Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing Infinites - Heero Yuy ❯ Prologue

Even the slightest change in the past can alter the future in unimaginable ways.

"You could say the fate of the colonies is in my hands."

Splinter a link, and a new chain of events will be forged.

"I will surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundams. I repeat; I surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundams."

One iota of effort, or the lack of, can mean the difference between life and death, between peace and war.

"Mission accepted."

What would happen if one incident in the past were altered? What would happen if one decision were made differently? What would happen if one fact changed? If one weakness was countered? If one failure succeeded?

~~~~~~~~~~

"We collected what we could, but the important parts have all been destroyed," Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin reported to Colonel Zechs Merquise. The two OZ officers were supervising the cleanup after the battle in Siberia, their attention focused on salvaging as much of the destroyed Gundam Zero-One as possible.

"I thought so," Zechs commented. "That's why he self destructed."

"Even Gundams can end up as mere scraps of metal," she decided. "Or rather, scraps of Gundanium," she quickly added in correction. The battle had quickly degenerated into a mass of confusion, and Lady Une's heavy-handed decision to target the colonies with missile satellites had only served to worsen the situation. The pilot of Zero-One had self-detonated, after apparently intercepting a cryptic surrender that had been transmitted to the Headquarters.

Zechs was staring at the shell of the Gundam, and was about to make some comment when an urgent call came up from one of the salvagers. "Colonel Zechs! There's something you need to see over here!"

Zechs and Noin ran over to the technician, who was gesturing wildly at the two officers, behaviour unbefitting an OZ soldier. His excitement was justified, which Noin saw when she looked beneath the large sheet of Gundanium, probably from one of the vernier-wings, which he had propped up with the help of heavy machinery. She saw a boy, wearing a green tanktop and black shorts, lying in a stagnant pool of his own blood.

"That boy was the pilot," Zechs exclaimed as he appeared on her shoulder. "Check him for a pulse," he ordered the technician. Before he could move, Noin ducked under the sheet of Gundanium, kneeling beside the boy. She pulled off one of her white gloves, and placed her bare fingers on his neck, where the artery would be. She felt nothing. She looked into his eyes, noting the vacant, empty stare, as she placed a hand over his heart, to confirm whether he was dead or not.

Nothing.

"He's dead," she announced. Zechs placed a hand on her shoulder, a simple sign of comfort and support they had often shared throughout their experiences training together. How long had he been lying there? she wondered. Reaching up to his head, she brushed unruly locks of brown hair from his face, and closed his eyes for the last time.

"It's been several hours since he self-detonated," Zechs stated. "He probably died of blood loss, if the detonation itself did not kill him." Noin abruptly about-faced, tuning to look into the mask of the pilot known as the Lightning Count.

"Sir, requesting permission to prepare the body for transport and burial," she asked. OZ believed that this pilot had connections on the Earth. She wasn't sure if that was true or not, but if they were, she knew that there was at least one person who might want to see that this boy was given a proper burial.

He considered for a second. "Granted. He would have been an honourable opponent. See he receives an honourable burial." He paused, looking over his shoulder at the flatbed suit-truck bearing the pieces of Zero-One. "Would you mind if I took this Gundam to the Lake Victoria base?" he asked her, trading a request for a request.

"Are you planning to fix it?" she enquired back.

"Yes, it was based on the Tallgeese. The fundamental technology should be applicable."

"But why bother?" Noin asked, not understanding why he would want to do such a thing.

"Consider it my tribute to a hero from the stars," he replied cryptically, walking away to supervise other parts of the salvage operation.

What would happen if Heero Yuy had died?