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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 70 2nd March Station One Time: 07:27 [22:05 Approx, Sank time] Nigel Hampshire // Look at them. I know what they think about me, but they have no idea.// He glanced idly around the bridge, noting who was idling at their stations and who was absorbed in their stations readouts. It was easy enough to tell who was working and who was daydreaming, though to be honest that was a rarity with this crew of dedicated professionals, but everyone slipped once in a while. He could even tell who was working on improvements to their systems by the intensity they betrayed. It was easy enough, and he did admit that it had a lot to do with the Gift he was training. This Gift allowed him to know so much. To understand what it was that gave him insights into the people around him. It had not always been so of course. Most on the station and that included the Bridge Crew, did not know that he was one of Raydon's Gifted and that anonymity suited him. He could sit here and watch them and it did not take much effort to read the intensity in their auras and combined with his knowledge of his crew mates it allowed him to discern who looked to be watching whom. It also, of course, allowed him to know that they laughed at him, but that he was used to. Nor did he mind it, for he was above that petty amusement. His world had opened up when he had been accepted onboard Station One. His Gift, which he had formerly looked upon in his ignorance as a curse, had been recognized and accepted by those others who had been graced with similar abilities. What once was a curse now became an accepted part of himself. A part that he still needed to work on to bring totally under his control. //They think I'm angling to jump the Captain's bones.// he smirked to himself, his eyes dropping to run over the readings of his consol, monitoring the traffic over the airways. //It is true that I have a certain regard for him, yes, but they all seem to think that I have a case of the hots for him. They expect me to make a fool of myself over him and I can play to that. It is better that they underestimate me. Damn. That is the sort of thinking that I am supposed to be controlling. My gift does not make me Inferior to anyone. My Gift does not make me Superior to anyone. My Gift makes me different to others, and I shall be proud of my differences.// he silently chanted the litany that was one of the first things the training masters had taught him. // I am different and that is good. I am an individual and I am proud of who I am. They expect me to chase him and offer myself to him and I suppose that at first, that was true, but I know I'm not in his league. He understood me where no one else did and I feel that I owe him for that. How does he do that? Do they take me for an utter fool?// He sighed softly. The man was handsome, to say the very least, and he was above all a Commander of men. A man who was far from common and certainly not incompetent. A man such as Raydon could not be thought of in terms of possession, even in one's day dreams. Ah, yes. Daydreams. Well, it was the truth that so long as you understood the difference between truth and daydream that it did not hurt to fantasize. Raydon was from another walk of life entirely. So far out of his league that it did not even hurt to admit it. It simply was the truth. // He is a gentleman and an officer. More than that, though. He's no common born man. There is breeding there. In every line of his body that arrogance and beauty live. You can't fake that look that only the true aristocrats have. Some are arrogant bastards with it, but some few of them are different. He's one of those. He has the common touch and does not look down on anyone. I know that he is nobility and way above my level, and that is just fine. Not a problem at all. I can look, and I can daydream and I know he does not mind that. I'll have to stop the game though. Before he bites at me and I suppose now is as good a time as any, with the Prince coming back. People will expect me to back off, so no one should question my actions. They might even think I'm growing up a little.// His eyes flicked to the frequency readouts, a small frown creasing his brow. //Ah, now look at that. I recognize those little beauties. Test signals from Sweeper ships checking the relay. That makes around seven or is it eight test sweeps in the last few hours. Raydon will be pleased that they are following up on the message he sent. Hmm. Another … Now that one is different in a couple of ways. Not a Sweeper signal that I recognize. A little adjustment here and a tweak … Mmm. Maybe a Preventer sneaking into the relay? They should be suspicious by now that something is very off about the communications system.// Glancing at the clock positioned above the main bridge screen he nodded slightly. It had been hours since Raydon had returned to his conference with his Commanders and the Station Council. That last burst of instructions should be baring fruit very soon now. The Sweepers Captains would not withhold radio silence for much longer. They could not help but know that the system had been compromised, as they had been warned, and every hour took those two ships closer to Mars. It would have been clear to them within a few minutes of testing the relay and there had been too many contacts he could tag as being of Sweeper origin investigating the relays. Word was obviously passing around the Sweeper fleet. //I wonder what the Sweepers are up to? Nothing is ever straight forward with them, I have learned that much since I came here. I wonder what his ties to them are?// Very soon now the Commander would have new instructions to be relayed to his ships and possibly to his agents on Mars. The Council had been in session for near four hours since the last break had been called and if he knew anything of that man, then he knew that Raydon would not allow the debate to last much longer. The man had never been one to sit and prevaricate. It was not in his nature to sit back and twiddle his thumbs while events shaped the future around him. His and others. Whatever might affect the future of those bound to the Stations in the Alliance they had made drew Raydons watchful eye and if he felt the need to act, he would not hesitate. Yes, they had more than just the fate of their agents on Mars to consider in this. They had the three stations to consider and the lives of every crew of the ships that had allied to the Stations. If they sat back and did nothing, allowing events to run their course, then the Stations might never be recognized by the ESUN as independent. It went against everything that Raydon and others with him had planned, so a response was forthcoming. So many lives could be affected by what ever the council decided would be appropriate action. //He will not let the insult lie. Not when it concerns the Prince on Mars. He'll act, but how? Milliardo Peacecraft. I can see why he wants you and the truth is that you are probably the only person I would consider to be in Raydon's league. It would take someone special to match him and I think you are one of the few who could manage it. What little I saw of you suggested that you would be capable of ruling him without lifting a finger trying. He would willingly be ruled by you. He would die for you, but I wonder how it happened? It's a weird thing to say, but your aura suggested you were too innocent to know it. Innocent. Milliardo Peacecraft, the Terror of the Earth, has an aura that is so innocent it's frightening.// His ability to read auras was first noticed while he was trying to hide himself away on L4. He was young, his instructors now told him, and his talent, his Gift was still awakening and of course it could get out of hand. That is why he was on Station One, being trained to control the talent. It had gotten out of hand before and it had torn his world apart. Not even the discipline required by the military had established any control over his talent, and now he understood that being trained to be a soldier would never affect his minds sight. Only one who shared links to the paranormal, the Gifts of the mind, could understand the hell he had gone through. //Was it the same with you, Milliardo Peacecraft? Did
your Gift drive you insane? Insane, or something else? A real life
Prince, no less. I really can't see Raydon partnered with He recorded each transmission, entering their passage into his communications logs and passing the information to the bridge officer who currently had the con. He would relay the confirmations to the Captain in his report following the Council meeting, as per his instructions. Information logged and stored he returned his attention to the com board and to his investigations of the activity taking place on the satellite relays. //Now, that would have to be the Mining Corporations Security division. Let's see … Ah, yes. It's the standard relay test and right on its scheduled time. Ah, now that is interesting. It was allowed through the delay. Automatic shunt, I'd say. Very interesting. Had that signal not been relayed through the system then a whole heap of alarms would be sounding across space by now. Whoever set up the delay on the system knew their stuff. They knew exactly what calls were an automated check and when they would be made. Now then, what do we have here, hmm? You look interesting. Not a Sweeper and I don't think you're an official ESUN transmission. Preventer, I'd say. Maybe not. You are not the usual signal I'd expect from a Preventer, but then, these are not usual times, are they? You are a slippery little bugger. Hmm.// A few dancing movements of fingers over the keyboard and he had isolated the transmission that had piqued his curiosity. It was a very active little signal, he noted. Fluctuating and skipping frequencies on a rotating cycle. Protected from casual interference. //Someone has twigged to the delay, I think, and is testing for access to the master programming on the satellite. Mmm. Clever. You just might get in too. Ah, clever boy. Or girl, for that matter. Yes, you made it past the watch dogs. Welcome to the inner sanctum. We are something of an exclusive club here, you know. What to do? The Captain never told me to interfere with any of the signals passing through the relays. My instructions were just to monitor the traffic. Well, I guess I just log it and keep an eye on proceedings.// Quickly he entered the information into his log, glancing briefly around the command bridge after he did so. Everyone was working quietly and efficiently, he noted, under the scrutiny of the duty officer. They were all professionals with the majority of the bridge crew being ex military; either Alliance or Oz military displaced after the One Year War. Some had suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity and had found themselves given a nominal settlement and abandoned by the powers that be. They had wandered, adrift, from country to country and then colony to colony. Most had genuinely tried to start new lives for themselves but, like himself, had been dissatisfied with the results. As hard as they had tried they had been unable to make life mean anything to them. There had been so few aid programs and some, like himself, had no family to seek out and no home to go to. Some had been cast out once too often, accused of not trying to belong in the current order by those who had no understanding of the feelings of abandonment that raged in the displaced soldiers. //No, I suppose some of us just did not belong. I … I expected more than what I got. Was that my mistake? But where ever I turned, I was turned away. No one wanted to know about me or my needs. The aura reading did not help either. I could not help but see the hostility in them or the disinterest behind their every word. Until I hooked up with … Not now. Don't go there. There is work to do.// His attention returned to the screen and he sighed softly. Oh, the relays were busy this day. He was tired and he would give anything for a decent few hours sleep, but nothing would get him away from this consol with so much happening. There was a second hacker into the hub of the satellites programming and he welcomed them with a quiet chuckle. It was getting crowded in there. //Now who are you and who do you belong to? I don't recognize the coding. Hmm. I'll copy that one too, and investigate it later. Pretty powerful signal …// “Holy shit!” he hunched over his com board as static flared, blasting at his hearing through the head set he wore. He tore the device from his head, vaguely aware of the approach of the Bridge Supervisor. “Damn. Damn.” “Hampshire? Report.” // Yes, yes, just as soon as my ears stop ringing.// Rubbing absently at his right ear he glanced at the woman, sinking into the training he had received that was his armor against a world that had already once abandoned him. The military protocols had become his safe zone from the world and it was just too soon for him to abandon its safety. Snapping out a salute he turned in the chair as he did so, paying proper respect to his superior and establishing himself in his safe niche. “A high speed impulse beam message from Mars has channeled through the Dakkar III Satellite relay, Ma'am. The signal has effectively shut down the entire relay system.” The shut down would automatically set alarms ringing in a few organizations from one end of the Earth Sphere to the other. The Preventers and the Mining Corporations Security Division were only two of the organizations that would react to this silence. He knew that they would immediately initiate emergency checks of the system, actions that would take at least two hours to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that every satellite in the system was non functional. Whether they would wait for that confirmation before taking other action he did not know. He doubted they would be inclined to sit on their laurels, but as to what they would do, he had no idea. He knew that there were no ships belonging to either Preventers or the Mining Corporation within a four day flight of the satellite nearest to Mars. Of the other satellites in the relay he knew there was one ship that would be within range of the nearest satellite to the asteroid belt, and that was at least three days from the satellites location. //Someone has just brought themselves some extra time. Protocol will be observed in most cases, even if the individual commanders do decide to take additional action. Yes, they have gained some time by shutting down the relay system, but they sure as hell have alerted everyone to something being wrong.// The com board crackled, the primary screen on his board flaring to life and he swore softly as he watched a red haired woman, bleeding and bruised. She begged for help from a Raider attack on Mars. “Shit.” the Supervisor whispered, leaning over to gain a better look at the screen. “I believe we had better inform the Captain, Hampshire.” “Ma'am.” soft acknowledgement. Raydon was not going to like this. Their period of grace was at an end.
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