I think I finally got the formatting on the right- let
me know if it isn't.
This is a sidestory to SnK- SnK is located here:
http://www.method.org/gundam
If you want an html version, it's there, along with a
timeline, bios, and other stuff! Also look at our
new ML- Stellar Soldiers- it's a group for ppl who
want to discuss themes of GW, and avoid the "fandom".
It SHOULD be comprehensible without reading the main
arc.
Wufei does not appear in Act Two- this is in lieu of
that.
Gundam Wing is property of Sotsu Agency, Bandai
Studios, and TV Asahi. Sainan no Kekka and all
original characters and plot copyright 2000 by
Quicksilver and Gerald Tarrant. Please ask
permission before reposting.
SHIN KIDOU SENKI GUNDAM WING
SAINAN NO KEKKA
Mission Log: Gundam Shenlong 05
BEGIN TRANSMISSION
DECRYPTION CODE 05
--CLASSIFIED--
Alpha: Alarm
The blaring of the alarm jolted him out of
slumber and through sleep-fogged eyes he
could see Heero at the window, staring out at
the snow covered plain. He sat up, running a
hand through rumpled hair, senses and muscles
alert.
"What is it?"
There was a pause in which he could feel both
of them listening for something^�for gunfire, for
laser fire, for the distant crash of cannon. There
was nothing.
Heero shrugged. "Nothing," he said.
"Go back to sleep."
*
Bravo: Barton
He'd only seen Trowa with the clown makeup
once, which was when he'd walked into the
Gundam pilot's room to see if he had any spare
computer parts. He would have asked Heero,
but Heero was gone on some mission or other,
and Quatre and Duo were no good at
computers.
There was a bang when he had knocked on the
door, as if something had fallen over. He heard
muffled cursing. Trowa, cursing? Trowa never
cursed.
"Who is it?"
He blinked, frowning. "Wufei. Can I come in?"
The door opened a moment later, and he almost
stepped backwards at the sight of the half-
human, half monster that stood before him.
Then he realized it wasn't a monster, but only
Trowa's face painted with circus makeup.
He didn't raise any eyebrow as Heero would
have, didn't start asking questions as Duo would
have, didn't express concern as Quatre would
have. He simply walked into Trowa's small room,
took the parts he needed, and left.
He supposed he should have asked to use the
parts, but that would have meant an actual
conversation. And he hadn't thought the other
boy was up to answering detailed questions at
the moment about how to install a hard drive or
when Heero was coming back or why the clown
makeup was streaked with what looked like
tracks of tears.
*
Charlie: Catalonia
She met him coming out the spacedock door of
the Peacemillion.
"Chang."
"Catalonia." He inclined his head. She smirked
at him. If she hadn't been a woman, he would
have almost considered her a worthy opponant.
Almost.
"Where are you going?"
"It's no concern of yours," he said shortly, trying
to shove past her to the briefing room.
"Oh, but it is." He wished she would wipe that
smirk off her face. Her side had lost the war, she
was being kept under constant electronic
surveillance, and yet she had the nerve to smirk
at him.
He didn't like that it bothered him. It made him
feel like a coward.
Just as he was about to tell her off, she slipped
to the side, motioning him forward.
"Have a nice day!" she called to him cheerfully.
He ground his teeth.
*
Delta: Doll
"Mobile Doll to starboard!"
"I see it!"
Two well-placed shots transformed the head of
the doll to dust, and he eased his Gundam away
from the exploding mess. Shrapnel flew past his
windshield and he raised one arm of his
machine in an attempt to ward off damage.
"05, you've got one on your tail."
"Damn it!"
"Stay on task, 05."
The doll paced him as he maneuvered and
faked and then sent out a blast from the beam
saber that cleaved the doll cleanly in half.
He stayed still as it exploded around him,
surrounding him in a eternity of flame.
*
Echo: Earth
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"What?"
"Earth."
"No."
"Why don't you think so?"
"It's dying."
"Isn't it what you're fighting for?"
"No."
"Then what do you fight for^�?"
*
Foxtrot: Family
"I have a lot of sisters," Quatre said.
He looked sideways at the Sandrock Gundam
pilot, sitting in the hard chair with his legs
crossed, a cup of tea in his hands.
"Really." He wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"Yes." Quatre took a sip of his tea. "Twenty-nine,
as a matter of fact."
He tried not to look shocked, but he wasn't
nearly as good as hiding his feeling as Trowa
and Heero were. Quatre saw, and smiled a little.
"Surprised, Wufei? Don't be. I never saw half of
them for any significant amount of time. A lot of
them the age difference between me and them
was too great for me to ever even get to know
them as people."
"So^�" his curiosity got the better of him. "Who
were the sisters you talked to?"
"I talked to Jaffa. She's one of the older
ones^�but I have a pretty good relationship with
her. She knows who I am. What I'm doing. She's
the only one in my family who approves me
being here. Because she knows."
"I see," he said. The tea was beginning to look
good. He'd had a long day.
Quatre noticed his look and held the tea cup out
to him. "Have some."
It was so tempting. "No."
Stupid stubborn pride.
Quatre smiled again. "Then there was
Reeshya^�she's the youngest, only a little older
than me. My father's always been protective of
her. She's the baby of the family, I suppose."
"What about you?"
The smile disappeared. "I'm male. I can't afford
to be a baby."
"I see." Exhaustion won over the pride and he
held out his hand. Quatre placed the tea cup into
it.
"Sorry. I don't even know why I'm talking about
this."
He shrugged. "I don't mind. What else would we
talk about? Killing people?"
Silence.
"That's what I thought."
*
Golf: Gundam
They all talked to their Gundams. He didn't know
of anyone and had never known of anyone who
talked to machines. His grandfather used to talk
to his radio sometimes, but that was different.
The radio talked back. A Gundam didn't.
But that didn't stop them from talking to them
anyway.
It was common courtesy that if one walked into
the hangar and overheard a conversation
between another pilot and his Gundam, one
would leave and come back later.
That was just how they did things.
Sure, the Gundams never talked back, but
maybe it was better that way.
*
Hotel: Hell
"Maxwell, do you believe in hell?"
The braided pilot looked at him quizzically from
where he sat on Shinigami's shoulder, polishing
something. "Sure. Why shouldn't I?"
"Just wondering."
He scrounged among the tools in the toolbox,
looking for a drill. There was the sound of feet
dropping lightly onto the concrete floor, and a
hand on his shoulder. He stiffened.
"What's up, Wufei?"
"Nothing is 'up,' Maxwell." He tried to move
away from the other's hand, but Duo was
stronger than he thought.
"Come on. Tell your buddy Duo about it. He's
your pal!" A grinning face thrust into his. "You
can tell Death anything!"
Normally he would have bit out some remark
about Maxwell's intelligence or his Gundam's
proportions, but today he was too tired. He
simply stared Death in the face until its violet
eyes blinked in confusion.
"Maxwell," he said. "Do me a favor?"
"Grow up."
*
India: Independence
"Independence for the colonies," the radio
proclaimed. The announcer sounded even more
excited than the last one had. "Independence
for all colonists!"
Some patriotic music came on, and he slapped
the machine off with some disgust, rolling onto
his side and staring at the ceiling.
Independence.
He'd believed in it once, but he'd somehow
stopped believing.
Maybe it was when his colony had died.
*
Juliet: Jello
There was a strange smell coming from the
kitchen and he was almost afraid to go in. It was
past midnight. What could possibly be going on?
"And then you add some water^�I think."
Quatre blinked. "Are you sure? The package
doesn't say anything about that^�Wufei!"
"What the hell are you two doing up at this hour
of the night?"
Duo grinned at him happily. "We're making jello!"
"What the hell is jello?"
The braided boy snickered. "Lighten up, Wufei!
Jello is^�umm^�" He watched as Duo tried to
find the words to describe the quivering mass of
gelatin currently cooling on the counter.
"Squishy stuff," the pilot finally finished,
gesturing to the gelatin. "Want some?"
"Hell, no!"
"When you say hell, are you talking to me?"
He opened his mouth to respond and received a
mouthful of^�something.
"MAXWELL!"
*
Kilo: Khushrenada
The sword point at his throat was mocking.
He could smell his own sweat rising off him in
waves.
His opponent was smiling.
That was beautiful^�Wufei.
NO!
*
Lima: Libra
"That ship's huge!"
"Shut your mouth, 02," he commanded over the
comm. "Let's do our job and get out of here."
The crackle of static on the comm cut him off.
"Incoming transmission," Heero's dead voice
sounded.
"Gundams, this is Battleship Libra. Retreat, and
you will come to no harm. Advance, and you will
be destroyed. I repeat: retreat and you will come
to no harm. Advance at your own risk."
"At your own risk," Duo said. His voice held just
a faint trace of mad glee. "I like that."
"Let's go," Heero said. "Unless^�anyone has
any objections?"
Silence.
"I didn't think so."
Shinigami's pilot whooped over the speaker.
"Libra, here we come! Prepare to be destroyed!"
"Shut up, 02!" Quatre's voice.
"Wow," Duo said. "OK 04, I get the point, I get
the point."
*
Mike: Merquise
"The one they call the Lightning
Baron^�Merquise. What do you think of him?"
"He might prove to be more dangerous than
Khushrenada in the long run." Heero's cold eyes
bored into his.
"Why do you say that?"
The other pilot shrugged. "Just a feeling I have.
Like everything else."
He snorted.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Heero said
calmly, popping the data card out of the slot on
his laptop and sliding it back into the case.
"No. Hard to imagine you have feelings, Yuy."
"Concentrate on Merquise, Chang," came the
response. "He's easier to figure out. Trust me."
"I believe you. That's the problem."
*
November: Nataku
I think of you at night, Nataku, when the moon is
high and I am alone.
I like to think that you are watching me,
sometimes. Just sometimes. Most of the time I
am too ashamed of myself to even think that you
would bother watching someone as cowardly
and insignificant as me.
But it gets lonely. When it was lonely then you
were always there to cheer me up, to throw out some
stupid or scathing remark that would catch
my attention and bring me out of myself. That
doesn't happen anymore. The others don't
know.
You were the only one I allowed to do that.
You really thought you were Nataku, didn't you?
And I didn't believe you. Not even when you
were fighting for me. I didn't believe.
If I had believed, would you still have died?
I think^�I think I could have loved you. In time. I
think I would have tried harder if I had known
that life was so short and chances weren't
chances after all. Thinking back, I realized you
tried too, as hard as anyone could have tried.
You were a true warrior, in body and in spirit and
in truth. I vowed to fight for you, when you died,
but really I'm not sure what I'm fighting for
anymore. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's myself.
I miss you.
Nataku.
*
Oscar: OZ
Duo was sitting scrunched up in a chair, head
turned to the window, when he walked into the
room. At the sound of his footsteps, the other
pilot stiffened, but didn^�t look around. The
lighting was dim and he could barely see the
back of Duo's head.
"What are you doing?" he said, not so much of a
true query but just because that was something
to ask. Because Duo wasn't talking, and there
was something wrong about that. Duo was
always talking.
"Nothing."
"Maxwell-"
"I read a book when I was little," the braided pilot
said, still staring out the window. "It was called
the Wizard of Oz. About this guy who was some
all-powerful ruler of this country but all he really
was was a freak pushing buttons on this giant
machine. When he pushed levers, some steam
would come out, and the country was scared. Of
steam and levers."
He frowned. There was something in Duo's
statement that rankled him, and he wasn't sure
what it was.
"Are you trying to say we're scared of steam?"
He heard the mocking smile in the other's voice.
"There you go again. Trying to be all noble and
shit."
"Duo."
The boy turned then, wide blue eyes meeting
his. "You know, Wufei," he said. "That's the first
time you've ever called me by my name."
"What are you trying to say, Duo?"
Duo shrugged. "Steam, levers, gears,
machines^�you figure it out yourself. If you can.
I'm not sure I could."
In the violet eyes, he read a sudden despair.
"Wufei^�I can't help but think^�maybe all we're
fighting is steam and levers and stupid
illusions^�and we can't seem to see through the
clouds to find out."
*
Poppa: Peacecraft
They didn't look at all alike, he realized. The
brother and the sister.
"So what are you doing after the war, Wufei?"
Relena was actually talking to him. He bit back a
savage reply, choosing instead to ignore her.
"Wufei!"
He sighed. He had no time to make idle
conversation with her. "Why don't you ask Yuy?
You always seem to be doing that."
"Heero won't talk to me." She sounded pouty,
like a child.
"I don't blame him," he said under his breath,
getting up to leave.
"Wufei! Come back here!"
*
Quebec: Quatre
Trowa was sitting at his computer, feeding in the
data from the last mission, and Quatre was
watching him curiously. He knew the other boy
felt the stare. Finally, the pilot sighed.
"What do you need, Quatre?"
"Just^�just wondering how you worked that
database." The Arabian sounded embarrassed.
"I've never been able to figure out the encryption
script."
Three sets of eyes turned to him incredulously.
"So how've you done it in the past?" Trowa
demanded, rising from his chair.
Quatre gulped. "Um^�Heero's been typing it in
for me."
Three pairs of eyes turned from the Arabian to
the Japanese pilot, standing with arms crossed
in a corner. Heero shrugged.
"Why not."
"So^�" Duo leaned forward in his chair. "Why're
you asking now? Just ask Heero!"
"He's got to start figuring things out on his own,"
Heero said before Quatre could respond. "Just
because I might not be here one day, and he'll
have to enter his own data."
"Heero-"
Quatre reached out a hand, but the Wing
Gundam pilot ignored it, standing there with his
arms crossed and his eyes far away.
"It hurts," Quatre murmured, too quiet for Heero
to hear. "It hurts, Heero^�"
*
Romeo: Resistance
He thought sometimes of that soldier that had
died in the battle, bleeding over his hands, all for
a cause.
Why did that soldier fight?
Why did that soldier die?
I'm not strong enough^�I'm not worthy of
Nataku. I'm weak.
You're weak!
Yes, we are weak. But we fight^�because we
believe.
Do you believe?
He didn't know if he believed.
Why did he fight?
And would he be willing to die?
*
Sierra: Space
If I had to fall in love I would fall in love with
space.
Except like everything else I have ever loved, it's
dying.
I'm killing it.
/Ore no kokoro^�uchuu no naka^�/
/Wo hui sha ni. /
*
Tango: Tallgeese
"Treize Khushrenada!"
The cry was a rip across the time and space
continuum itself, as if the universe were
shattering before his eyes as the other mobile
suit approached, bearing on wings of destiny the
man he had vowed to destroy.
"I'll kill you!"
Tallgeese was a beautiful meteor across the
silver stars of space and it streaked towards him
faster than a light ray, blinding him. Such a
machine should never have been built. It was
too beautiful, too beautiful for this destruction.
He was tired of killing beautiful things.
*
Uniform: Unit
"There are three units of mobile dolls altogether
that Libra is capable of sending against us right
now. You should have no problem with them.
The real problem lies with Epyon and Libra's
main cannon."
"So Merquise is there." Heero leaned over the
table, cobalt eyes smoking.
"We don't know," Noin maintained, clicking the
switch of the laser pointer. The briefing screen
changed to a mobile doll schematic. He sat
back, bored. Nothing he hadn't seen at least five
times before. From the corner of his eye, he
could see Duo falling asleep.
"Three units shouldn't be a problem," Quatre
said thoughtfully.
"But Epyon^�"
Heero's words hung in the dark room. Three
units and Epyon. He suddenly felt sorry for Noin.
"Noin? Are you^�" he took a deep breath. He
was asking her - a woman - a direct question.
Politely. Carefully. "Are you coming with us?"
What the hell had prompted him to ask
something foolish like that?
She frowned at him, the pointer dropping away
from the screen. "I was thinking about it." A
siilence, in which he could see the other pilots
staring at him. Except Duo, who was asleep.
"Would you like me to?"
Shit.
He had been afraid she would ask him that.
"Wufei?" Quatre.
He gripped the edge of the table. Five
Gundams^�against three mobile doll units was
more than enough^�but with a cannon and
Epyon^�
He could see them dying.
He was tired of pretending.
He was tired of trying to be strong.
"Yes," he said quietly, looking at his hands.
"Yes, I do."
*
Victor: Vice Commander
"Une wants me to be vice commander," Sally
said, flinging herself onto the stool beside him at
the empty bar. He shrugged, taking another sip
of his tea. The bar was dark except for the single
light that lit the area of the room around him with
harsh white light.
"So?"
"So I don't want the responsibility!" she bit out.
"Noin's a much more qualified soldier than I am.
And she knows Merquise's tactics and how he
fights. Why didn't Une ask her?"
He looked sideways at her. There were dark
circles under her eyes and her braids were
coming undone. She looked like she hadn't slept
in days. The look she gave him was murderous,
but he just continued looking at her, sipping his
tea, without comment.
"What?" Sally finally demanded, when he didn't
speak. "Stop staring at me!"
He slid off the stool with one fluid motion,
finishing the last of the tea and placing the cup
on the bar.
"Get some rest, Sally."
Ignoring her incredulous look, he turned and
walked from the light into the shadows.
*
Whiskey: War
War.
I live for war. I have never lived for anything
else.
Never.
If I did, I don't remember.
Don't make me remember.
I don't want to.
*
X-ray: Xenophobia
"Do I ever feel different to you?"
Quatre cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"I'm Chinese," he said bluntly. The moment the
words were out of his mouth he regretted it.
They made him sound like a weak fool. "Do you
think of me as different?"
The blonde boy looked confused. "Huh?
Why^�why would I do that? Heero's Japanese,
right? Does it matter?"
"Never mind."
"No, really, Wufei, tell me. Did I do something
wrong? Did-"
"Forget it, Winner." He threw the chopsticks and
bowl down on the table harder than was perhaps
necessary. "Just forget it."
*
Yankee: Yuy
"Chang! Wufei, can you hear me?"
There were hands shaking him, but he couldn't
seem to open his eyes. There was a metallic
taste in his mouth and he knew it from
somewhere, but he couldn't place it. A light was
shining somewhere far off.
Was this what it was like to die?
"Chang!" A slap. "Wake up!"
He felt something force his mouth open and the
metallic taste was gone in the wake of
something cold and bitter. He gagged.
Something thumped his back. Was he awake?
He couldn't quite tell. Maybe this was some
psychedelic dream, and he was dead, after all.
"Wufei, you bastard."
There was no compassion in the voice. None at
all. Only burning anger.
"If you die, I'll never forgive you!"
*
Zulu: Zero
It would be so easy to give himself over
completely and just surrender and be gone, so
easy. The electronic voice in his head called
him, soothed him, crept up his numb senses and
took him slowly little by little. It was pure torture
and pain and ecstasy all at once.
Pure power.
I can give you anything^�I can give you
everything. If you give me everything.
It was what he wanted. If he could just let
go^�how long had he wanted to let go? Forever
and ever he seemed, as he opened his eyes
and saw the endless field of stars glittering on
that faraway universe where he could go if he
tried hard enough.
He would no longer be weak.
I can give you anything, it breathed.
Chang Wufei.
Anything.
He was falling.
--CLASSIFIED--
ENCRYPTION CODE 05
END TRANSMISSION
Notes:
The first word of all the seciton titles, A-Z,
are the letters of the military phonetic alphabet.
This alphabet is used in radio and data
transmissions by the United States military. I
would assume that the universe of Gundam W
has something similiar.
In section Sierra: Space
-Ore no kokoro...uchuu no naka. Japanese. My
heart...in the universe.
Wo hui sha ni. Mandarin Chinese, Wufei's native
language. I will kill you.
=====
Quicksilver
Lady of the Labyrinth
Full time student and part-time writer
"You haven't lived until you've danced the dagger's edge."
http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth
http://www.method.org/gundam
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