Lieutenant Noin growled angrily in the back of her throat as she
hurriedly dressed, the alarm ringing through the covert facility. She
had been training here for only a few days, but she hadn't heard these
sirens before. She ran out of her quarters half dressed, tucking her
white shirt into her pants then pulling her uniform jacket on.
"What's going on," Noin demanded as she ran into the command
center, noting that most of the people there were equally sleep rumpled.
"A Gundam is approaching the facility," Tubarov scowled, the
balding executive of the Romafeller foundation dressed only in his
pajamas. He ran a hand across his head, "I knew we should have had the
facility on the moon...."
"Later, Uncle," Dorothy Catalonia soothed him quietly, the
beautiful blonde dressed in her trainee's uniform.
"Do we have surveillance information?" Noin demanded crisply,
her voice carrying with it the ring of one used to command.
Sally Po looked visibly relieved to have Noin taking charge, the
brown haired officer activating the tactical screen, "Here."
The suit was almost Chinese in appearance, skulking closer to
the facility, obviously still unaware that it had been spotted. It was
hard to assess it's weapons from the image, but the draconic device that
was mounted on one arm HAD to be a weapon.
"We have a few Leos here," Dorothy quietly mused, "we could send
them out as a distraction while evacuating the facility."
"It would take hours to get everyone out," Sally answered before
adding firmly, "and I am not willing to sacrifice pilots needlessly."
"Sometimes that's necessary in war," Dorothy said coldly.
"If the Gundams are as capable as I've heard," Noin said softly,
"he'd cut through a team of Leos in no time."
"Do you have a better suggestion?" Tubarov demanded.
Noin ignored him as she asked Sally, "Is the Tallgeese ready to
go?"
Sally's eyes widened as she blurted, "You're in no way ready for
the physical strain piloting it would put you under...."
""The Tallgeese is the only thing we have that can match that
thing," Noin said crisply. She paused, "I need a wingman out there, in
case something does go wrong."
Before Dorothy could say anything Sally said, "I'll do it." At
Noin's questioning glance she smiled grimly, "I may be a doctor, but I'm
a qualified mobile suit pilot."
Noin hesitated, then nodded. "Suit up," she said, "we've got to
launch before he gets near enough to see where we're coming from."
"Right," Sally replied, both women rushing out of the command
center together.
Tubarov moved over towards where Dorothy was standing, dropping
his voice to ask, "Did you make that suggestion to spur Noin on?"
"Of course," Dorothy smiled.
"But why?" Tubarov hissed out the question. "I thought you
wanted to be the Tallgeese pilot!" he demanded softly.
Dorothy continued to smile, but there was nothing at all warm in
her expression. "We may end up competing, Noin and I," she said to him
softly as she watched the view screen, "I'd like to know early how
capable she is."
Noin ran into the hanger, Sally following right behind her. She
slowed down a bit as she headed along the elevated catwalk to where the
Tallgeese suit waited, a silver armored knight ready to ride out into
battle. 'Or be ridden,' Noin thought wryly, hitting the switch beside
the cockpit to open the chest cavity up, revealing the pilot's seat.
Sally Po ran over to a standard Leo, but her thought weren't on
what she was about to be doing. 'I hope Noin knows what she's doing,'
she thought as she climbed aboard. She closed the hatch, running the
pre-launch checks as she activated the communications system. "Command,
do you read me?" she asked as a test.
"Command here," Dorothy's voice rang out, "the Gundam has ceased
it's advance, possibly due to an aerial presence."
Noin's face appeared on one of Sally's viewscreens, the dark
haired pilot eyes dark and intense. "Then let's use the opportunity,"
she said.
"Moving out," Sally calmly agreed, easing her mobile suit out of
it's cradle, feeling a bit relieved as Noin easily moved the Tallgeese
out. 'Guess the time she spent in our simulators has paid off,' she
mused, walking her own suit towards the launch ramp.
"I want you to hang back," Noin said as they moved into
position, "this is a good chance to see how the Tallgeese performs."
"Are you nuts...." Sally started.
"Not that I don't want your help," Noin flashed a smile. "If you
get a clear shot at the Gundam take it, but mostly I want you there as
backup," she said.
Sally puffed out a breath before reluctantly saying, "All
right."
Not answering verbally Noin activated the massive engines
mounted on the back of the Tallgeese, rocketing up the access ramp. In a
single move she pulled the beam saber from the concealment in her shield
and ignited it, the blade glowing orange.
Noin groaned as she felt the suit's powerful acceleration slam
her back into the seat. "God," she muttered softly, but refused to ease
back on the engine. She roared into the forest surrounding the base,
cursing the availability of such easy cover.
To say that the Gundam was startled would be pushing it. Almost
as soon as she roared towards the Gundam he rose to his feet, his own
beam weapon flaring to life. Wu-fei grinned, the Asian young man
striking out with his weapon, not really surprised to have her counter
it.
"Not bad," Wu-fei murmured. This mobile suit didn't look like
any of the OZ suits that he had studied, it was a totally new type. They
took a step back, studying each other. 'I could use the Dragon's fang'
he mused, 'but fire would hinder me too, in this forest.'
The silvery suit attacked again with such speed and power that
he had to give ground. 'Who is this pilot?' Wu-fei wondered admiringly,
turning the tide a moment and driving the suit backwards. A flare of
it's thrusters righted it and it attacked again, relentlessly.
Again and again the sparred back and forth, two opponents almost
evenly matched. Dorothy watched the battle eagerly in the viewscreen,
her breath coming faster. Tubarov looked over at her dubiously,
wondering if his niece was actually getting sexually excited.
"Marvelous," Dorothy said, her voice showing her honest
pleasure, "the Gundams are everything I had heard."
"And Noin's more than holding her own in Tallgeese," Tubarov
noted.
"It looks like Sally's getting into the game," Dorothy nodded to
the screen.
Wu-fei growled as an explosion threw him forward. He swept the
battlefield, cursing his focus on his one opponent and spotted the Leo
behind him. Wu-fei felt his lips curl back in an admiring smile as he
assessed the situation.
'If I go after the Leo I'll be an easy target for the other
suit," Wu- fei thought as the two suits slowly circled him, 'and if I go
after the new suit the Leo will keep hammering me. They've bracketed me
nicely.' He made his decision in a moment, turning and fleeing the
field. "This isn't over," Wu-fei cried out angrily as he raced away, the
thrusters on the back of his suit throwing him forward.
"Should we go after him?" Sally asked eagerly.
"Hold it," Noin barked, her oddly pale face appearing on one of
the screens in the Leo. "It's too easy for him to turn on us, and we
have no idea if he has friends waiting out there. Beside, we've got
another problem," she added.
"What's that?" Sally asked.
"I think the Tallgeese broke a couple of my ribs," Noin said
apologetically, wincing in pain as she shifted in her seat.
Back to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Revolution Index - Back to Crossovers Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction