Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Revolution ❯ Chapter 27

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Revolution
Book Two: Part Ten

Treize Khushrenada strode through his headquarters on Earth, the brown haired officer looking dashing in his black OZ uniform. Just behind him a new military aide hurried along, her long light green hair tied back in a simple ponytail, her uniform hugging a lush body. “Sir,” Kanae Ohtori said, “I have the files you requested.”

“Thank you,” Treize said briskly as he took them, reading with a slight frown. The colony that Dorothy Catalonia had taken over was pictured on the first page, the remaining documents covering it's construction and a military assessment of it's strength's and weaknesses.

“It's rather undefendable,” Kanae noted as she hurried to keep pace.

A faint smile tugged on his lips as Treize noted, “Only as long as you don't take the hostages she's holding into account.”

Kanae made a face slightly as she conceded the point. “Do we attempt to reinforce her?” she had to ask as they moved into one of the larger rooms of the palace, converted into a kind of military command center in the current crisis.

“With what?” Trize asked dryly.

Treize nodded polite greetings to military officers and politicos as they went to the center of the room where a table laid out the current tactical situation. Icons clustered around Earth represented their resources, while the colonies shone red, surrounded by symbols noting their own military power. While a great deal of military power was available to them in and around the Earth, their forces were much thinner out by the colonies.

“Hmm,” Kanae frowned as she looked over the tactical map. “Could we deploy Libra?” she asked after a moment.

Treize shook his head, “They're still working on her. Besides, with Fortress Barge gone I don't want to endanger our only major space asset.”

One of the young lieutenants hurried over with a report, “We heard back from the moon base, sir. They have the first of the new series of Mobile Suits ready.”

“The production series of Gemini is ready?” Treize looked pleasantly surprised.

“No sir,” he shook his head reluctantly, “this is the improved Mobile Doll project.”

Treize made a face at that, even as Kanae hid a smile. Treize objected to the Dolls on principal, feeling the computer controlled fighting machines could not take the place of human warriors. She privately wondered if he wanted to maintain the human cost of war, though she'd never dare ask him that directly.

“How many can be quickly mobilized?” Treize asked, his eyes narrowed slightly, “And how much computer support will they need?”

The young man checked his report a moment as he said, “Twenty five are fully rated to be deployed, sir. If they are running preprogrammed routines they only need minimal computer support, but direct interactive control would take a warship or command center.”

“Which Dorothy has,” Kanae noted thoughtfully.

“Hmm,” Treize nodded. Making a quick decision he said, “Have the Dolls mobilized to assist Catelonia's operations.”

“Will do,” the younger man nodded briskly, leaving the two alone as the remaining officers maintained a respectful distance.

Kanae frowned as she looked up at Treize, wondering why he would waste such a valuable weapon on a rival he no longer trusted. “Sir,” she quietly asked him, “is that wise?”

Treize smiled slightly, clearly amused by her polite hesitation. “Twenty five Dolls will not make that great of a difference in combat,” he mused, “but it will let me fill my obligation to assist her. More importantly, this will serve as a field test for the Dolls that Catelonia herself has been pushing.”

“Ah,” Kanae's eyes widened.

“If she succeeds, she'll have proven the project's worth,” Treize smiled coldly as he added, “and if she fails it will justify my canceling the whole concept.” He turned to study the display as he asked, “And what of the diplomats?”

“Ambassador Darlain is presenting a new set of proposals to the government,” Kanae checked her notes, “my sources say it won't fly.”

“The colonies and Sank still want trials for officers accused of war crimes?” Treize guessed. As Kanae nodded he shook his head, “There's no way the government will go for that. At least, not without a major shift behind the scenes.”

“Hmm,” Kanae agreed. Darlain was struggling not only with political resistance but economic as well, the Romafeller foundation using everything in it's impressive economic arsenal to oppose any peace movement. Romafeller was heavily invested in military companies, and they stood to profit immeasurably by the continuation of the war.

Treize looked over at Kanae and added, “Do not take any action against Darlain, Kanae. I know it's tempting, but it would be very inadvisable right now.”

“Yes sir,” Kanae agreed, once more surprised at how well the man could anticipate where her thoughts were leading. She had been about to suggest that something could happen to Darlain to remove him from the game, so to speak.

Treize smiled slightly, “The peace movement doesn't need any more martyrs.” He looked over at her, “Please check in with communications, I want updates on readiness for all units.”

“Yes sir!” Kanae saluted before hurrying off.

Treize sighed to himself as he studied the monitors, his expression thoughtful. It was a difficult balancing act, maintaining the public pose of being adversarial with Dorothy. But their strategy required the tension between a leader in the field and a overall commander, to drive the other players in the game they were playing. So far, things were progressing as expected, with only a few wild cards disrupting their plans.

“Computer,” Treize murmured, “show track of Epyon sightings.”

From Fortress Barge Epyon was cutting a deadly swath through surviving Earth military forces, hunting down and picking off any stragglers from her initial attack. Une was piloting the suit with her usual percision, but already he could see from the data she was showing obsessive traits. The Zero system was already eroding her mind. Silently he grieved for his comrade in arms, even though he knew it was necessary.

“Frightening, yet awe inspiring,” the woman noted calmly as she walked over to him.

“Who...,” Treize turned, knowing that most of his officers wouldn't interrupt, then trailed off as he took her in. Dark skin similar to rich cocoa gave her a strange beauty, her purple hair flowing across her shoulders and down her back. She wore the uniform of a high ranking OZ soldier, yet he was certain he had never seen her before.

“Who I am isn't important,” she informed him calmly, “what I have to tell you is.”

“Oh?” Treize tensed as he prepared for a attack.

She smiled coldly, “You are dancing to the tune of End of the World.”

Treize's eyes widened, “How do you know about....”

“You will not bring revolution to the world,” she continued calmly, “merely it's destruction.”

Reaching for her Treize demanded, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?!”

But before he could grab her every light in the command center went out, along with the displays plunging the room into darkness. As cries of alarm rang out Treize groped blindly for the woman but she was gone. In a few moments the emergency lights came back on but there was no sign of the lady, just the chaos she seemed to leave in her wake.

Rushing into the command center Kanae hurried to Treize's side, the young woman looking alarmed as she asked, “Are you all right, sir? What happened?”

“I'm fine,” Treize reassured her, then added softly, “And I'm not sure what happened... but I mean to find out.”

To be continued....