Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing Infinites - Heero Yuy ❯ Chapter 2

"How is Relena?" Zechs asked, after receiving news from Noin that the Romerfeller Foundation wanted to see Zero-One destroyed. It shouldn't be too hard to find a loophole in those orders, Zechs thought in the second it took for Noin to respond.

"She's still affected by his death, she felt that they were close. She's acting irrationally at times, it's making it hard to protect her," Noin commented wryly.

"How so?"

"I took her to the recent Romerfeller assembly. I thought it might be good for her to see the driving force behind OZ." Zechs made a distasteful sound, his opinion of Romerfeller and the organisation's effect on OZ was slipping daily. "She got up on stage, trying to speak to the assembly," Noin reported.

"You were able to stop her?" Zechs asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable about asking too many questions.

"Luckily. I convinced her that they wouldn't listen. On the way out, we bumped into Colonel Treize. From the look she was giving him, I was scared she was going to pull a gun on him," Noin shuddered at the thought of what must have been going through her mind. "She seems to have taken it into her mind that OZ was solely responsible for Heero's death."

"Heero?" Zechs asked, confused.

"Heero Yuy. She says that's the name of the boy," Noin elaborated, noting the fact that Colonel Zechs had been right in calling the boy `a heero from the stars'.

"I'm not surprised she's made that conclusion. Even I can see OZ is losing its way," the masked pilot commented. "How much does she know?"

"About the past?" Noin asked to clarify. "Minister Darlin told her quite a bit before he passed away. I've mentioned that I know her brother, but haven't made the connection between him and you yet."

"What about Siberia?"

"She knows that you were the last to see Heero alive, that you were fighting him, and that you were the one who found his body."

"Implying me in his death," Zechs commented, moving over to the window, to stare at the few stars he could see. "Anything else you would like to inform me of?"

"I know where to find the pilot of Zero-Two. He's been helping me help Relena deal with Heero's death," Noin mentioned, pride evident in her tone.

"What?!" he barked, spinning to face the vid-phone.

"I know him, that's all I'm saying," Noin replied defensively.

"Lady Une could have your head for this. Not to mention most of Romerfeller. What are you doing, seeking out someone so dangerous?"

"He came to us. He's trustworthy, and if you go ahead with your plan, he might be of use," Noin explained. Zechs paused, thinking about the consequences. The plan Noin referred to was his decision to rebuild Zero-One, than defect and use it to fight OZ, if the corruption of its ideals sunk too far. That point was approaching too fast for his liking. Maybe another Gundam pilot will be a useful ally. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, he quoted to himself.

"I'll consider it. Thanks for keeping me informed," Zechs said, indication the conversation was over.

"Be careful, Zechs, Romerfeller is starting to smell a rat. Over and out," Noin added quickly, severing the connection.

~~~~~~~~~~

"In other news today, attempts by OZ to pacify the Alliance stronghold in Marseilles have succeeded. Ten Aries-type mobile suits eliminated the opposition, with minimal casualties. Alliance and civilian deaths are still unknown, but it is commonly believed that the granddaughter of the late Marshal Noventa, killed earlier this year by colonial terrorists, is among the deceased. She was seventeen."

~~~~~~~~~~

"The inspector is just trying to find fault with you, so he can score some points with the Foundation," Meiser, the head technician Zechs had selected to repair Gundam Zero-One, commented. "He's not going to find anything that differs from what the documents we submitted to him, though."

"I'm sorry I had to involve you in this little performance," Zechs apologised.

"I figured it would be a real waste to destroy a suit like Zero-One at this point, but are you sure it's worth trading Tallgeese for?"

"I'm sure," Zechs said firmly, watching the receding inspector's Zodiac. "That Gundam is slower, but stronger than the Tallgeese. I consider it a superior suit, and I an honoured to pilot it in the name of Heero Yuy."

"You're running an awful risk," Meiser noted.

"Considering the rate at which OZ is falling, it's a risk I would have eventually had to take," Zechs responded, looking into the water where he knew the rebuilt Zero-One rested, away from prying eyes. "Have you found any who would support my plans?"

"A few..." he responded cautiously. You could never be sure who was listening, especially when you talked treason.

"Tell them to watch for the rebirth of the Gundams. I trust they will know what to do."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Duo, what are you doing?" Relena asked as the American colonial pilot quick-drew his gun, pointing it at the opening door. Ever since meeting the girl, he'd taken it upon himself to protect her from the badness that was OZ. Considering that there were days when she was just about ready to waltz into Romerfeller Headquarters and unload a machinegun the painful way, in revenge for Heero's death, it was no easy task sometimes. She really had it for him.

"Don't shoot," Lucrezia Noin mock-pleaded, coming around the door with her hands up.

"Sorry," Duo apologised. "Reflex. It's a bit hard, when you're not used to trusting."

"What did you find out?" Relena asked, trying to discover why the OZ officer had disappeared three days earlier.

"There's murmurings in the OZ organisation," Noin began. "A lot of soldiers are concerned as to what is happening with the organisation. The acts of Lady Une in Siberia, and the traitorous behaviour of many OZ soldiers, including two of my own students has led many to believe that OZ has `lost it's way'. It could boil over any day now."

"Whaddaya mean?" Duo asked, suspicious. He had trouble trusting Noin: sometimes OZ officer, sometimes traitor.

"A rift is forming in OZ, between those who believe in it's honourable past, and those who abuse the power the past has given. It could lead to open war within the organisation," she explained.

"Y' mean faction on faction?" Duo asked, trying to clarify it further.

"Yes. It's Lady Une's methodology of war versus that of Zechs Merquise. We have the majority of the skilled soldiers, but Une's supporters appear to have the full support of Romerfeller, the better equipment, and the bitter heartlessness to use any tactic to win."

"So what are you going to do?" Relena asked.

"The Antarctica base is already in the hands of the Zechs faction," Noin detailed, watching as Duo's eyebrows flew up at the mention of a base he apparently hadn't heard of. Well, it is supposed to be a secret! she thought. "I've been asked to take you two there. Relena, your brother is there, anxious to meet you. And Duo, Colonel Zechs said he would like to meet with you. We could use your skill and strength in the coming battles, considering you were trained in the kind of covert combat we will need to use."

"Why should I do something for OZ?" Duo asked incredulously. "My entire point in being on Earth is to fight OZ!"

"You came to fight the ruthless oppression of the Colonies, didn't you? You came to stop OZ from becoming too powerful, didn't you?" Noin challenged. "Wouldn't this be an excellent opportunity to take on the people in OZ who most desire that?"

"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend', right?" Relena asked Duo, seeing Noin's point.

"Oh, all right," Duo sighed, "But they're going to want Deathscythe too, right? They're going to want a Gundam. How in hell am I going to get my buddy down to Antarctica?" he asked.

"We'll use my carrier. I need to take my Aries down anyway," Noin revealed. "Relena, Duo, pack your bags. We'll be leaving to pick up Zero-Two within the hour."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Ninth OZ Fleet was under orders from Lady Une to patrol the Southern Atlantic Ocean and the coast of Africa, and to assist with the demolition of the Alliance bases in that region.

Lieutenant Caius was on the bridge of Frigate 273. He was in charge of a four-ship task group, including two air warfare destroyers and a landing ship loaded to capacity with mobile suits. They had been detached from the main fleet to `pacify' a particularly resilient Alliance base in Cape Town. The orders had come direct from Lady Une, not in person, since she was in space, but she had stressed that the base and it's minor spaceport had to be removed from Alliance military possession at any cost. The reinforcements his landing ship carried should be enough to turn the tide.

It was a quiet night; the sea was uncharacteristically still. They were about an hour from the coast, and communications from the OZ troops stationed in South Africa reported that activity at the base was low. It was peaceful, Caius thought, but his musings were interrupted by one of the bridge stations started screaming for attention. A crewman moved, picking up a headset and began communicating with the department responsible for the alarm.

"Sir," the sailor reported. "Sonar is picking up an unidentified object approaching the task group!"

"Red alert! All hands to action stations!" Caius ordered. "Alert all ships! I want concentrated scans of the area. Where's the object?"

"Closing," the sailor relayed from the sonar room. "Two hundred metres… one hundred… fifty… twenty… ten……… Sonar has lost object!"

"Can we identify?" Caius asked.

The hapless sailor relayed the request. "A mobile suit of some description," he described. "Type unknown. Acoustics suggest… it's Gundanium?"

Caius swore. He had heard what a Gundam could do to ships, and wasn't in the mood to experience it first hand. "All ships," he announced over the radio link, "there is an unknown Gundam in the water. All hands to weapons stations. Do any ships have aquatic suits?"

"Four Pisces," the commander of the landing ship responded. "Deploying…" The landing ship captain broke off, but Caius would not have heard the rest of the response anyway. The destroyer off his port side had just gone up in a massive explosion.

"Damn," Caius swore, for the second time in as many minutes. They couldn't fight the enemy until he surfaced. He wasn't given the chance to call out any alterations to his orders, as the second destroyer went up in a ball of energy.

**********

Zechs rode the shockwave created by the second vessel's destruction, using it to sink unnoticed below the sensors of the flight of Pisces. Gently manipulating the verniers of Zero-One, he rose up behind them, firing on them. The massive beam rifle Zero-One normally carried was still beyond repair, and was being shipped to Antarctica separately. Instead, the Lake Victoria technicians had managed to jury-rig the dober gun from Tallgeese on the arm of the Gundam, using the mount salvaged from Tallgeese. It would do for the time being. A series of rapid shots destroyed three of the Pisces, and wrecked the fourth, sending it sinking to the depths.

"Only four suits?" Zechs questioned, rising to the surface. "They seriously underestimate me…"

**********

"Lieutenant Caius," one of his crew reported. "The enemy is surfacing."

"Get all imagers on that thing," he ordered. "I want a vid file shot raw, and matched with my voice, underlaid by all bridge communications. Transmit that data to any OZ unit who will receive. As soon as the Gundam clears the water, all weapons are to fire at will."

"Channel open, sir," his communication specialist reported.

"To anyone receiving, this is Lieutenant Caius of Frigate 273, detached from the Ninth Fleet. We have encountered a Gundam en route to Cape Town, and are attempting to disable. This vid-log is in case we fail; our efforts may help find a weakness." Caius paused as weapons from his frigate and the landing ship opened fire on the Gundam. The mobile suit became clouded in explosions. A cheer went up from the bridge crew. Don't get cocky, Caius warned himself.

The smoke died down, causing everyone present to draw a collective gasp. The mobile suit was still there, hovering centimetres above the forward deck. It took only a second to land, the additional weight tilting the ship forward. The pilot levelled his weapon at the bridge.

"Sir," the sailor relaying the sonar data reported in a faint voice. "Design confirmed. It's Zero-One."

"It can't be…" Caius commented, before reinforcing his voice. "All receiving, the Gundam is Zero-One!" Noticing the glow of the charging dober gun, he became frantic, screaming, "Zero-One is back from the dea…"

**********

Zechs fired, blowing the bridge structure into fragments. He considered destroying the rest of the hulk, but he realised that would only make him as bad as the people he was fighting. Mercy is an admirable trait in a soldier.

The landing ship, carrying all the mobile suits, was another matter. Transferring the dober gun to an electromagnetic clamp crudely mounted between the two vernier engines, Zechs triggered the ejection of the beam sabre from Zero-One's shield. Igniting it, he leapt off the frigate hulk, and flew towards the transport.

Sporadic fire met him, but the Gundam shrugged it off. I'll have to make sure the extra protection doesn't make me complacent in combat, Zechs thought. Before he could do anything to the ship, his videocomm channel came to life. Revealing Lord Colonel Treize.

"Zechs," the aristocrat began. "I'm surprised that you show such disloyalty to our cause." Zechs brought Zero-One to a standstill, hovering in the air. He ignored the vast amount of small-arms fire coming his way, more powerful shots serving only pushing the Gundam back without dealing damage. "I'm also surprised that you are using a weapon of the colonies to senselessly attack those who share our beliefs."

"Your cause is failing," Zechs spat. "Our beliefs are seen by many within OZ as the madness of old, foolish soldiers. Anyone supporting this mockery of the organisation I came to believe in is now my enemy. I'm sorry, Treize," he added, opening the cockpit hatch and removing his mask. He saw the look of surprise on Treize's face, this was something even Zechs had not expected to do. "I can no longer be your friend." Throwing the mask out of the Gundam, he resealed the hatch and cut the channel. He didn't want to waste any more time talking to a man who was unwilling to see the path his creation was taking. He had a transport ship to destroy.