doesn't affect you at all: this is what you've been trained to do. It's been drilled into your head that war is the one thing that matters; forget the lives of the soldiers you kill. This is the only way. And besides… it's just a repeat of what happened before, isn't it? It's exactly the same. History is an endless waltz…

Ignoring the thoughts flashing through your head, you sprint through an alleyway, slowing down as you come to the end. You sneak forward slowly, listening intently to the sound of gunshots ringing in the street ahead of you. You pause for a moment, ducking behind a trash can so you're out of sight from the street. Judging by the report coming from the road, there aren't as many of them out there as there were back on the street in front of the building… Making a split-second decision, you drop your backpack in the shelter of the alleyway and pull out a gun, deciding to come back for your bag later, after you take out the soldiers in front of you. Dropping into a crouch, you sneak forward again, gun at the ready. From the sound of the gunshots, you can tell that they're to your left, and are firing away from you. You grin humorlessly, sneaking up so your back's to the wall of the alley. Taking a deep breath, you spin around, level your gun at the soldiers, and start firing.

The first thing that registers in your mind is that there're only ten of them there; the rest are lying in bloody heaps on the ground. The second is what they're firing at: or rather, who. Standing in the doorway of a building and shooting frantically at the OZ troops is a boy whose face is half-hidden in shadow. As you watch, he ducks behind the doorframe and disappears out of sight, just as someone else starts firing out of window from the floor above. Your breath catches in your throat; as the man left the doorway, you'd caught sight of a long chestnut rope of hair that you'd recognize anywhere. Your suspicions are further confirmed by the silhouette that can be seen through the window: messy brown hair, cold Prussian blue eyes… The Gundam pilots are still in town.

Your mind registers this information in the split second before the last of the remaining OZ soldiers falls to the ground, dead. You're not sure if the pilots have noticed you, or if they did and they had just been ignoring you throughout the whole scenario. So now, you have maybe half a second to decide what you're going to do before the boys look in your direction…

Toss your gun back into the alley, step forward, tell them you're on their side and proceed to explain that you'll help them protect the city - after all, the more the merrier, right? - go to page twenty-five

I really hope they haven't seen me yet… in the moment you have left, slip into the alleyway, grab your backpack, and use your knowledge of the alleys to get away from there as fast as you can. Even if you were helping them, it doesn't change the fact that you were fighting OZ with a gun - which is most definitely not supposed to exist in this age of peace. - go to page twenty-six