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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 76 Mars Colony Base Dome One Time: 20:16 [Approx 18:06 Sanc time] Noin Am I dead? Well, that's a question I'm almost afraid to answer. I don't know what it feels like to be dead. I've never felt anything so weird as this before. I feel as though I'm going to hurl, only … can this body do that? Can I do something as basic as that? On the floor behind her, her body lay, still accept for tiny tremors that betrayed it lived, bathed in perspiration induced by pain. Such pain as she would never have believed possible to experience. There was no visible wound on her body to account for the shocking agony she had experienced. No raw gaping wound to account for the pain that was never ending. Those weapons needed to be banned, every example of them hunted down and then they should be destroyed. They were an abomination. How many people had they killed using those horrendous weapons? How many people had been unfortunate enough to be chosen as test subjects? Had anyone survived being hit by one? At what level of power was death unavoidable? What type of weapon exactly was it that she had been hit by? Am I the walking dead? This is so weird. I'm locked in a nightmare and I am just not certain what is real and what is dream. My hand passes through the door and that just is not physically possible. Still, if that is my physical self there, on the floor, then I'm … I'm … I don't know what I am. Dead? Still, there is this cord thing that leads back to my body. Curious that it links me to my body at the navel, like an umbilical cord. That means I am alive? I hope. If it should vanish or break then something tells me that I am in big trouble. So … what now? I can not remain here, a prisoner in this glorified closet if I now have the means by which to act. Guess that means I have no real choice. I leave the room. If my hand passes through the door, then I guess the rest of me can too. So long as I keep my eyes shut I... I can make myself do that, but will walking through the door cut the cord? The golden cord seemed to move away from her touch. For a moment she tried to trap the cord between her hands, but the thread that tied her to her physical body seemed to move aside each time, and since she had no idea if it was safe to touch the cord, she desisted, kicking herself mentally for wasting time. There was much that needed to be done, and standing here … or was she floating? Her feet did not feel the floor. Focus, Lucrezia. Focus. Experiment with this later, when the time exists. What I really need to know is if I go through the door will the cord break and if it does, will I die? If the cord breaks... Ah, God. This is the stuff of Science Fiction, not reality. I was never into Science Fiction novels. I read a few, yes, but nothing about out of body experiences. I can't be dead. I have too much to do, and anyway, near death experiences talk about a bright light and … Focus, Noin. You're wandering off into Neverland again. Can I even get back to my body if I am still alive? Damn. I never did like Science Fiction novels. Too far fetched. So, do I try going back to my body, just to make certain that I can or do I try going through the door and pray that the cord stays intact? If I do get back into my body, can I leave it again? Her body had not moved beyond that tiny continuous tremor which was reaction to the constant pain and she did not like the sensation of looking down at herself at all. It was more than disturbing to stand here and know that it was herself, her body that was stretched out on the floor. If she tried going back into her body would she again be able to leave it? It was wonderful to be free of the pain, to be spared the abject agony that was beyond all pain that she had previously known, but was that freedom dangerous for her body? With her will or her soul or consciousness, what ever you called what made up Lucrezia Noin gone, then her body was only so much meat lying there. Would her lungs still breathe? Would her heart beat and her blood still flow? Would her brain direct her body at least on some primal, instinctive level? I'm going insane looking at myself. I have to do something besides stand here and look at me. Alright, enough is enough. It is time to be decisive. I am a soldier. Apparently I never stopped being a soldier. I fell back into it too easily, so fine. I am a soldier and at the moment I am a very pissed off soldier. I have a few people to take down, but can I be effective in my less than corporal form? The door stood before her in all of its plain and functional glory and by way of assuring herself that it truly was possible she pushed her hand through its solid form once again, this time all the way to her elbow. No pain. No sensation at all she noted in a clinical fashion. It was almost like another person's hand, not her own. The door just seemed not to be there as though it was an illusion. A hologram. Well … fine, I can think of it as a hologram. I've been to the holo arcades before. I've played and enjoyed the virtual reality games so … I can do this. Okay. I will shut my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths and simply step forward. You hear that feet? Move. We will take three steps forward. Now. One. Two. Am I holding my breath? I feel like I should be, but it just does not feel as though I am. Now, if I got the distances right, I should be about half in the door. Oh, God, that is so sick. Move feet. I can't look. I don't dare. Half in the door …Three. I can't bear to see me stuck partially in the door, even though I can't feel a thing. One more for luck. Four. Okay, open your eyes. Don't be such a coward, Noin. You never got your nose mashed against the door, so you have to be through it. Open your bloody eyes you wimp! The control room of the shuttle control tower surrounded her. A quick scan showed to her left the officer and his side kick bent over a console, heads close together as they studied a readout. Other than the two men the room was empty, though panels and spare computer parts and cables lay scattered about in disorder. They clearly had been jury rigging systems and she guessed that the officer had been none too pleased to discover that the base computers had been damaged. The soldier in her agreed with him that it was idiocy to take down all but the life support systems. In this selected environment computer problems could lead to death for all. I hope that bitch is still hanging from the roof beams. Maybe I should just pop over there and see how she's going? They don't seem to have noticed me. Hmm. I'll just tuck myself into this corner and hope they keep their eyes on the screen. Oh good, the cords still with me. In this brighter light it looks so thin and faint. Not so easily seen. Okay, time to regroup and make some decisions. I am out of the maintenance room and capable of moving around. Now what do I do? Can I be effective in this state and where the hell am I going to hide? I need to gather together some weapons and find Zechs. Warn him that they are holed up in this tower. "Just a few minor adjustments and the system should be working. I'll be able to reestablish control of the security cameras if I can have another twenty minutes or so, Sir." Not so good. It's to our advantage that they took out the cameras with the virus. I may have to take out the technician sooner rather than later. "We may not have that long, Frazier. The airlock controls can now be operated from here and you have the detonator rigged to be activated from this point with a secondary portable switch. The shuttle bay doors are locked down and can only be opened if you know the code, so no one will be getting into the dome from that access. The ventilation shafts are locked down and sealed off from the planets surface and we have around twenty four hours before the buildup of carbon dioxide becomes a problem in the vents, so that is dealt with for now. We have time enough to finish this. McIntyre has been quiet a little too long. I need to go and find out what she is planning now." He straightened from the consol, stretching cramped muscles with a grunt. "I believe our targets should be in the vicinity of the airlocks by now and at the least we need an identification of this person with Merquise. I'm going to send McIntyre and her team, such as they are, after Merquise with instructions to watch but not to approach him. No doubt he is intending to try to stop the maintenance teams from dying in the air locks. Admirable, but it is far more merciful to allow them to die in the locks than it is for them to face McIntyre and her psychopaths." Frazier arched an eyebrow. "Sir? Do you think she will actually follow the instruction to follow but not confront them?" "Of course not." a low laugh. "No, our Ms McIntyre is very predictable. She will go after Merquise and she will try to bring him down, most likely in a very bloody fashion. She is fast losing all control. No, Frazier, she will try and Merquise will save us the trouble of taking her out, although I would like to see the look on her face at the inquiry that will no doubt be held into the fiasco this mission has become. Make the final adjustments. I'll just go see if I can find that bitch. You may as well make a start on the camera systems. We will eventually want that up and running, and we may yet get the time to repair the damage done before we have to hunt Merquise." I'll follow him. I may as well know everything that I can about their plans and then I can locate Zechs and warn him. It will help to know what they plan … Uhm. I'll have to be careful that they don't see me. At least I won't have to open the door and chance being noticed by Frazier. Oh, shit! The big man turned and walked towards her. There was nowhere to go, no where to hide and by the time she thought to will herself through the wall he was standing there, pouring coffee, not a foot away from her and looking directly at her. Unseeing. God. He … he does not … What? Am I invisible or something? No reaction at all. He's just drinking the bloody coffee as though I am not standing here. Shit. If I'm invisible, how do I … "Hello, you ass hole. It's time I took you down!" Her hand lashed out, all the strength she could put into the blow behind it … and her hand passed right through him. He set aside the finished coffee, turned and moved to the window overlooking the view of the dome. Not so much as a flicker of an eyelid betrayed he had noticed anything out of the ordinary, least of all a swat from a ticked off ex soldier. Oh, God. I'm invisible. He never saw me. Never even heard me. How do I … Zechs. If I learn their plans how do I tell him? Not now, Lucrezia. We deal with that later. I'll get through to him somehow. Stands to reason if these jerks can't see me, then no one else will, but I can use that to my advantage. I'll figure something out when the time comes. The big man stalked back to the computer, leaning over the one called Frazier's shoulder and watched the screen. Come on, come on. Shanna dearest is out and about, is she? I hope she hurts like hell. Bitch. Traitorous bitch. Make me a laughing stock, will she? Play me false. If you think being strung up from the rafters was rough, Bitch Face, just you wait till we meet again … in the flesh. I'll show you what real pain is before I get rid of you for good. No touching her, who ever you are. Hmm. Did I ever get told your name? I think … Damn. I … It's hard to remember. Is that bad? It seems almost dream like and I can't really remember much about what happened. I remember arguing with … Yes, I was arguing and then there was pain … you came. I remember your face and I remember the pain because what ever you said to me it really got my temper going. I don't think its good that it is so hard to remember. It can't be good. Where's that cord thingy? Is that still intact … Ah, there you are. Guess that means I'm still alive. I hope that is what it means. How far will it stretch? Are you ready to go, yet? Damn, man, times wasting. Move it already. The man finally turned from the console and stalked to the door leading out into the offices and hallways of the tower. Noin willed her feet into motion and was just in time to experience the door closing through her body. Oh, I so did not need to see that yet. I think I'll have nightmares over this when it is all done. Is the cord … Oh yes, its okay. Seems closing doors won't damage it. Guess that means I'm safe enough. That's reassuring. She trailed behind the man, following practically on his heels and she was aware that with every room he entered he tensed more and more. She could almost see the rising shimmer of his anger as a light field surrounding him. It did not take long to determine that Shanna McIntyre was no longer in the tower. Damn. Now where is she? He's certainly not too happy with her absence. This is good. We can use this. They are not working together at all. We can use that friction to play them off against each other. That's good. Very good. Or it has the potential to be good for us. Now, where are your off to? Oh. Back to the control room. So, do I go with you or do I strike out on my own? May as well follow you and see what you do about her. I might learn something of interest. ----------------------- Simpson //Stupid bitch has to ruin every time table I come up with. How long has she been gone? Long enough to cause problems, I have no doubt of that. Well, I wish Merquise well. I must remember to thank him for taking her down, and if she is hunting him I have no doubt that that is exactly what will happen. He'll make mince meat of her.// "Frazier!" the door slammed behind him, barely missing his heels. "That psychopath has gone off on her own most likely gathering what is left of her team to hunt Merquise." he stormed across the control room stamping over to the window that looked out across the dome, towards the hydroponics domes. "I have no idea how long she has been gone. How much longer do you need?" "If you do not need the cameras, then it is ready, Sir." His eyes flitted to the clock set above the control panels. 20:26. Just how long had that bitch been gone? It would be so easy for her to damage the mission by taking Merquise down permanently or in her unstable state she could cripple him. If such happened then there would be some very wealthy, very influential and very very unhappy people back on Earth. He, personally, should be relatively safe from retribution, though he would undoubtedly receive a serious reprimand. No, he reconsidered, he was not actually safe, not with how the situation back on Earth must stand by this time. It would be a delicate balance back there about now, with the situation volatile and capable of exploding in some very dignified faces at the smallest error. The cover up for this operation had been a delicate balance of events and there were a number of things that might go wrong. He remembered thinking during his briefing that in this endeavor he was not actually indispensable. No one, not even the old man's grandson, was safe on this mission. He might be the favored grandson, but he was not the only grandson and there in lay his greatest danger. There were others who could be groomed to take his place and he was never likely to forget it. It was his vulnerability and it did not pay to have any weakness in his family. He could not afford to forget the vulnerability of his position or the old man's penchant for retribution. To survive to become his grandsires replacement he would need to have Merquise safely under his control and he would have to orchestrate that despite McIntyre and her psycho teammates. Before the shit hit the fan on Earth. //There are too many involved in this mess. Too many factions dabbling in the mix. Grandfather should never have invited so many others into the fold for this one assignment. The Romefeller traditionalists will learn what is going on and that bunch of purists will go for their throats. Every additional person involved in this plan weakens our security. Still, he does not usually make mistakes. He is a canny old bird, but I do begin to wonder if he is getting too old. Is this his first and perhaps last real mistake?// "Sir?" Frazier was waiting for instructions and he had to make up his mind quickly. Through their skills and the plan he had devised they had gained control of many of the systems in the upper dome. They had established a lock out on all entry points to the dome from the exterior, so that no one would enter or leave the dome except by his will, through a controlled point. The biggest problem that he could see was that he had too few men in the team. He could not rely on McIntyre or her people to effectively manage the plan and his own people, with the exception of Frazier were out of the equation. Perhaps that was the problem he needed to address first. He needed to gain some operatives and thereby enable him to extend his reach within the dome. Perhaps that should become his priority now. Taking Merquise down on his own was not his preferred option at this time. If he failed, which was unthinkable, but he did need to consider that odious possibility, then he needed backup and Frazier was his tech specialist, not a combat specialist. Was it time to learn, without a shadow of a doubt, if all of his people in this god forsaken enviro dome were dead? //With her loose in the dome my options become limited. Noin should be safe enough in her cell for the moment. To move her would certainly be to kill her, and I need her alive. The people outside the dome can not enter unless I allow them to enter the airlocks. All other means of entry are sealed. None of my people are outside the dome and I can only assume that my team in the Alpha dome is out for the duration. I certainly do not have the means to go to the Alpha Dome now. So, strike them from the game plan. Time to cut and run, I think. Regroup my forces and if they are dead, well, I have Noin.// "Blow the air lock controls. Disable all manual release controls on the shuttle bay doors and on the ventilation shafts." //This will be over long before we develop a problem with the air.// "I want no one entering or leaving the dome unless it is by my instruction. Lock down the controls here so that they may be operated only by you and I. You can lock out McIntyre's code. She would have gone after Merquise intending to run him to ground at either the airlock control station or Hydroponics Dome One. He'll head for the airlock station eventually, to try to warn the exterior workers. Surge it, Frazier. Fry every lock control and then get your gear. We are going down after the others. I want as close to a full team as I can get to deal with Merquise." ----------------- Noin You bastard! You have sentenced those people to death. There has to be nearly a thousand people out there today. Hundreds … they won't stand a chance of surviving more than a few hours in the Martian night. She glared at him, furious at the cold blooded practicality of the decision. It was a seasoned commander's decision. A decision that might haunt the commander in the years to come, but one that he accepted as necessary to his mission. Understanding it did not make it easier to accept, however. Can I do anything to help them? HD One? She has gone to HD One or the control station. Right. If she's there, hunting Zechs, then I want to be there too, but can I do anything to help those people outside the dome? My, he does not look too happy with his orders. I guess he's been working on that station for a while and he's not too happy about it proving to be wasted effort. At least one station here works after that bitch fritzed everything. She moved over to the control, ignoring the presence of the tech who worked at the controls and studied the readouts in response to his work. Ah, I see what you've rigged. A directed power surge.
That will fry the controls and the manual control release systems
too. Damn. Those people just got left out in the cold of a Martian
night. My hands just go through the controls. I can't feel anything!
I can't change the settings or stop the charge. They're my friends,
you bastards! You've locked them out. They won't stand a chance. "System secured, Commander. Lock out complete on all access points into the enviro dome." Zechs. I have to get to Zechs. I have to warn him somehow that that bitch is out there, gunning for him and that this bastard is out to find his men. I won't allow it. I simply will not allow it to happen. I will not have either of them, this cold bastard who locks people out to suffocate and freeze to death or that traitorous bitch I called my friend, loose around my children. God, I hope this cord thingy will stretch the distance I need. I need to get outside the tower and … Oh. How did I get out here? She stood on the ground before the main entrance to the Shuttle Control Tower. Wide eyed she looked about her surroundings, uncertain how she came to be standing here in the blink of an eye. She certainly had not walked out of that room, let alone descended the stairs. I … I don't remember leaving the tower. Mmm. This is interesting. It has potential for me to get around quickly and easily, but how did I end up here? Exactly at this spot. Why here? There are things I need to learn about this ability. The cord! Oh God is … Yes, there you are. Thank God for that. Do you look thinner? Fainter? Hard to tell, but its okay. The cord is intact and I am out of the tower and from what was said Zechs can't be too far away from where I am now. I'll find him and I'll warn him about Bitch Face. The hydroponics domes lay to her left, HD Three the nearest and blocking her view of the other two. The commander had expected to find McIntyre by HD One, so she would get her not so solid self over there with all speed and look for Shanna as she did so. The bitch could not hide from her for long. No one lays a hand on my man, especially not the likes of you. If your looking for your men, then that means you will be going down, into the sub base. I have to warn Zechs. I need to find Shanna, but its dangerous leaving you two running around loose. First thing is first. Shanna, dearest, Lucrezia is coming for you. t.b.c.
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