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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
Chapter 108 Mars Colony Base Dome 2nd March AC 198 Time: 00: 48 [approx Sanc time 22:38] Polnar // Christ. What did the man think he was doing? First I had to endure that horror flight on the Taurus and now we are supposed to get into the dome and down into the sub base in slightly more than half an hour. // A quick glance assured him that the other two men were prepared to follow him up the ladder and he began the ascent. // Okay, so Preventers may be made of sterner stuff than me, but this has got to be pushing the odds. If we move with the speed needed to make the time schedule then we are going to be leaving ourselves open to stupid and most likely fatal mistakes. It would have been better if he had given us at least two hours to get into the damn dome. If we arrived early then it looks like we are really efficient and that is far preferable to arriving late or worse still, not arriving at all. I have no intention of coughing my life out in the bloody dome because I was shot trying to reach the hydroponics unit. Shit. When will I learn? I keep forgetting what it is like to work with the non Gifted exclusively. I've become spoiled working with the Gifted incorporated into a team and the advantages it gives you. Having a Precog as a part of the team takes a lot of the guess work out of missions and a Kinetic or two takes a lot of the hard work out of the equation. I won't even think about the benefits of having a Telepath in the team. Never thought I would miss having them around so much. // Slowly, steadily, hand over hand he worked his way up the ladder taking a moment to reflect that while wearing the enviro suits it was easier to descend ladders than it was to climb in them. Why had he ever considered entering the dome through the refuse recycling pipes? Within the helmet he shook his head at the sheer idiocy of the thought. If he could have thought of another means to enter the dome then he would certainly have suggested it. He should count his blessings that he had been fortunate that Barker had picked him for this job though he did worry why it was that the Preventer had chosen him. The bonus to his situation was that not only did he have experienced assistance in breaching the dome and experienced men to guard his back even as he guarded them, but that he had not needed to sneak away from the caves to attempt to enter the dome on his own. Yes, it was true that he did have past training with the Oz Specials but the truth was that that had been years ago and his training had primarily involved the piloting of Leo Mobile Suits, not the infiltration of enemy bases achieved by crawling through recycling pipes. One thing he would admit was that Oz, once it fell under the command of Treize Kushrenada had given their people a far more thorough grounding in all areas of warfare and that did include clandestine entries into sealed bases. While he had already graduated the academy in its Alliance form when Kushrenada had come into his own and formed Oz as a separate identity from the Alliance, he had still been required to re enter the academy now under Oz control and receive at least a measure of this type of training. Oz had given him a basic grounding but it was not Oz that had given him his current expertise in this means of covert entry and exit into sealed bases. That knowledge came from the training program that all chosen as undercover operatives of the Station Alliance were required to undertake. In his view he was not actually a spy as most people might claim him to be, but his assignments to date had required him to be well versed in the ancient art of sneaking. // Sneaking is definitely more Raider style than it is Oz Specials, that is for sure. Still, I'd never have dreamed I'd find myself sneaking into the Base Dome using the recycling tunnels. If someone had told me I would be doing this when I agreed to take on this assignment I would have laughed in their face and called them a fool. Probably worse. While I could not see myself sneaking into the Dome I certainly could see myself sneaking Peacecraft out of the dome should the situation have require it. That is what I am here for, after all and why I chose this means of exiting the dome. Exit being the operative word, of course. Exit not Entry. Damn. I should have known better. Raydon is gifted. That son of a bitch. I wonder if he knew I would be doing this when he sent me to back up Giles? Nah. No way. He is good, I know that, but he's not omnipotent. // He came abreast of the first of the low wattage amber lights spaced along the length of the shaft and passed it by in his steady laborious fashion. He resisted the urge to sigh at the thought of how far there still was to go before they reached the decontamination station. He could only hope that Carter and Barker would keep their heads and remember to keep the four rung distance between them. While it was best to keep such a distance between climbers at the best of time to avoid fouling up fellow climbers, in this situation it was a safety measure for the decontamination procedure. The distance between each body within the decontamination shower ensured that each person was thoroughly covered with the light foam and then the chemical wash down that followed to eradicate all bacteria from their sojourn in the refuse. It also maintained a safe distance between the workers who needed to exit into the dome in the event that they might lose a hand or foot grip during the shower processing, though everyone who had cause to use this entry to the base knew enough to hold tight to the rungs. The foam and spray would not hit them with any force that might threaten the security of their grip, unlike the spray down hose at the station below, but anyone who was not accustomed to the decontamination process might be startled enough to loose their grip. // I'll find out soon enough if both of those men are the easily startled kind. I doubt it though. I think I can say that I know Carter enough to be assured he would not be easy to unnerve and I really can't see Barker getting as far in the Preventers as he has if he was prone to nerves. I'll know soon enough, one way or the other and then I can get into the dome. I wonder what has been going on in there? Giles never reported back to me after entering the dome and I knew something had really gone wrong then. He should have contacted me long before now. No word from Giles and no word from Raydon either up to the time I left the suit. God, what is going on in there? At least I know that Merquise is alive and I can only hope for now that Giles managed to find him and preserve his own hide in the process. // He grunted softly to himself as a second light materialized out of the darkness and was passed and he tried to peer up into the shaft but the cumbersome helmet would not permit him to see far enough to perhaps glimpse an indication of the red glow of the lowest of the lights that marked the decontamination station as yet. He did not even bother attempting to look down the shaft as it was useless to attempt to try looking past his own bulk when the helmet would not permit him a glance at even his own chest. He just had to take it on trust that the men below him were following him at a safe distance. Gawking around was not going to serve him at all in the current situation and he pulled himself into line, well aware of the dangers of frustration when wearing an enviro suit. He needed to exercise all caution and ensure that he did not slip with either foot or hand and that took concentrated effort. He was largely blind to where he placed either hands or feet as the restrictions imposed by the helmet did not allow him a view of anything but the ladder rung directly in front of the face plate. It would be a lovely mess if he should make the kind of mistake that lost him his grip at this height with two men below him. Likely all three of them would die out here. The man on the bottom of the ladder would be the lucky one as he would probably die from the initial impact of the two men above him impacting on fragile flesh and bone. Despite the lower gravity of Mars Carter and himself, if they survived that initial fall, would most likely die of incapacitating injuries sustained in the landing unless they should break radio silence and called for help. That was, of course, provided they did not damage their radio packs during the fall or upon landing. It was far from being as far fetched a scenario as it might seem at first as he knew of a number of similar instances that had taken place in the mines and the mining stations in the asteroid belt. There had been instances of bodies being found in weird places, the results of accidents that had breached the integrity of the space suits of the victims and smashed the radio that was as much a life saving device in the harshness of those primitive conditions as it was a means by which to send and receive orders for a days work. // Shit. This is a wonderful way to get my mind off an accident happening. Thinking about disasters is not the way to avoid one happening. I need to concentrate more on what I am doing. I need to think about what I will need to do when I get into the dome. I need to know what is going on and I need to find Giles, not just locate Merquise. It is possible I might need his Gift to convince Merquise to cooperate. If I had not been chosen for this team by Barker I would have slipped away from the caves after replenishing my oxygen and come out here on my own to try to slip into the dome. I have to get in there and find Merquise and convince him to go to ground. I need to explain to him just who I am and what I am doing on Mars and he needs to understand that I am here to keep his hide safe and that I am here on Raydon's instructions to be his bodyguard. Whether that will garner any cooperation from the man is another matter.// He was only too aware of the past history of the Lightning Count. When he considered the past military record of the man he could only wonder who should be bodyguarding who in this situation. Merquise had had the benefits of the fully revised training program as he had been a child considered too young even to become an Oz cadet when Kushrenada had first formed Oz and by the time he had graduated he was lethal, be it in mobile suit combat or hand to hand melee. The best that Oz had had to offer had gone into the training of him and he had scored the highest results in the history of the records available at Lake Victoria Academy, former Alliance training centre and responsible for the training of the Alliance elites for nearly a hundred years before it had become the training ground for the Specials when Treize Kushrenada had formed the elite Order of the Zodiac. //The man could cream me with one hand tied behind his back and I am supposed to bodyguard him? Some days the irony of life makes me sick. Still that is what I am here for and that is what I will do, but to do it effectively I need to locate Giles. He's the Gifted member of this team and he is the one who is supposed to deal personally with Merquise.// He liked Haydon Giles. They had had no trouble dealing fairly with each other from the first day that they had met when Raydon had personally introduced the training teams to the latest member of the Gifted to be included in the intelligence service of the Station Alliance. For all the man's Gift to influence others had scared him with its frightening potential for control he had found Giles to be likable and if anything too shy for the intelligence service to be a viable agent. With time and integration into the teams under the watchful eye and encouragement of Raydon, Giles had opened up and proven himself to be a vital team member. It had been something of a rude shock the day he had realized that Haydon had vanished from Station One and he had not expected to be given instruction months later by Raydon himself to join Giles on Mars and once there baby sit the Prince of Sanc. //Oh, don't make the mistake of thinking about bodyguarding Merquise as being as simple as babysitting. I have no doubt that that particular baby would be worse that babysitting an entire nursery unit of two year olds at Station One. I'd rather look after the little terrors for a week than bodyguard an unwilling Merquise for an hour. Why did Raydon not mention any of this when he assigned me here? He is a precog after all. Surely he must have known that this would have to happen? Well shit, stop wimping before you even get into the dome. Of course he must have known something would happen, otherwise you would be assigned somewhere else within the Earth Sphere/// The thought of the dark-haired and golden eyed leader of Station One produced a sigh that echoed within the confines of his helmet. Raydon could be frightening when the instances of vision were on him. Only once had he had the opportunity to see that glazed look come into the man's eyes and to watch the colour drain from his skin and be replaced by a frightening pallor. To see the reaction of the Gifted who had been in the room where the incident had occurred had been perhaps the most frightening thing of all. One moment everyone had been attending to their training session and the next the non Gifted had found themselves abandoned by their Gifted partners, said partners gathered about Raydon with threat emanating from them should anyone be foolish enough to even think of approaching him. It had been the Gifted who had monitored him, the Gifted who had summoned the Training Masters and it had been the Gifted who had hustled everyone but their own kind out of the gymnasium. There had been no chance to protest, no opportunity for anyone to react as it had happened too quickly and once the Gifted Training Masters had arrived you knew not to even attempt to learn what was happening. They tended to keep to themselves a lot, the Gifted. Even on Station One where they were accepted and not looked on as Freaks and outcasts they tended to band together or keep solitary when not involved in training. The Training Masters seemed to know whenever something happened involving a Gifted member of the station and would appear quickly and efficiently take charge of circumstances. While it was true that not everyone on Station One accepted the oddities and abilities of the Talents on the station most who had such difficulties kept themselves removed from the areas of the station where the Gifted tended to congregate. // Some of the Gifted on Station must surely have a clue as to what is going on here by now. Perhaps Raydon himself might have experienced a vision. While we are an isolated community here what is happening has the potential to rock the Earth Sphere and some of the Gifted must be able to pick up the consequences. Ripples of water in a pond. That is a description I have heard more than once from precogs. Raydon has to respond sometime soon to the alerts we sent that things here were starting to slide toward trouble. Why would he have been silent for so long? With Merquise the love of his life you'd think he would be battering the door down trying to get to him to make certain that he was safe. Still, I suppose that he could have decided to back off a bit, if not retire from the scene. The man does have kids after all and that woman would frighten any man off. // He considered that thought for a long moment and snorted softly, shaking his head somewhat amused by his conclusion. //Nah. No way. It would take more than a possessive Lucrezia Noin to frighten off Raydon. Christ, I could just imagine the sparks that would fly if those two ever met and clashed over Merquise. It would make the One Year War look like a kiddy game. I think I would be inclined to sound a general alert and run for the nearest shuttle to get myself away from the fall out zone. It would not be pretty.// He grunted softly as he realized that the light around him was subtly different and he glanced up, trying to tilt the helmet enough to permit him to gain a view above and failing miserably. One day someone would find a more agreeable design for enviro suits, a design that would allow the wearer to actually find some measure of comfort and a decent area of vision. It took climbing another four rungs before he was certain that the quality of the light had changed because of the red tinted globe that stood along side the standard amber globe. This was the first of the globes that warned he was now entering the decontamination section and he was relieved to see the evidence that he was making progress in this narrow world of shadow and ladders. // Just a little further to go and we will be there. It can't be soon enough to suit me, that's for sure. I hope Barker thinks to stop just past the globe and wait for the decontamination process. He needs to keep at least the four rungs below Carter and I don't dare use the radio at this point.// He climbed higher, taking care of each placement of hand and foot to ensure no slips now placed them in danger. They had come so far and the airlock was so close now. He passed the second and then the third globe that defined the decontamination area and on reaching the fourth globe he began to worry. By this point in the climb he had expected to receive the computer confirmation of their presence and the warning to prepare for the procedure and now it looked as though he was going to have to consider other options to be taken if the computers had been compromised. What could have damaged the sealed computer systems that operated the safety features which controlled access to the dome through the waste plant? Much of the Base Dome's construction had been in sections with each section running on separate computer systems which were later linked to a main frame and master control system but with sufficient back ups written in the system that if something should damage the central computer the safety systems for the dome would automatically switch to a back up system. If the computer controlling the decontamination unit was down then he knew that there was a manual control for the decontamination shower which he was confident he could operate but he was uncertain what would happen after the shower. What would they need to do to effect a safe exit from the access pipe? He was not even certain if there was a manual control for the pipe though safety features he had been trained in always claimed every system on Mars had a manual override. “Please cease movement and secure a grip on the ladder rung. Decontamination will commence in ten seconds.” //And it is about time you spoke up.// He huffed a breath, locking his fingers around the metal bar and wriggling his booted feet more securely on the lower rung. “Decontamination commencing now. The procedure will take approximately twenty five seconds.” A gentle fall of white foam tinted pink by the red light at his shoulder began to fall over him, clinging to the enviro suit and working its way down his body. “On completion of the process it is advised that you shake excess moisture from you hands and feet with care. One hand at the time is the recommended procedure followed by one foot at the time. The decontamination process is now at the half way mark. The foam will be removed with a chemical solution spray. Should your helmet fog during this procedure it is advised that you refrain from removing it and wait a few seconds for your suits internal system to clear the mist.” He winced at the thought suggested by the computers neutral tones. However stupid the comment might seem he knew only too well that as idiotic as it seemed there had been cases where workers had seemed to forget that they worked in a hostile environment and had removed their helmets when their vision had been obstructed. While such instances were few and far between and generally isolated to mining settlements and to the frontier settlement on Mars, it was a fact that they still did happen. It usually happened to green horns, first timers who were lacking in the patience and the experience required to work safely in such circumstances and who could not get used to the conditions they were forced to live under. It could be beyond frustrating to live in an enviro suit for hours on end and some people had been known to just snap and pay the price for that instant of insanity with their lives. Such automated warnings were not to be viewed as funny or stupid but a necessity when you chose to live in an environment that was hostile to the human body. A rain of clear chemicals fell over him, sprayed with gentle force from the wall jets of the shaft surrounding him and he waited with careful patience, counting softly under his breath and being certain to maintain his firm grip on the ladder rung. His helmet did indeed begin to mist up as he was showered and he held his breath for a moment, allowing the air system to compensate for the moisture build up in the suit and clear the mist, then inhaling deeply when he could again see clearly. “Thank you for your cooperation. The decontamination process is now complete. You are advised to shake the excess moisture from your hands and feet and to be aware that the ladder may be slippery ahead of you as a result of the moisture used in the decontamination process. You may now continue. Press the green button when you reach the grate to enter the Dome airlock system. A shift supervisor will meet you on exiting the airlock.” Polnar quickly shook each hand, careful to maintain a firm grip with one hand and then grip the rung firmly while he shook each leg, scowling at the message and its unwelcome news. He had never entered the Base Dome from this access point and he was not happy to hear about this feature of the process. //A shift supervisor? No one mentioned that to me. Damn. I've never got that part of the message before, but then I never entered the dome through this entry point before either, just the treatment plant. If a Supervisor is supposed to meet us then that would suggest that the computer would be notifying someone of our use of the shaft. If there is anyone alive up there and they receive the notification I sincerely hope it is a friendly body and not one of the Sleepers or Security Agents. You made a mistake, Polnar. You should have found out about that before you decided this would be a viable means of entry and exit to the dome should you ever need it. // He resumed the climb hoping that the two men below were ready to follow him and that they took due care with the moisture on the rungs. Somewhere above him was the grate that guarded the airlock and he hoped it was not too far ahead of him. It was not too many rungs later that he became aware of the strengthening glow in the shaft and the amber light picked up a red glow then was replaced with the red light that told him he neared the exit. //About time too. Well, the airlock looks to be intact, no damage that I can see. I wonder how those bastards got into the Base Dome? If it was through here they never damaged the airlock at least which is as well. The integrity of the dome must be maintained at all times even by those assholes unless they can breathe the junk that passes for air on Mars. Press the green button it said, so here goes.// The ladder had brought him face to face with a narrow platform that was sealed by a metal grate with two colour coded buttons, red and green. Beyond the grate he could see the blast doors that clearly showed an airlock system and the electronic control panel to operate the system. Satisfied that all was as he had expected he pressed the button and pushed the grate to the side, clearing his way to the platform fronting the airlock just as a hand touched his foot and then withdrew. Carter had caught up with him and he was quick to step off the ladder and across the small distance to the platform giving Carter the opportunity to complete the climb. He moved to the lock controls and activated the initiate cycle to release the door locks. It seemed to take forever for the door to open inward and reveal the small chamber that would be sufficient to take no more than four suited men at a time and he entered the chamber quickly, making room for Carter who followed him in in short order. Barker brought up the rear and signaled a thumbs up for all being well, which both he and Carter returned and the Preventer activated the door lock and then the cycling system. Barker turned from the controls and leaned against the wall, resting his helmeted head back against the wall and he had no doubt the man was enjoying the respite offered from the climb. He had to admit it was wonderful not to be climbing and he took the opportunity to rest his shoulder against the solidity of the wall and catch his breath. He could hear the hiss of air being pumped into the chamber and glanced at the exit door that would lead into the dome access waiting for the lights above it to flash green, indicating the all clear to continue. By reflex, the results of long standing safety procedures required by the nature of his employment at the colony as the interior lights flashed green he turned his attention to his wrist meter and took a sample of the exterior air. The oxygen meter for his suit showed that he had been suitably conservative for the exertion they had employed in reaching this point, giving him sufficient mixture for another four hours use and he grinned, knowing that they would be clear of the suits long before then. Still, he had long ago learned not to take anything for granted and to conserve his resources on the chance that he might need them. Had it not been for the warning that the air within the Base Dome might contain certain toxic elements he and his companions would already be stripping off their helmets and getting ready to shuck their suits and enjoying the fresher air offered by the base domes supply. Satisfied with his personal conservation he glanced at the flashing readout on the small screen that were the results of the air sample he had taken. He stared at the meter gauge in disbelief and fought down the shudder that was pure reflex to knowing that if he had removed his helmet he would have been pale for more than one reason. “Oh shit.” He reached out to grasp both Barker and Carter as they stirred, reacting to the green light. “Polnar?” Barker had been moving toward the door but paused at his touch, shifting his suited bulk to look his way and pushed their helmets together to facilitate communication. “Something wrong?” He slapped Barkers arm, drawing his attention to the wrist meter. “Take a sample of the atmosphere in the air lock. I do it by rote because of the type of work that I am required to do. The bastards were not taking any chances of anyone managing to get back into the dome.” He watched as Barker leaned back from him and his wrist come up and initiated the sample. By now Carter was watching and caught on to what he wanted, initiating his own check. He watched the widening of the Preventers' eyes on reading the mix of gasses that had been pumped into the atmosphere of the airlock and the motion of a hand pressed to his face plate in a gesture that expressed Barkers anger. “Well it would have been quick. Unpleasant, but quick.” Carter snarled loud enough to be heard and dropped his wrist, absently feeling for any possible weakness in his suit then pushed his helmet to contact the others. “Let's get the hell out of this death trap.” //If we had not been warned that there might be something
wrong with the air in the dome we would all be dead now.// he watched
the Preventer punch in the door release code. //Poisoned by what should
have been a welcome breath of fresh air. Shit. There really can be
no doubt. Those bastards intended to kill everyone who was outside
the dome but why lock them out if they had poisoned the air supply?
Was it only these smaller locks that they trapped like this? On the
off chance that someone might think to use them? //
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