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"The Preventer Special Ops Vignettes"Written By: Dùlin
Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Disclaimer : Gundam Wing ? Not mine ! Not mine
! *whines* Why ? Rating: Mostly PG for the moment, for bad words, ratings may come up in future vignettes. Warnings: Original Character POV, bad humour, some yaoi implications, and slaughter of a paramilitary organization. Probably some violence and language as the arc develops, but nothing too heavy. A tad angsty too, but really, I'm doing this for fun and relaxation so be prepared for anything. Pairings : rumored, hinted at, implied, drooled upon 1x2, 3x4, 5xS and 6x9 Spoilers: probably some for the whole series Notes: This story is set as a canon continuation beginning in AC 201. The five G-boys, Zechs and Noin are all Preventers and elite members of the famous Special Ops. They are also instructors for the newest members of that elite team. The series will not really deal with personal relationships strictly speaking. It will follow the point of view of several OCs, with some exceptions, and mostly deal with how people would react to working with the boys. And mostly, it is supposed to be at least a bit funny. *runs away from her angst muse* Thanks : Karina, Cozzy Bob, Winged Kitty, MORgan,
Deb, Sakusha, and everyone who reads.
The Preventer Special Ops Vignettes Vignette # 2 - First Contact
“Oh my god !” I turn to shoot a look to my neighbor. Pete Simmons. Nice guy. Possibly one of the nicest person I know here, and my best friend since the Academy, although I was never partnered with him. Gorgeous. And gay. Of course. Well, now I can think of it and laugh, and we both find it funny that we drool on the same guys. Believe me it was harder in the beginning when he came to cry on my shoulder every time a jerk dumped him and I had to comfort him and remind myself to keep my hands where they belonged at the same time. “Hey ! What’s wrong Pete ?”, I whisper. “I think I’m gonna shit myself”, he whispers back. “Why did you persuade me to take the tests with you again ?” “Because it was supposed to be fun doing it together, as opposed to me doing it alone.” “Oh, yeah, right, I forgot. Why did I have to pass, for God’s sake ?”, he almost whines. “You know, if you don’t wanna be there, you know where the door is”, I say shrugging. That guy is strange, but he’s cool. And it soothes me a bit to know that at least someone else I know is nervous about meeting the legendary pilots. I just finish thinking that when the door opens. **** Merquise (no, Peacecraft, his name is Peacecraft now !) is the first to get in. He is followed by Noin, the five other pilots and Sally Po. And, God help me, they all wear the standard issue training suit used by the Special Ops. Black. Very fitting, in the leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination kind of way. Out of the forty people present here, I think about thirty-nine are about to drown in their own drool, me included. They all come to a stop in a line in front of us, and I take my time admiring each and every one of them. I mean, a girl can dream, okay ? Yuy is as much a walking wet dream as I remember, but the look in his eyes makes me shiver. His blue eyes are just … cold, calculating, like he is assessing our potential just by looking at us, and I can see him already rejecting some of the people inside of this room just with a look, the way his gaze suddenly changes when it roams over a person. I am, apparently, lucky enough to pass the inspection, because his eyes don’t rest on me more than two seconds before he gets on to the next one. By my side, I can feel Pete trembling, but I don’t dare say anything. Maxwell is looking at us too, but with a smile on his face. He gives just a look at Yuy at his side and rolls his eyes, as if used to his partner way of being with other people, and shoots us a little apologetic smile. Curious. Then, he begins playing with the end of his braid. I always had a secret crush on that guy, both because of our common love for great cars and because of his hair. Not that my own hair has anything to envy to his, in fact my braid is just two inches longer than his. A girl gets her fun where she can. The fact remains that the tip of his braid usually dangles just over his ass, which is always a good reason to stare at it. Or so I (and most of the female and gay staff) like to think. Barton is … well, I must say I kind of have my breath taken away as I look at that guy for the first time ever. He is just as tall as Peacecraft, with a fall of brown hair hiding half of his face. Said face is carefully blank, his only visible green eye seemingly looking right through us. I squirm a bit. I usually am good at judging people, and I am a crack interrogator, but I have a feeling that I will never even get close to knowing who this guy really is. For the moment, he is just behaving the way a Special Operation Forces training officer should behave, and I guess that’s what’s bothering me. I can get a hold of the other ones’ personalities, but he’s such a chameleon that he’s giving me the show I expect, and not revealing anything about himself. Winner looks amazingly good in that training suit. I used to think he was yummy in business suits and in Preventer uniforms, but that … he’s smiling too, his green-blue eyes surveying the whole room, and his face letting nothing out but calm, but I know better. That guy is a shark, or he wouldn’t have piloted a Gundam, and he wouldn’t be here. He’s judging us too, more subtly than the others, but just as cunningly. I don’t know why, but suddenly I am scared of him. He looks far too innocent for it to be completely genuine, and I already know of some people who will make the devastating mistake to underestimate him, because in spite of his twenty-one years, he still looks barely eighteen. Inwardly I smirk. Those guys will be outta that door before me, that’s less concurrence for the last part of the road. Chang has his arms crossed on his chest, and he’s glaring at us like our very existence infuriates him. I heard someone telling me once that Chang despises weak people. I don’t know how much of that is true, but I’m telling you, anyone would feel weak alongside him. He’s not that tall (blame it on the Asian descent, Yuy is quite short too while the other three are towering over them), but his whole body radiates strength and authority. I shoot a look sideways at Pete, and I see him turn green as Chang suddenly turns to him and smirks. Not that he is the only one. Noin is gaining more than one appreciative male look in her training suit, but she looks like she couldn’t care less, grinning wolfishly at an agent who was stupid enough to wink at her. She’s whispering something in Sally Po’s ear. The blond doctor that we all know is also in a training suit and giggles when she hears whatever her friend told her, but her eyes never leave us for one second. And Peacecraft, from under his bangs, is doing just the same, except that he is not smiling at all. I think he may have taken classes from Barton and Yuy : Blank Face 101. Being under the scrutiny of all those people, those men and women who did so much for us in the past, and who are about to do so much for me in the future if I am gifted enough to grab my chance, makes me feel very little and humble all of a sudden. Right now, I don’t really care if I came first in shooting test, because I get a feeling they won’t care at all either. I mean, those guys would probably have aced all of the tests if they had taken them, but I suspect it was far too below their level for Colonel Une to even make them attempt them. I shift my weight on my feet, trying not to squirm again. By my side, Pete is turning again to a more natural color. Chang smiled before looking at his neighbor. I’m not sure it’s a good sign. **** “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Commander Peacecraft. Commander Po, Commander Noin and myself are the supervisors of this training program. If you are wondering what it means, then it means that, lucky you, you won’t see that much of us during actual training sessions, unless we choose to attend them to help out your trainers or decide of an exam.” Peacecraft looks around at all of us, pausing for a moment before he starts talking again. “Let’s make things clear between me and you. By the end of the year, seventy-five percent of you will either have been rejected or will have committed suicide because of the stress. I have absolutely no personal preferences as to who those people should be. I don’t know you. The only thing I know about you is the test scores I have received. And those test scores just tell me one thing. Some people have deemed you to be the best of the Agency, and as such worthy of getting into that elite group that are the Special Ops.” Another pause to let words sink in. That man is one hell of an orator. And I think he just scarred about ten persons for life. I just hope Pete doesn’t drop dead before the end of the speech, because if there’s one thing I would love above all, apart from being accepted, it would be being accepted with Pete. “You are starting from scrap again. You thought you were the best and you had nothing to prove ? Well, you were wrong. Here, you have everything to prove. You were chosen. Now you have to prove to us that we were right to make that choice. Those who do not feel up to it can leave now.” No one moves, and I can see all of them smirking, standing in front of us. Maxwell bends towards Yuy and whispers something in his ear. I’m too far to hear what it is, but I am good at reading lips. ‘Ten bucks we lose ten of them before the end of the week. I’ll give you the names.’. Yuy just grunts and shrugs. “Good”, Peacecraft begins again. “Commander Po is our medical examiner. She will be the only one to determine if your health is in accordance with our standards. Failure to present yourself for a physical will guarantee your rejection. Not following her instructions is a very sure way to piss her off, which, if you’re not one of those guys (he indicates the Gundam Pilots), can be a very good way to end up very dead. Actually, even if you’re one of those guys”, he adds, shooting a glance to Yuy, who just glares right back. Sally Po just smiles sweetly to us. “Hi”, she says. “And for those of you who think I don’t know people call me the Sadistic Bitch with Needles behind my back ever since Maxwell launched the nickname, I look forward to seeing you in my ward.” Some people around pale. I hold back a snort of laughter. If there’s one thing I love, it’s watching a woman stand for her own. “Commander Noin and myself will mostly supervise your training from the high spheres of commandment”, Peacecraft says. “But you have to know that in the end, it is our word, and our word only that will grant you admission into the Special Ops, and that if one of your trainers has objections to it, it will be examined very thoroughly. We’ll be watching you. All of the time.” The gym was silent before, but now, if you dropped a pin, it would make the same equivalent of noise as a thunderbolt. “Now on to the introductions. Before I start, I have to explain our system a bit. Training is divided between purely physical training, which means running, shooting and obstacle races, and more specific classes. Each class has one or two main instructors, but all of us can be called in to help, assist and demonstrate. Of course, if you have a problem in one of the classes, you should refer first to your main instructor, or to one of the others if he is not available at the moment.” Another short silence. I curse under my breath. I swear he is killing me with suspense. **** “Captain Yuy will be your main instructor in Weapons and Close Combat. Please note that the Close Combat class is jointly taught by all five instructors. The aim of the Weapons class is to instruct you into recognizing and using all of the weapons available to you during missions. You must also be able to take care of your own weapons, or to assemble one should you be in dire need. Close Combat … well that speaks for itself. Finally, he will be your main instructor in Computers.” Yuy just nods tersely. “Captain Maxwell will be your main instructor in Stealth and Demolition. He will also take an active part in the Close Combat class, especially about street fight. Once he is done with you, you should be able to destroy any targets as silently and efficiently as humanly possible. Note that Stealth is taught at the same time than Infiltration.” Maxwell smirks and winks at us. “Captain Barton will be your secondary instructor in Weapons and your main instructor in Infiltration, as well as the one designing most of your physical program along with Commander Noin and myself. He’s here to teach you how to go undercover and not get caught. I advise you to pay great attention during those classes, since this is also where you will be taught how to withstand torture, should you ever get caught. ” He says that in a tone of voice that indicates we’d better not, or he’ll kick our ass personally. Barton … does absolutely nothing but staring blankly at us like he has done for the past ten minutes. I think it’s my imagination, but it looks like he’s smiling. I mean, the corners of his mouth are curled upwards, just a tiny little bit. “Captain Winner will be your main instructor in Strategics and Command, and your secondary instructor in Computers. Don’t piss him off.” And that’s all. I’m staring at the blonde, who’s smiling at us, because I really don’t understand. What kind of a warning is that, ‘Don’t piss him off’? Something tells me not to pry, but I can’t help being intrigued. “Captain Chang will be your main instructor in Martial Arts. His part in Close Combat is as such very important. He will also design your physical program with Captain Barton. Finally, once your training is more advanced, we will move on to piloting, which is supervised by Commander Noin, and taught by all of us. You must be able to pilot everything from a motorcycle to a Mobile Suit.” I gasp. So the rumors are true, the Special Ops still have Mobile Suits. They had been banned from use in the military, but there had been some wild whispers running around headquarters that the Special Ops learned to pilot Taurus suits, and not on simulators. The knot in my guts is back. What did I get myself into ? I knew these guys were into serious stuff, but to use MS when Vice-Minister Darlian herself was the one to order demilitarization of all of them … “Questions ? Comments ?” Not a sound. Not that we would know what to say anyway. Commander Peacecraft shoots a look to Chang and nods. In turn, the Chinese shoots a look to Barton, who nods also. Maxwell is smiling, and I will learn, with time, to recognize which smile is a good one and which one is a presage of a another day in hell for us rookies. Chang takes a step forward. “Your training begins immediately”, he says, voice a bit harsh. “I think ten laps around the compound will do nicely for starters. Everybody get changed into running gear and meet us outside. You’ve got three minutes.” As we all begin to make our way back to the locker rooms to change as swiftly as we can from our whole uniform (complete with tie and all) to our running shorts and T-shirts, I hear Maxwell snort. “Man, you wanna kill them on the first day or what
?” ~ * ~
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