|
"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"
Rosemount Station Asteroid Belt Orbit, sector 5 Date: 1st March AC 198 Time: 22:00 Rose Errant P.O.V. It has been a long time since I felt the kiss of the wind on my cheek. Or the caress of rain on my face and the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. It has been a very long time since I have had the pleasure of listening to the song of my birds fill the air. It has been too long since I had the pleasure of gazing upon the beauty of my lady. How I have wronged her. How many nights I longed to ask her to stay with me, and did not. How many days did I wish to ask her to be more to me than the most efficient of assistants? How many days I wished I could ask her to walk with me through a rose garden, and talk to me of things other than the deployment of mobile suits and what bases the gundams had attacked during the night. I would have liked to talk to her about balmy summer days. About lying naked in a field and just existing in the warmth and letting the breeze caress us with more than a lovers touch. I would have liked to tell her that she was beautiful. More beautiful than the roses that graced my garden. She shone more brightly in my eyes than the sun, and I dared not tell her that I loved her. The Lady and I never had a chance. Not really. I deeply regret that it could not be in those days of madness and mayhem. I was too focused on my plan. I needed to be focused on the plan. She was forgiving of my faults and focused on aiding me to achieve the peace all of the world so desperately needed. I longed to turn to her... I should have turned to her for more than her efficiency. I should have turned to her for the comfort and for the warmth that I know she wanted to give to me. I so desperately wished to give such comfort to her. She knew I loved her. I pray that it is so, that she knew I felt for her and that I would take her for my own when it was all done. But time ran out for us. I needed to focus on the needs of the world before I could focus on what might lie between us. What would lie between us if we could only bring the world at long last out of chaos and into peace. We had the chance to create that peace. I am a fool. A poor, desperate fool who viewed the big picture and ignored the fundamental truth. What use is peace if there is no one to live it with? What use is peace if there is no one who sees peace as you see it? What use is peace if there is no one to hold you as you lie in the sun in a meadow of spring grass, butter cups lightly scenting the air, their golden beauty framing her brown hair. What use is peace if you deny the one you wish to share it with? I wish I could leave this room. I wish I could leave this room and fly to Earth and find a spring meadow full of golden flowers, and I wish that I could walk there with her. I would tell her how I feel. I would tell her this time. I have learned not to put off love. I have learned not to save it for later. Later might never come. We were fools. Such fools. Life loses meaning without love. I have learned that lesson. Now. My hope for our future together ended in that fight over Earth... I'm sorry, my friend. I forced you into that position. I gave you no choice. My hawk. I tugged free your jesses and cast you out into the world. I had to, Milliardo. Forgive me. You were hiding. You were refusing to be who you were born to be. You were not in truth the man known as Zechs Marquise. That is not who you were born to be. That is not who you were meant to be. You were born to be Milliardo Peacecraft. You were born to be the Prince of Sanc... and it was stolen away from you. That life was stolen from you one snow laden night and you were reborn in fire and ice. You did not die then, my friend. It was not your time. Nor did you die in Space. That, too, was not your time. You have been forced to be who you are not for so many years, that you had forgotten who you truly were, and I had no choice. You could not remain Zechs Marquise forever. Had I known that Relena was alive sooner I would have arranged for you to be posted near to her. I know that had you been near her you would not have been able to resist getting to know her. Somehow you would have managed, despite Darlian. Had I done so, what would have happened? You would not have told her who you were, I know that, but she might have seen you as a friend. Ah, but Darlian would not have allowed you near her, would he? I can not forget about the Senator. I should never forget about him, should I? Yes, he would have known you at a glance and he might well have panicked. If he panicked would the worst have happened? The great advocate for peace was not so free of blood stains as the world believes. He had much to atone for. Had I known and posted you near to her, it might well have placed you in greater danger. Yet at the very least it would have given you the comfort of seeing her from a distance. It would have given you the opportunity to speak with Pagan once again. I should have had him killed earlier. I am sorry, my friend. What are we to do now? I need you here. There is nowhere in the Earth Sphere that is safe for either of us now. I could not bare to use Epyon. I tried. I did try, but it... Epyon was not intended for me. I was lacking in what it needed. I was found wanting by the system and Yuy, too, was found to be unsuitable. But you... You had what was needed and you had the courage and the strength to make the choice. I am sorry that I could not warn you. I warned Yuy, but did he warn you, as I had him? Did he tell you what I told him of the system? I should have tried to contact you and explain about the suit. You should not have had to learn it without the grace of any forewarning. You should not have had to bare the visions alone, without aid. I am so sorry that you were alone. I wonder if it was a relief to you when the suit was destroyed? If it was destroyed. Yes. Yes, you would have destroyed it after the Libra. What was left of it, which surely would not have been much. I saw enough of the future when I used it, to know how strong I must make it to ensure that you would survive. I am sorry, my friend, that I could not be there for you. They said you were dead when I was coherent enough to understand what they were saying to me. Months dead. I thought that I had failed you. I thought that you were dead and that I would be maimed for life. I did not believe them when they said I would fully heal, though it would take time. I believe them now, of course. How could I not? Once I thought that I would never breathe without pain. Or move so much as a finger without the most... I grow stronger each day. I can walk again. I can breathe without pain. I can even start to build up my body now. I will be restored to the vigor I once enjoyed. I only need patience. I can not help but see the improvements each day. My blood count is almost normal and maintaining those levels now. I can do so many things that I once thought would be forever beyond me. It has been a hard road, but they were right. I suppose that I have Romefeller to thank for my recovery. I wonder just how much they knew about me? I wonder if they knew about that effect of their tampering? God. What have they done? How many have they manipulated? What exactly is it that they have done to us? Zechs. Lady. Myself. Noin too. Dorothy. So many others. I have found the records of the gundam pilots, and though not all of them are genetically modified... Yuy was intended for space exploration and he may well wish to pursue that when he is given the option. We shall see. There are so many children. So many in those laboratories hidden on Earth and throughout the colonies. So many people who have been genetically altered. So many different alterations made. We do not belong here. We do not belong here, in the Earth Sphere. We are tools. Toys even. We are not their possessions and they will learn it. Eventually. We need a place of our own. A place to call home. Freaks. Horrible, horrible word, but a word that will be used if the truth of the Romefeller Organization should be revealed to the general public. Yuy was not intended to be the Perfect Soldier. He was used by others to become that, when he should have been here, on Rosemount. He should have been here, training to explore beyond our solar system. Those children we rescue from the laboratories were created to be the perfect soldiers, but that must not be permitted. We are done with war. I will not allow Romefeller to bring back the conflict. If Yuy could be trained to be a soldier, then they can be trained to become explorers. Romefeller. That name should be the biggest curse word in history. The lives they have disrupted. The murders they have committed. The massacre. The manipulation of lives, bodies and the very world itself. They change the course of history if it does not suit their dynastic ideals. They were intended to be guides. They lost the true goal hundreds of years ago. They lost the honesty and the purity and they became something dark and dirty. We are nothing but toys to them. But this toy has teeth. And a will of his own. And now I have friends who, like me, will no longer be ruled by their machinations. We have a destiny and it is not the same goal as Romefeller sought. Our destiny will take us away from them and their manipulations. We will be free. What will face us out there? So much that is unknown. So many things could go wrong, and the truth is that we can not even begin until we have every one onboard. We can not begin without you, my friend. Will you come? When we call, will you come to us? What is there for your within the Earth Sphere? Who there can understand what Epyon did to you? Who there can offer you true comfort and the chance to move beyond the horrors of the system? Milliardo, you belong here, where we can help you to deal with what that system forced on you. It was not kind, the Epyon. It had no concept of pain. It had no true intelligence... No, not true. It was intelligent. It was aware, but it was not human and it could not know a humans limitations. Epyon was not kind. Epyon had no idea of the concept of emotions, or physical pain. Epyon was a machine. Avery special machine, but just that. A machine. Zechs... You were the one it found to merge with. You were the one it needed to fulfill its function. What did it show you? What did it show you beyond the end of the Libra? Ah, Zechs. I am sorry. I have to stop calling you that. You have to acknowledge who you are, and that means acknowledging who you were born to be. Milliardo Peacecraft. Prince of Sanc. What would the world... what would you be like today, if Sanc had not fallen? You would be very different to the man I knew who grew up from that scarred and lonely boy. What ifs, in hindsight. Bad, Kushrenada. How did the Libra change you, my friend? Wrong question, Kushrenada. I should be asking how much Epyon changed you. It changed us all. Not just those of us who used it have been changed by it. The entire Earth Sphere was changed because of that device. Whatever comes in the future was shaped by the Epyon and by you. Your perceptions, focused through the system. They tell me that it is believed by those in power that I copied the Zero system. Fools. Such fools. Still, I suppose they would not really have any idea of what Epyon truly was. It most certainly was not an attempt at the perfect weapon. It was not a weapon at all. I told that to Yuy. Did he not believe me? It changed the world. It made peace possible. But not the Epyon alone. It could not do anything alone. Epyon only made it possible to bring about the required circumstances for peace to be brought into effect. They have to grow up. For the next stage to happen, they have to grow out of their petty ideals and greedy grabbing of powers strings. The Earth Sphere needs to grow up and into this peace. Not grow out of it. It is time for humanity to mature and to look around and to see the truth. All I need do is look at that crystal and I take a virtual tour of the Rosemount and I can see the vision. I can see it so clearly. I want to touch the crystal, but they will not allow that. I want to touch the crystal and allow everything to become so much clearer. They are right to hold me back. I can not touch the crystal until I am healed. Until I have had the chance to build up strength. It would kill me at this stage of my healing. Soon. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am healing. It will happen. What will I do if the Lady will not come? God. It does not bare thinking about. The truth is that Rosemount will function very well without her, but I... I need her. I want her to be a part of this dream. I want her to come here and walk the halls of Rosemount and to see what I see. Not just these walls, but the future. I want her to come with me. What about my daughter? I did not know Leia was pregnant. I did not know that I had a child. Barton. Was it all his doing? The secrecy. The scheming. All so that he could gain power. Did he not have enough already? Well, no, obviously he thought not. All for power. Or was it, in truth, another of Romefellers schemes? Another stage in their grand design? They had ensured the births of progeny from unlikely parents before. I was very young. Very stupid, to trust in others as I did then. Was it Romefeller? I think too much. I hate these nights when I can not sleep. The same thoughts always buzzing around in my head. No resolutions reached. Always coming down to the same questions and the same lack of answers. Once, not so long ago, thinking was the only thing I could do that did not hurt. I will be glad when the nerves settle enough for me to begin intensive body building exercises. That will tire me out and I will sleep better. Physical exhaustion brought about by exercise. Ah, I long for that. At least the therapy is making advances that I can see. I have hope that I will not always need to be in isolation. I have hope that I can wear clothing again. That I can sleep in a bed again. That I can touch... I want to touch her. Get a life, Kushrenada. Two years ago you were a blob of burned flesh. Barely alive. Alive, yes, but you had no skin to speak of. Has it really been so long? I knew nothing of the world for months and when I did wake from the coma, it was to find myself a slab of crisped meat. I would not have wanted her to see me then. At least I look normal now. Barely a scar to show for my encounter with 05. Mm. I could turn vain about my appearance. God, I just might. I want to wear clothes again. I want to enjoy the cut of a good coat. I want to feel textures against my skin. The sheer pleasure of silk. The feel of wool and coolness of satin. I want to run my fingers through the silk of her hair... Back to the Lady again. I must be making progress. Did I actually feel a stir of desire then? Well, well. I did. That's the first time in... years. The question is, should I encourage it? Just to make sure everything is working properly? I'm pathetic. Give it up. Your not going to get any sleep tonight. What's that? Oh. The alarm from the study. Well, it has to be better than floating here and thinking about encouraging a hard on. Time to get a proper life. "Gravity reinstatement. One third Earth normal." Mmm. I wonder if I could tolerate slippers for a while? I'll have to ask for some lighter clothing and maybe silk slippers? Could I tolerate the feel of that? I know the rooms are heated, but the carpets even feel cold. At least I can feel. Now, lets see. Mm. A sheep skin? Well, if they think I should try it, I'm willing. It has to be better than that fluid filled blob they call a chair. No, I take that back. This thing will probably make me itch to death. Brace up, my boy. It's only a chair. "God. A real chair, too. Well, my hands at least are not screaming at me when I touch the sheep skin, so I hope my butt appreciates this." Aaah, yes. Something really solid under me. This is progress. I do want to sleep in a real bed again. I want to wear clothing and walk in shoes. There is so much that I never thought about before. You take clothing for granted. You take sleeping in a bed for granted. I just took so much for granted. Yes. Yes, I'm here. No need to start with the buzzing again. Just let me get this glove on, will you? ~/ Rose Errant./~ "We have received a call over general frequencies. A Mayday." Now why would that concern me? Why inform me unless... Cousin? You are in transit. Surely the Captain would not have tested those engines without back up? Even with the approved stage of the engines as it stands, you would have enough speed to out run raiders, so what is wrong? Have you run into trouble? Why else would they inform me at this hour? ~/ Play the mayday./~ A woman with fire bright hair, torn clothing and blood stained. Bruised and bloody. Static disrupting the signal. "Mayday! Mayday! Help us. This is Mars Base Dome. The Raiders... oh, God... The Raiders are here! They're killing everybody. Help us..." Mars. God. Zechs. We can't afford to lose our Pilot. Zechs. ~/What ships with the redesigned engines, if any, do we have in the vicinity of Mars?/~ We can not afford to lose Zechs. And to Raiders, no less. No. Not when we are so close. "We have... three ships with the new engine design checked out between twenty five and seventy five percent of full capacity, within a five day flight. The closest of the ships is the Phoenix Glory and at full burn to the checked out power levels, she could make Mars orbit in... sixty eight hours." No. No, that is too long. We can't have lost our chance. We can not afford to lose Zechs. He has to help us. As much as he could help us, so we could help him. He has no where else to go within the Earth Sphere. Rosemount would be the only chance he would have to start a life of his own, free of the past. We can not have that kind of set back. He would resist. If they are killing the terra formers, then he would organize a defense. He would make it as hard for them as possible. What am I to do? The Glory has been tested and certified for three quarter power. Dare I risk so much by having them fire the engines to full capacity? There was no great rush, before, but now... More than sixty hours to reach Mars, even at full power. The deceleration would lengthen the time frame. Still, if she is the only chance we have of not losing our Pilot... Dare I not take the chance? ~/ Give instructions for the Glory to proceed to Mars at maximum burn. If it is at all possible they are not to reveal their presence. They are to observe and monitor all activity in the area discreetly, but they are to reach Mars orbit as quickly as possible. /~ "Sir." quiet acknowledgement. "There is the Phoenix Rising and the Phoenix Star." His heart clenched. ~/ No. We can not afford to lose the ships or their crews. One ship is enough of a risk at this time. These engines are experimental. We dare not lose the ships to a malfunction./~ Much as I would love to give the order, I can not. I can not chance their lives. We are not ready to test those engines above the level of the Glory at this time. She is the one we have cleared for seventy five per cent. It is a risk to order her to full power, but of the three, she is the most likely to suffer no ill effects. I trust the Captain to increase power gradually and to ease back if there is any indication of trouble. There is still so much work on them to be done, and even should he get the ship up to full capacity, they will need almost as much time to dump their speed as they will to build speed. No, I think the Rising and the Star are too close to Mars to warrant using their engines at untested speed. The Glory has the better chance and the better distance. The lack of true distance involved would mean they would no sooner reach speed that they would have to begin deceleration. Only the Glory is at an optimum distance for the attempt. "Acknowledged, Sir. Instructions have been issued to the Phoenix Glory to alter course and investigate the mayday call. Sir, there is an anomaly. I hesitated to bring this to your attention, but in light of the recent occurrence, it may have a baring." ~/Yes?/~ He missed Lilac. The night shift controller was a man who was all driving professionalism with few of the social graces that marked Lilac. Yet he could not deny that the man knew his job. No one made shift controller who was not more than efficient. "In the last two hours we have noted an unusual amount of radio traffic on the raiders scrambled frequencies. In the last hour it has been noted that three of their ships have altered course and are now on a direct heading for Mars. According to our statistics the ships are accelerating. We have been working on breaking into their frequency and we are making progress. However, we believe that much of their talk has been about the Daccar III Communications array." Oh, I think I am missing rather a large amount of information. Something about this does not smell right. I have always had a nose for the odd and just plain rotten stench affecting circumstances. Something is very wrong with this. The Raiders have never gone near Mars before. Why now? Some anomaly with the Daccar system? No. I do not know enough to judge. I think I need to know much more than I do before I can fit this behaviour into an acceptable pattern. ~/ Send to me all the information you have on Raider activity in the last week. Include in that information any deciphered communications and include the latest information to be transmitted through the Dakkar array. You will also include in the package the last months communications from Mars and the identities of any ships that have passed Mars, or landed there, in that time frame./~ "Sir." What is going on? The Raiders have not bothered with Mars before, so why now? At least one ship attacking the colony and another three on the way, but not due to arrive for days? It makes no sense. I need to get contacts inside their organization. There must be some way that I can get someone they would trust into their ships or at their home base. We have tried before, but our agents have not been accepted, no matter how good our cover for them was. It was as though they knew. Raiders attacking Mars. We can not afford to lose you, Zechs. Stay alive, my friend. ~/ Contact our operatives on Earth. Find out what they know about what responses are being made to this mayday./~ "Sir, incoming communication from the Phoenix Star. It's Ms Catalonia." Ah, Dorothy. I know you too well. No, my dear cousin, you may not change your course and respond to this Mayday. I need you here. ~/She requests permission to respond to the Mayday and approach the Mars vectors?/~ "Yes, Sir. That is the gist of the message we have received, only she has not asked for permission. She has informed Rosemount that the Phoenix Star is altering course and initiating an approach vector for the Martian orbit. They expect to arrive in seventy four hours." No! No, cousin. I am sorry, but no, that I will not allow. I do not know what would drive you to make that decision... Zechs? Do you know that Zechs is there? We need to talk, Dorothy and you are not the closest, nor the best for this mission. ~/ Contact Phoenix Star and have them return to their original course. The emergency will be handled by the Phoenix Glory. You will have the captain place Ms. Catalonia in detention, if necessary, but you will get that ship back on its course to Rosemount Station. They are to give Mars a wide birth. /~ You must forgive me, cousin. Do not give me a hard time about this. I can not afford to lose you or the crew or that ship, any more than I can afford to lose Zechs. You had success with the Epyon System when you were on Libra, cousin. You may be a pilot. I can not place you in any danger. If we lose Zechs, you may be the only other person who may be able to pilot for us. Not that you used Epyon as Zechs did. Yet, he allowed you to use it. Strange. I need to know more of what happened on Libra. What did you see? Did Epyon reveal anything to you? Ah, things are getting interesting. It was all beginning to fall into place. The testing of the ships was going well. You had accepted the invitation and were willing to come. We had found Zechs. We do not need Raiders causing trouble. We are so close to success. So close. ~ * ~
|
