Trowa Barton fought back his annoyance as he gazed at
the now deserted facility, only the standard mobile
suits of the specials below them. He pushed his
angular brown hair back smoothly as he calmly
remarked, "We're too late."
The blonde haired young man nodded glumly, his
elegant clothes and manner making him stand out oddly
beside the other boy. "I think you're right," Quatre
Winner agreed, his usual aviator's goggles gleaming.
Trowa's expression was grim as he considered the
situation. He had contacted the other pilots in hope
of attacking this facility in force, but only Quatre
had been able to respond in time. Even worse, they had
discovered that the advanced mobile suits here had all
been removed, ferried off to a unknown location.
"We should have expected OZ to develop a counter to
the Gundams," Quatre added, "but I never thought
they'd move so fast."
"We knew the technology was out there," Trowa
shrugged. The two young man silently stalked away from
the facility, heading back to where their Gundams had
been concealed. Grimly he continued, "We'll destroy
the facility and whatever research is still there, of
course, but I doubt it'll do much good."
Quatre gracefully moved through the brush, ducking
beneath a branch. "Did you receive the message from
the colonies?" he asked softly.
Trowa nodded to him seriously, his own eyes serious.
"The colonies have asked us to return," he confirmed,
"though I don't know why."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Quatre agreed,
the two young men reaching the massive shapes
concealed beneath forest green netting.
A few days later and in another part of the world
Colonel Une saluted, her uniform crisp as usual, round
glasses gleaming. "And so this concludes my report,"
she calmly finished, brown hair mercilessly pulled
back from her face.
"Good work," Treize Khushrenada nodded, his blue
colored uniform as stylish as usual. His brown hair
was casually swept back, the style adding to his
powerful presence.
"Sir?" Une looked confused, "I failed in my primary
mission."
"But you did provide us with an essential piece of
information," Treize calmly pointed out. He folded his
hands together, rose signet ring gleaming, "We know
that Arisugawa Juri is indeed still a player in the
dueling game."
"Ah," Une's eyes widened, then she smiled
reluctantly.
"What's your impression?" Treize asked quietly.
Une paused, considering the question a moment. "Very
capable both as a swordswoman and as a person," she
said, "impressively charismatic. She has a surprising
degree of influence on those around her...."
"I saw the transcript of the colony meeting you
included," Treize agreed. He leaned forward, "Which
way are they going to jump?"
"War," Une answered him frankly. "We've pushed the
colonies with annexation of several of their numbers,
as well as using political pressure on them," she said
quietly.
There was a thoughtful nod as Treize looked off in
the distance. "Any new reports on the Gundams'
movements?" he asked.
"Two of the Gundams have seized orbital vessels and
left the Earth for the colonies," Une answered, "I
think we can expect the others to do so soon."
"We'll need to move up the debut of the Tallgeese
Wing," Treize noted, "before the impact is lost." He
looked at reports thoughtfully, "Do we have a fifth
pilot?"
"I believe that Sally Po has agreed to do so," Une
said, consciously not choosing to mention the
closeness that she had noted between Sally and Noin.
It wasn't relevant, and nothing that she could confirm
anyway.
"I know that Dorothy is looking forward to this,"
Treize added, a faintly approving smile on his
handsome face.
Une steeled her expression, hiding her first
reaction. The ambition of Dorothy Catalonia worried
her, in all honesty, as did her essentially
treacherous nature. The idea of having her as Une's
wingman made her skin crawl, but there was little
choice. "I look forward to serving with them," Une
answered firmly.
Treize chuckled softly. "Zechs will be in overall
command due to his experience with the Tallgeese," he
revealed, "though you will be the ranking officer in
relation to other units. The internal structure will
be determined by you and Zechs."
"Then I suspect that Zechs and Noin will be in
overall command," Une said promptly, "with Dorothy,
Sally and I following."
"You're willing to take a secondary role?" Treize
raised a eyebrow.
"I'm a good pilot," Une answered frankly, "but I'm
well aware that I am not of their rank, sir." She
hesitated, "And I was surprised to loose a duel to
Arisugawa."
"I wondered when you were going to mention that,"
Treize said. He gave her a gentle smile, "Remember,
she was one of the best duelists in Ohtori."
"It still bothers me," Une raised her chin with
pride, "and I am determined to defeat her the next
time we meet."
Arisugawa Juri felt a chill as she walked across the
campus, school bag slung casually over her shoulder.
Her black schoolboy's uniform hugged her slim form,
her long orange hair bold as she strode through the
sunlight.
"Arisugawa-san," Releena walked up to her, gracefully
falling into step along the walkway. Her eyes twinkled
in amusement as she added, "I see your adoring fans
haven't died off with your visit to the colonies."
Juri rolled her eyes at that comment. The route that
she took to school was lined with boys and girls, all
of them lingering to give her a wave or to cheerfully
wish her a good morning. "I was sort of hoping they
would die off," Juri sighed. She gave Releena a
scolding look, "And I suspect some of them are your
fans, too."
"True enough," Releena conceded, seemingly unbothered
by the idea. She looked up at Juri, "You heard the
news?"
"The colonies are holding a press conference today,"
Juri confirmed.
What Juri didn't mention was the order that had
showed up on her Gundam's communication's gear. She
had been using the hidden suit in simulator mode,
honing her skills, when the system abruptly shut down,
communication's activating. The text message was short
and to the point, "Return home, await further
instructions."
'Of course my getting the Wing Gundam home isn't
going to be easy,' Juri mused.
"What do you think they're going to announce?"
Releena asked Juri, her long brown hair falling
gracefully over her shoulders. "You don't think
they're going to....?" she trailed off, unable to
bring herself to say the words.
"I don't know," Juri shrugged a bit uncomfortably,
knowing what the girl wanted to say. "Has your father
said anything?" she asked.
"No," Releena shook her head, "but he doesn't look
happy."
'Understandably,' Juri thought. The older man had
worked to try to broker a peace treaty between the
colonies and Earth, to ease the growing tensions, but
ultimately he had been unsuccessful. Juri felt a flash
of guilt, knowing that in no small part her own words
had played a role.
"It's not your fault, Juri," Releena said, putting
her hand on her arm and squeezing gently, "you just
told the truth as you saw it."
"Maybe," Juri admitted, "but I certainly didn't
help."
They filed into the buildings together, students
streaming in around them when the public address
system for the campus activated. There was a simple
ringing tone, first, one that inspired them all to be
quiet, then they heard the principal's grim tone. "I
regretfully must report," he rumbled, "that the
colonies have formally declared war with the Earth
nations."
"Oh no," Releena managed weakly.
Juri held on to Releena's hand unconsciously,
squeezing it for comfort. There were no words of
comfort that she could give right now, none that would
matter anyway. She knew everything had changed for
them this morning, and for the world. A period of
uneasy peace was over, the era of wars had begun
again.
End, Book One.
Note: Book two of this series will start in a few
weeks, the only difference being a slight jump forward
in time. Be prepared for some changes, but the cast
will largely still be the same. ^_^
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