Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Cyren Song: Reading Between the Lines ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Reading Between the Lines: Cyren's Song

Prologue

By: Kellendraysia

The red glow that marked the planet fall of the shuttle flickered through the windows as the ship descended. The shuttle that returned seemed like a ghost to so many who reported the ship lost, dead in space over two years ago.

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"Unidentified craft, make yourself know," the sound of the first voice that reached the pair of pilots of the shuttle sounded quite hostile, as did the ship that it came from, a military defense fighter.

"This is Shuttle Alliance Gold," responded a calm male voice. "This is Andrew Willard requesting clearance to land."

"Shuttle Alliance Gold?!" The voice upon the other line of the COM returned in shock and confusion. "One moment Commander Willard."

"Somebody contact Mission Control in Houston and patch them through," the general barked into his COM to the other two fighters that were present after the shuttle had broken free from its stage of black out.

"Yes sir," came the response of one of the other pilots. "Got them sir."

"General Fendel, this is Mission Control, what seems to be the problem," came a woman's voice.

"I'll patch you through to the problem," General Fendel replied as he patched the transmission to the shuttle. "Commander Willard, I'm patching in the correct authorities to let you land."

"This is Mission Control, what seems to be the problem," came a slightly confused woman's voice over the COM of the shuttle.

"Mission Control, its good to hear from you again," Andrew replied to the transmission as the other ships pulled back a ways from the shuttle though they did not leave. "Commander Andrew Willard and Commander Bethany Janderson of the Shuttle Alliance Gold requesting permission to land."

There was silence at the end of the line for quiet a few moments before Mission Control responded. "Permission granted Alliance Gold, we'll have a runway lit for you upon your return."

"Thank you Mission Control, Alliance Gold out," Bethany replied to the transmission as the three military fighters fell into formation about the shuttle.

"We'll be your escort, Alliance Gold," General Fendel said just before switching off the COM.

"I don't think that they trust us," Andrew mused.

"Would you," came a cool emotionless response behind the pair of pilots as a figure leaned on the back of Andrew's seat to look out the through the cockpit at the land below. "I'm surprised they let us land."

"You worry to much," Bethany said as she looked up at the figure, a young woman.

"Do I?" The woman responded in the same emotionless tone before she turned and left the cockpit.

"She gives me the creeps," Bethany said after the young woman left.

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She remembered the landing of the shuttle; she was in the cargo hold, with her precious cargo. A cargo that could not be discovered by Oz, no that wasn't right, the Romafeller Foundation. She stood there hand resting on the beak of the metal form that lay folded up as small as possible within the space in the shuttle, to leave room in the bay for other goods and boxes of artifacts that have been found. There was plenty enough room around the curled up form but the next question that could be posed was how to hide it.

"We cannot be discovered, my friend," the woman said in that same emotionless tone that she had spoke in when she was in the cockpit. She shook her head, sending a long braid and wild bangs swaying. "I'll not go back to that hell hole, neither will you. There is too much at stake."

She then climbed over the foreleg of the monstrous machine and moved into the space between the floor and its bent neck to the door that resided there. She was just about inside when she was forced to catch her balance on the doorframe as the shuttle touched down.

"Thanks for the warning," she murmured blandly as she climbed inside the cockpit that rested behind the door.

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall caused the pilot inside the quadra pedal form to shift the head of the unit to see who, or what, was coming. She had a guess on who it was but one could never be too sure. The monstrous eagle head lifted from its resting position across a pair of front legs that ended in talon feet of an eagle. A long leonine tipped tail twitched back and forth causing a light scraping sound upon the cargo bay floor.

"I should have know that you would have taken up residence inside the beast again," Andrew said as he walked in to see the unit active.

The man's eyes scanned over the form from the tip of its beaked head to the end of the leonine tail. He had been amazed when he was told what his cargo would be. A Gundam Unit like no other, a quadra pedal unit not shaped like man or machine but a creature of myth. Proud head of an eagle, powerful body of a lion, wings crafted of Gundanium to look like feathers, the form of a gryphon.

"I'll reside here till nightfall," the woman pilot replied. "It will be the only way I will be able to leave," there was a pause in her speech as the eagle head canted slightly to one side. "Unless you have another idea, Commander."

"I do," Andrew said with a smile, "why don't we discuss this face to face."

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Later that evening two transport trucks rolled out of the belly of the shuttle. One driven by Bethany carrying all of the supplies and other objects that were picked up on their exploration. The other transport driven by Andrew contained the Gundam Unit and its pilot.

"Where are we going?" the pilot of the gryphon asked as she climbed through the back window into the cab of the truck.

"As far away from Houston as I can possibly take you," Andrew replied, "I was thinking about the Rockies, there should be a safe place for you to hole up there for a bit. Though I don't really know why I'm doing this, especially when I don't even know who you are, let alone your name."

"Who I am is not important," the pilot responded as she leaned an elbow upon the arm rest upon the door, resting her chin in her hand as she did so. "My mission is. That is all that you need to know Commander."

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Four days of travel passed uneventfully, the fifth day was a different story. Seemingly out of nowhere a squadron of Leo and Taurus class mobile suits appeared. Only part of a larger force that was engaged in battle that day.

"Halt!" the Lieutenant of the Leo Squadron called to Andrew as the mobile suit was manuvered into the path of the vehicle.

"Damn," the woman hissed inside the cab as she quickly crawled through the window and into the back of the transport without a word to Andrew. Making her way slowly and carefully across the floor of the transport she opened the hatch into the gryphon as she hoped that she made it to the unit unnoticed by the Oz troops outside.

"Is there a problem, sir," Andrew called as he stopped the transport and leaned out of the window.

"What is your destination?" The Lieutenant ordered, "What are you carrying?"

"Supplies sir, to the base in the Rockies, sir," Andrew replied hoping that they would by his lie and let then through. Especially since he couldn't remember the name of the Oz base in the Rockies, even if his life depended on it, and it just may.

"I don't remember the call put in for supplies," the Lieutenant replied, as he waved for one of his men to step forward, all weapons were now trained upon the transport. "Check it out, soldier."

"Yes sir," came the reply from the other Leo unit as the soldier holstered the gun and reached down to remove the tarp.

All the while the men talked, the woman pilot was already bringing the systems of her unit online as she just waited. Andrew gave a groan knowing that what he carried was going to be discovered and probably confenscated. Who knew what it would hold instore for him, for there was no way he could escape both squads of mobile suits. As soon as the tarp was removed, tie down lines could be heard snapping as the pilot of the Leo unit ripped the heavy canvas from the back of the truck, the gryphon exploded into action.

The quadra pedal unit twisted to its feet in one fluid motion and reared up, heavy set beak snapping down heavily upon the unsuspecting soldier's Leo. Biting deep and giving a good shake the gryphon unit snapped the head off the Leo as the sharp talons of the forefeet racked into the body of the mobile suit. The agonizing scream of the pilot inside was cut short as the right foot racked straight down through the cockpit, the only sound within the COMs of his comrades was the sickening crunch of broken bones. As the Unit fell free from the gyrphon's grasp all that was left of the cockpit area was a bloody smear as the gryphon stepped off the truck placing its body over the cab, for it didn't take long for the members of either the Leo squad or the Taurus squad to start firing on the unknown mobile suit.

"Get out of here Commander," the woman hissed into her COM for Andrew to hear.

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