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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"
Asteroid Belt Station One 1st March AC 198 Time 00:21 [Ship time] 17:09 MST [Mars Standard Time] Raydon One did not have to be a psychic to feel the tension that ran through the crew of Station One. Though he had issued no formal alert he noted that the bridge captain had placed the defense stations on amber alert. Amber alert was sufficient to have everyone primed and an automatic summons issued to the department heads to attend an emergency conference. There was no doubt in his mind that they would need to discuss measures that would have to be taken without unduly alarming the citizens of the station who were not designated defense personal. Civilian citizens of the station need not be unduly alarmed at this time. On his arrival on the deck containing the bridge he noted how conspicuously quiet it seemed, few crew men or women walking the halls and no civilian personal authorized to be on this level were in sight. Even on the lower levels where the living quarters and social gathering areas were situated no one had been wandering around. He approved the action. Many of the personal who lived on the station were ex military and were employed to defend the station should there ever become a need. He was not such a fool that he considered the Station to be untouchable. While it was true the Asteroid Belt was their greatest defense, theirs were not the only ships to ply this remote realm. For a ship to come this deep into the dangerous field meant one had to have powerful deflector shields and excellent maneuverability. Any captain who relied on defense shields to enter the asteroid belt was a fool not worthy of the rank. No, it was not ships they needed to defend against. Most often the defense crews had to act not against rogue asteroids that penetrated the outer defense rings. The bridge door slid aside for him as he approached, the mechanics picking up the signal in the insignia he wore. The door slid into the wall cavity with a hiss of air and as he passed it snapped out behind him, sealing the bridge environment against all who did not wear authorization insignia. The first thing he noted was that everyone was staring in the direction of the great view screen and that there was a loud hiss of static overlying the usual chatter of computers. He scowled, eyes sweeping the scene quickly before flicking up toward the screen. A woman, wide eyed with terror, streaming tears, blood on her face and uniform. The picture was somewhat fuzzy and he realized that this was the source of the static he could hear. It disrupted both the picture and sound quality of the message, but not enough to take away from the words that sounded clearly through the too silent bridge. "...yday! Mayday! Help us. This is Mars Base Dome. The Raiders... oh, God... The Raiders are here! They're killing everybody. Help us... " He watched, impassive, face carefully devoid of emotion, as the fiery haired woman with the torn, blood smeared coveralls dissolved into static. After a moment the screen blanked and silence filled the control room. It was not a comfortable silence as each member of the crew evaluated the contents of the message and the knowledge of how it would be received by the Earth Sphere governments. Furious he drew a deep breath, already calculating the damage that would be done to his plans for recognition of Station Ones independence and recognition by the Earth Sphere. This would set his plans back years if he could not do something to counter it. Someone would have to answer some very pointed questions about this mayday. "Stations, everyone. Hampshire, replay that on your screen." at his cool instruction people snapped out of their shocked states, glancing in his direction and then hurrying to tend to their stations. He made his way to the communications computer banks, considering the implications to his existing plans. Matters might already be out of hand. Once that mayday was received by the hub colonies and planet of the Earth Sphere there would be a hue and cry and his people would never gain the independence they sought. Nor would they be believed when they denied responsibility for the raids and deny their involvement they would. He stood behind the communications officer and nodded to the small screen. "Play it, Hampshire. I want a recording of that prepared for the meeting. How long ago was it sent?" "I managed to get around the delay on the satellite relay, Sir. This was sent from Mars approximately one hour ago. It has, as yet, not been broadcast to the Earth Sphere." He watched the replay of the Mayday with carefully neutral features, giving away nothing of his reaction to anyone watching him. Raiders, indeed! He knew full well what was going on on Mars at this time. After the alert sent to him by his agents on Mars he had no doubt what was happening there. The ESUN was covering its tail for a mission likely going horribly wrong. Neither Milliardo Peacecraft nor that Amazon would stand quietly for this. Knowing the war records of both it likely was going to get much worse before it got better. Scapegoats. His very respectable Captains would not have a bar of massacre. Aside from the fact he had chosen the captains for their skills and high value on honor, this type of idiocy was very bad for business. Raiding colonies was a stupid move and one his captains were not likely to make, even behind his back. He had a very long ear and an even longer arm. Word would come back to him and the Captain and crew responsible would not long ply the space lanes. Not only was it bad for business, but it was also very bad for the ultimate goal they all worked to achieve. Acceptance by the Earth Sphere was what they had been working to achieve, and when, if, this got out he could kiss good bye to that dream for perhaps a score of years. He would have to provide irrefutable evidence that it had not been his people who were responsible, and proof of the identity of the real instigators of the massacre that was happening on Mars. Yes, he knew what was going on there and he had a decision to make over what action must be taken to deal with this crisis. His response would need to be carefully considered, but he was damned if his people were going to take the blame for this affront to common decency. If they did not find a means to make it plain in formal courts that they were not to blame for this piracy and murder, then their ultimate goal of establishing Allied Independent Space Stations, that would be formally recognized by the Earth Sphere was shattered. Possibly forever. This affront to himself and his people could not be allowed to stand, but he was uncertain just what action to take. The media had, already, hyped up stories of the Space Raiders, or the Reavers of the Asteroid Belt, as they were so fond of calling them in news casts. Much of the reputation of the Raiders was exaggeration designed to sell stories and newspapers, not based on any actual facts. Inaccuracies were common in the details of incidents reported to the citizens of the Earth Sphere. People would be only too willing to accept that the Raiders were responsible for the massacre of a fledgling colony. None of this had been hinted in any incident reports from the Gifted on board Station One. He would have to look into that. Something this big interfering with their overall plans should have produced a host of warnings from the Sighted. Silence from the Gifted ranks was ominous. It was a little known fact amid the people of the ESUN, that most of the screaming about Raiders was from insurance companies who blamed every error in the depths of space on Reavers. Every ship that vanished from the space lanes was claimed to be a pirate kill, when likely most ran afoul of misjudging the orbits of asteroids, or whose shields failed and the ships were punctured by micro meteors. Yes, he admitted, his captains did capture ore carriers and relieve them of their cargo's, but in the most recent cases they had actually left payment for the confiscated goods. No doubt the crews of the way laid ships never mentioned that small fact or else the mining consortiums conveniently forgot to mention they were paid for their goods so that they could claim insurance. He was fair with his payments too, being certain to pay the current market price for the materials confiscated from the ships. Insurance for ships carrying valuables in and around the asteroid belt was astronomical due to the claims. Far more claims were issued than there were pirates, Raydon knew. He also admitted that there were independent ships out there whose Captains and crew had little or no honor, and had an insatiable greed, but they were not his people. It was, however, par for the course that raids perpetrated by them would not be distinguished from those carried out by his people, and to date there had been little he could do about that. No, the captains under his command who were allied to Station One were not to blame for this assault on Mars. Everyone had been ordered to keep clear of the colony, as he had hoped to establish legitimate trading relations with them when the colony was officially opened. The trade agreement he had hoped to establish was one small step; the first step of many, to getting the three stations under his command recognized by the ESUN. Then his beloved idiot had gotten himself exiled there and Raydon had another reason to keep Mars clear of raids. He would not chance his intended being injured in a raid. Nor would he have the Peacecraft Prince continue to think of his people as pirates and rogues. He had wanted Milliardo to acknowledge that they had plans to become legitimate traders. He had wanted Milliardo to accept Station One as his new home, and to be proud of it. "How long before the Chiefs of Staff are assembled in the conference room?" "Most are already waiting for you, Sir. Only Captain Williams and Commander Yamoto are to arrive. That should be in ten minutes. Their ships docked only twenty minutes ago and the command staff are almost clear of decontamination protocols." The com officer ejected a small disk and passed it to the Captain. "The recording of the mayday call, Sir." He pocketed the disk and flicked a finger at the com consol. "Any further word from our agents in the Mars Colony?" "None, Sir. No further communications has been received from the Colony. I have intercepted a signal that went out from Mars via a ESUN high frequency transceiver. I am working on decoding the message now." "Get it to me with all haste. Could you tell where it was aimed?" "Judging by the trajectory and the nature of the frequency involved, it could only have been aimed for the ESUN Cruiser, Wellington, Sir. She is approximately two days out from Mars at last report." //Ah, so that's it. The Wellington is their ticket off Mars.// he considered the implications in silence, his frown deepening the more he considered the information he had access to. //Remove their captives, Milliardo and the children? Or just the children? I need more information. What I know is not enough to make a true judgment of the circumstances. Do what they went to Mars to achieve and then wipe out the colony, leaving us to take the heat for the crime. No one need know that Milliardo Peacecraft was ever on Mars. Anyone who did know that information and was not ESUN, which would not be many, would likely not be in a position to cause a fuss, and would not be believed even should they dare to protest the action. The big bad Pirates did it.// It was infuriating, especially as there was likely to be little he could do about it, and less that could be done to stop the massacre. His people were, when all was said and done, Raiders in truth. Or they had been, to begin with. Before he had begun to unite them under the dream of an independent home. Before they had begun the dream of being other that Outcasts of society. They were different to the predators who prowled the space lanes, in that they now had a goal of respectability in mind. Rejects from the ESUN they never the less had rights and in joining the fledgling Allied Independent Space Stations, they now had the means by which to demand that recognition of rights. As yet they were not recognized officially by the ESUN, but that did not bother him. Not yet. Or it had not, until this matter had reared its ugly head. He was not at all interested in fighting the ESUN. No, creating another war was not his intention. He just wanted the Earth Sphere to recognize them as independent bodies with rights. Most of his citizens on Station One were ex soldiers abandoned by the ESUN and their Peace Principle. Blow up all the weapons and then throw away the soldiers, giving them no aid in starting again and make certain they were not rewarded for their warring ways, never mind that most worked for the varying governments at one time. Whether they were Alliance or Oz the government had a right to look after its own, not abandon them. As for the White Fang members on the Station, well, the Colony government had caste them out, too. No recognition of what they had been fighting for at all. Those who had fought with the Alliance and Oz had, at least, received a pittance of a pension, a pat on the back for a handful fortunate enough to receive some recognition for their service... and then nothing. The White Fang members had simply been cast out after being called rebels and terrorists. //Wonderful way to reward people who had been willing to put their lives on the line to fight for that ideal of peace that so many people had wanted.// he mused, considering his bridge crew. //They are my people. I accepted responsibility for them and promised recognition by the Earth Sphere. I will still see that they get that independence.// "Do you have that list of ships in the vicinity of Mars?" "Sir." Hampshire passed a sheaf of papers to his commander. "This is a listing of all ships within a four day flight of the planet. There are three of our ships within that range, two of them within two days flight. There are three Ore Carriers in the flight lane passing Mars within the next five days, the first due to fly past in an hour or so. It belongs to the Patrice Mining Consortium, as does the third, which will pass Mars on the fifth day. The second ship to pass Mars is a Winner Enterprises ship and fly past will be in two days. I have estimated that there are also two Sweeper's ships in the area of Mars, judging by our last known confirmation on their locations. One of the ships being a Family Ship." Sweepers. Raydon considered that and the implications should the Family Ship get caught in the action happening on Mars. He had contacts with the gypsy group. He was on good terms with most of the Sweepers and it was not beyond the realms of possibility that they might offer an assist in this situation. Certainly when they received the delayed message from Mars they would respond to that mayday. He could not allow a Family Ship to become involved in this type of potential situation. He would need to contact the Sweepers just to ensure the Family Ship was diverted well away from the danger zone. There was no need to place more innocent lives on the line. "Who are the captains of the Sweeper Ships?" "The family ship is the Dark Side, S43861 A, L2 registry, Captained by Damian Edwards, Sir. The other is the Miss Conception, S1395 D, L3 registry, captained by Amelia Bryce." He knew both Captains and that was fortunate. They were both honorable and decent people. "I will be forwarding messages to both ships after the conference. Have high speed direct link communications set up ready for my messages to go out. Any replies are to be forwarded to me immediately." "Sir." he snapped a salute and then dropped his gaze back to the com board at a beep. "All Command staff are assembled in the conference room, Sir." He lightly touched a hand to the pocket where he had slipped the disk containing the recording of the mayday call. His Commanders were not going to be amused.
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