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


Mirage: Quatre
(m -r�zh ) n 1: an optical illusion in which
atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts
or inverts reflections of distant objects 2: something
illusory and unattainable





	Even in death, Atsuki�s poor luck followed her.

	It took hours for her to be missed, confirmed dead,
and before I saw her actual body.  I feel horribly
guilty about that� but to me, she was a stranger.  
She was the shell of Lilah Winner� my sister had died
that night so many years ago when she had run away
from home with a man who was entirely unsuitable.  If
she'd been one of my empathic sisters, she would never
had anything to do with him- the one time I had seen
him, I got the impression that his aura was covered in
a slimy black substance.  Omaira actually had tried to
get him extradited off the Colony, but it was too
late.  Lilah was in love- or she thought she was.  
Fourteen seems to be too young to know what real love
is... at least, for Lilah.   She was a sheltered girl,
not yet ready to confront the realities of the world.

	When the attack on Preventers Headquarter's had
begun, I had been with Reeshya, Yaminah, and Jaffa,
where we were meeting in one of the small conference
rooms with Major Carrington to discuss legal options. 
 I found the woman to be one of the most abrasive
people I had ever met, and even Jaffa�s considerable
patience had been tried several times since making her
acquaintance.   The major was no beauty, but her brain
was exceptionally sharp, as was her tongue.   She
didn't have any use for diplomacy, and while it was
definitely different from what I was used to dealing
with, the novelty quickly wore off.   A simple please
every now and then would have been pleasant.

	It was 2:37 exactly when I heard the first explosion.
 I know because I was watching the clock, wondering
how much longer I had to remain before I could make a
polite excuse and leave- perhaps take a walk out to
the hangers and see some of what the Preventers had
been working on lately.   My hands itched to do
something manual, create something that was tangible,
rather than abstract.  

	I never got the chance.

	A muffled explosion pierced our conversation, and I
immediately took cover by kicking the conference table
over, dragging Reeshya down with me.  I didn't have
any weapons as I hadn't carried any since the war, and
that made me curse myself mentally.   I missed having
the cold metal of a gun in my hand as an assurance
that I could protect those nearest to me- I didn't
like using it, but being able to look after myself and
those things I value was something I treasure.

	I will admit -very privately- to being something of a
control freak.

	The others stared at me, and I realized that they
believed it was a car backfiring- I knew differently,
though.   There's something distinct about the sound
of destruction, something that lives on in your
nightmares long after the event in question has
passed.   "Get down!" I yelled angrily.   They were
all (even Carrington and the other Preventer agents
who should have known better) standing around, looking
confused.   "That's gunfire!"

	Reeshya yelped in fear before covering her mouth, and
I could feel her tremble against my hands.   Yaminah
dropped like a rock with the poise only a courtroom
lawyer could acquire, while the two guards in the room
drew their weapons, flanking the door.  Jaffa remained
stock-still in her seat, her breathing heavy and her
normally rich skin pasty.  I looked at Carrington, and
the competent woman dragged my sister behind the table
I had pushed on its side.   

	The soldier in me took immediate account of the
situation.   A comfortably appointed room, with a
heavy oak table that might deflect some of the worse
fire- or might not.  It would depend on what
ammunition the attackers were using.   No windows,
which was good, and only one entry- which made it easy
to defend, but if they got in, we were sitting ducks. 
Two Preventer guards, three civilians, Carrington, and
myself.   The agents each had two weapons visible (and
probably more).   I found myself taking control
without conscious decision.

	"Ree, Jaffa, Yaminah- stay behind the table no matter
what.   We're going to barricade in until the
Preventers get ahold of the situation."

	"What does this have to do with us?" Reeshya
demanded.

	I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile,
though my mind was flying.  "Ree, people know I'm on
base, and I'm persona very non grata to most of the
known world.   I guarantee you a price is on my
head..."

	"But- there's a trial..." she said.

	Yaminah took up the explanation.   "Trials don't
matter.   You can't change what someone feels by
reasoning with them.   Emotions are more complex than
that."

	The lack of a weapon finally got to me, and my nerves
overrode my manners.  "Give me your extra gun," I
demanded, turning to the airman who hadn't spoken yet.

	"Huh?" The young airman scratched her head.   "You're
not authorized to carry weapons on base," she said
finally.  She kept her eyes on the door, but I could
tell from the way the corner of her mouth twitched
that she'd never been in a combat situation before.   
Just great- that was all I needed.   A trigger-happy
greenie at my back.

	I gave her a soft smile, the one that so many people
found enchanting, but the hint of steel behind it
belied the innocence my blue eyes seemed to promise. 
I never learned the trick of lying with my eyes. "If
you give it to me, I won't be a liability.   I need to
be able to protect myself... the gun, please."   I
held out a hand for it.

	The airman glanced nervously around, but the
Carrington just nodded to her.   She sighed and
unholstered it.  I checked carefully and went to her
side, careful to avoid being in front of the door,
just in case someone decided to knock by blasting a
few rounds through it.   Personally, I thought a
grenade or other explosive was more likely, but I
wasn't about to worry my sisters.  "It holds nine
bullets, but I always leave the first chamber empty to
avoid accidents.  Safety's here," she said, turning
the gun slightly so he could inspect.

	"Can I have another bullet?"  Always be as fully
armed as possible- Heavyarms had taught me that.

	"Um...."

	"I flew a Gundam.   I'm certainly not going to shoot
myself in the foot!"

	She handed over a small bag she produced from inside
her hip pocket, and watched critically as I loaded it.
 I did so smoothly, almost amazed when I considered
that this was the first gun I had held in a year and a
half.   It felt awkward in my hands, as though the
balance wasn't quite right.  Still, it was much better
then being unarmed.

	I glanced at Carrington.   She had appropriated the
other airman's extra gun and stood on the opposite
side from me.   I heard Reeshya try to muffle her
sniffles, but it was Jaffa's heavy breathing that
worried me the most.   She seemed to be going into
some kind of shock.. and if left untreated....

	I didn't want to think about that.

	"Now what?" I demanded.

	"We wait," she said, grimly.   We listened as the
explosions came nearer, then pounding footsteps 
approached.   I tensed slightly and suddenly
everything seemed sharper.   My senses had heightened
and the adrenaline in my system was at a level it
hadn't reached since the end of the war.   It was an
addicting feeling.

	The polite knocking on the door surprised us- if it
had been the terrorists, they would have barged right
in.  Still, I signaled that Carrington was to do the
speaking, since it was likely that the terrorists
would be after me.   "Who's there?" Carrington
demanded.

	For once I blessed her lack of common courtesy.

	"Major Li, attach� to General Une.   She sent me to
get Winner and his sisters to the bunker."

	"Security clearance?" I demanded, deciding that this
"Major Li" obviously knew that I was in the room, so
it was safe enough to speak.

	"Li- Alpha Phi Omega!"

	The computer behind us chirped confirmation that it
recognized the voice pattern and code, and Carrington
swung the door open as I trained my gun on it.  A
small squad of Preventers stood there behind a small
Asian major and Carrington gestured that I should put
up my gun.   I did so reluctantly.   

	"Li, what the hell is going on?" Carrington demanded.

	Li gave her a look of sangfroid that Sally would have
envied.   "We're under attack," she answered
succinctly.   She gestured, and the Preventers entered
the room, fanning out and helping my sisters to their
feet.   "We're moving the Winners to a more secure
location."

	"Where?" I demanded.

	"The bunker beneath this building." Li said.   She
clicked her headphone set on and toggled it.   "I have
the prince and his harem.   Bringing them to the
seraglio."

	I coughed at that.   My sisters were my harem now? 
>From the look on Yaminah's face, she shared my
sentiment.

	The next five hours were spent in a small, extremely
high-security bomb-shelter located below the primary
shelter underneath the main building- the one for
VIPs.   Part of me chafed about the special treatment,
but I'd always had it.   I tried to get my sisters
interested in a card game with very little luck as Li
and Carrington kept holding hushed conferences every
ten minutes or so, presumably about the situation.

	By the end of the fifth hour, my nerves were shot.  
I wasn't used to adrenaline rushes anymore, and my
body was showing the strain.  Yaminah's usually neat
appearance was mussed, Jaffa had circles under her
eyes, and Reeshya looked like she was on the verge of
a complete nervous breakdown.   "Carrington, any
word?" I demanded.

	"Ten more minutes, and the base will be secure."

	"What happened?" Yaminah asked.   "I thought this was
one of the safest places in the world."

	"It is.   Someone introduced a highly sophisticated
virus to our system, probably through our security
computers.   Then there was a minor explosion on base-
water and sodium- nothing major, but it made a big
bang.   The virus knocked our power out for a little
while, and while we were switching to emergency
generators, the terrorists attacked.   They managed to
penetrate quite deeply."

	"Were any captured?" Yaminah asked in a deadly voice.
  It sent a soft shiver up my spine; I would hate to
be one of the terrorists, should Yaminah get her hands
on me.   Perhaps I wasn't the only non-pacifistic
Winner in the family.

	Carrington looked grim.   "Unfortunately not.   Most
were wired with dead man's switches, self-termination
devices, or had turned themselves into human bombs.  
We weren't prepared to deal with suicidal fanatics.  
Their goal wasn't to take the place over- it was to do
as much damage as possible before they were killed."

	"What was the damage?" Reeshya asked.   Her lips were
pale, and I wondered if she would need a doctor.  
Unfortunately, we had sent Tikia and Juju -the sisters
who were best-versed in medical care- to L4 to await
the trial away from the media, judging it wise not to
have the entire family in one place- it would be too
tempting a target.

	For all the good that precaution had done to prevent
an attack.

	"Casualty reports are still coming in, but we have at
least forty confirmed dead.   Une was evacuated, so
this technically isn't HQ anymore.  There was only a
few million in property damage, but our computer
system is screwed to hell."   Li sighed, almost as
though she was in pain.   "It's going to take a
complete wipe to repair the system, and we'll have to
rebuild it from the ground up.   I hope everyone was
following procedure and using back-ups, but I doubt
it.   It's going to be a lot of work."   It was weird,
but I almost could have sworn that Li was more
concerned with the computers than the loss of life. 
She scratched her chin thoughtfully.   "Might just be
easier to get a new system put in."

	I tried to keep from glaring, honestly I did, but it
slipped through.   Jaffa saw it and placed a placating
hand upon my shoulder.   "Is there anyway to track
someone on base?   Our sister Lilah wasn't with us,
and we're concerned for her," Jaffa said to Li.

	Carrington and Li exchanged glances.   "It may be-"
Carrington began, but I stopped her.   I could feel
the impending lie.

	"What happened?" I demanded.

	Again, glances were exchanged.   "It seems she was
hit," Li said softly, looking uncomfortable.

	"How bad is it?" Ree asked, but I knew the answer
already.   I had seen the look in Li's eyes before. 
It was the look of someone who was unsure of how to
break terribly, life shattering news, but someone who
knew that it had to be done.

	"Ree," I said softly, touching her arm and trying to
project as much empathy as I could.   "Lilah died," I
whispered.

	Her eyes widened and she trembled violently.   "No.  
No, Quat.   Major Li didn't say that.   What are the
doctors doing?" she asked, with the innocent faith of
someone who believed that things would be okay in the
end.

	Carrington, in an uncharacteristically gentle move,
pulled a seat out and helped Reeshya to sit.   Jaffa
had lost most of her color, but otherwise was bearing
up well, and Yaminah seemed hardly affected, which
wasn't much of a surprise.   She hadn't known Lilah
until a few days ago- there was hardly any reason for
her to grieve.   "I'm sorry, Miss Winner, but you're
brother is right.   Your older sister died a few hours
ago in the first wave of the attack."

	I nodded grimly.   "Has she been taken to the morgue
yet?"

	That did it.   Jaffa broke into tears, and Yaminah
gave me a glare for upsetting her even as she gave
Jaffa a hug to offer comfort.  Reeshya just sat,
waxen, her eyes vacant.  I shrugged apologetically,
but I knew that one of us would have to identify her. 
 

	The Preventers looked even more uncomfortable. 
"We've been having a slight... problem."  Li looked at
my sisters, and gestured that I should follow her.

	I did so reluctantly.   Jaffa and Reeshya especially
had a right to hear what had happened to Lilah, but in
the state they were in, I doubted they could take
much.   "What's wrong?" I demanded in my "I am Quatre
Raberba Winner" voice, the voice I used when I wanted
answers.

	"We're having problems retrieving the body from one
of your sister's.... friends."

	"Friends?" I asked.   Lilah hadn't known anyone
on-base that I was aware of....

	"From the Breaks," she said shortly.  Apparently your
sister came to Earth to follow her lover, and one of
her friends was with him."

	Her lover?   My head spun.   I didn't want to think
about this.... not with her dead.   I had just found
her again, and hadn't yet reconciled how I felt about
her....

	"He was with her when she died?"

	"Yes, as was her lover.   Her lover immediately
barricaded himself in a room on-base, and he took her
body to the hospital.   He won't let anyone near her
body.   We've tried to tranq him, but that hasn't
worked- seems to have some kind of immunity to them.  
We have no other ideas right now, since he's a trained
assassin, and to be honest, recovering the body of a
dead woman is low priority right now."  She spat the
last sentence out hurriedly, as though she was afraid
I would be upset about it.

	I nodded.   "Understandable.   Perhaps I can persuade
him to release her to family custody for burial?"

	"We're under lock-down!" Li said forcefully..

	"Is the base secure?" I asked levelly.

	 "It has been for three and a half hours."  

	It had only taken them ninety minutes to sweep the
entire base for explosives and other security
breeches- not bad.  Still, the base had been
penetrated, which seriously undermined my confidence
in their abilities- which I supposed was one of the
purposes of the attack.  "Well, I'm going to go see." 


	Apparently I must have sounded uncompromising, for Li
sighed and gestured for the airman who had given me
the gun to come over.   "Airman, give Mr. Winner the
holster so he isn't wandering around with a live
weapon.   Escort him to the hospital wing, doctors
lounge in the ER.   Darkflight -that's his name, and
remember he's an expert assassin who's in rehab for
God knows how many drugs- took her to the ER- we don't
know why, as it was clear she was already dead."

	I sighed and put the safety on, took the holster that
was offered and removed my jacket so I could slip it
over my dress shirt.  Then I left the room, following
the airman who had originally come.  I hoped Yaminah
would remain calm enough to take care of Jaffa and
Reeshya, but that would definitely be something I'd
have to see to later.   Right now, though, I owed it
to Lilah to take care of her.

	The hospital center was buzzing with activity.   I
could see the color-coding on patients as doctors had
been forced to perform the unsavory act of triage.   I
didn't want to be there- I could feel my senses
assault by pain and death from all around him.   I
looked at those who wore the infamous black tag
sorrowfully, depressed that they had already been
given up on.   They lay quietly, many of them given
mercy drugs to ease their way out of life.

	Lounges had been converted to makeshift treatment
areas, with orderlies slapping on burn creams and
band-aids to staunch the injuries until a doctor could
see patients.   One nurse was wandering around with a
clipboard, her eyes glassy from shock, as she took
vitals over and over.   This was the HQ- no one had
been expected to deal with this kind of carnage here
of all places.   Of all places, Preventers was
supposed to have been the safest in the world.  
Reality was hitting all of us like a sledgehammer
between the eyes.

	The airman to a small out of the way room, one that
looked like it had been a private waiting area in
better times.   Now the chairs had all been pushed to
the side, and only one man was in the room, cradling
the body of a familiar young woman.  She was dead.   I
could tell as soon as I set foot inside- her emotional
signature wasn't there anymore.  It was something I
was used to- every human being gave off an emotional
signature, and I was used to those constant presences
around me.   It was my sixth sense, as much a part of
me as smell, touch, taste and sound.

	Lilah was dead.   There was nothing animating the
body that had been my sister's.

	"We can't get him to give her to us- he insisted on
seeing you," the airman said.   "I'll leave you two...
when you have her, you can bring her down the corridor
to the second waiting area- it's being used as a
temporary morgue."

	"My thanks, and the thanks of my family," I said
softly.  The airman gave me a brief salute, and left,
shutting the door behind him.  

	The young man looked up then, his eyes dark with
grief and some other undefinable emotion.   His skin
was such a deep black that it seemed to absorb all the
room's colors, but the features were finely chiseled,
and Asian to boot.  He wasn't wearing the uniform of
the Preventers- indeed, if he was part of some kind of
official government, I would eat my shoes without
sauce.  

	This had to be Darkflight, the assassin who had been
her friend.   Perhaps more- he looked and felt like
someone who had just had a piece of his world taken
away from him.  His heartbreak was tangible, but I was
selfishly glad for it.   Someone had loved Lilah,
truly loved her as she had deserved.

	"Atsuki?" he whispered staring at my face in
surprise, then shook his head.   "You have to be her
brother.... you look like her."   The man stared down
at the body in his arms with an odd form of
contemplation in his eyes.

	"I'm Quatre.... what happened?"  

	The man rocked back slightly, carefully keeping the
dead girl's body against him.  "She was hit by a
bullet, in the back.   A stray shot- if she hadn't
paused then- if he hadn't-" he shook his head, raising
a hand to stare at it in fascination.   "She didn't
even know she was dead."

	The callused black hand bore dry blood on it, and I
found it morbidly fascinating.  Humans have always
found blood the very substance of life, and to see it
spilled, the blood of my sister...   my sister's
blood.   The same blood I have running through my
veins.   Platitudes about not suffering came to my
mind, but I had seen too much death to mouth words
that were meaningless.  �Did you know her well?� I
asked.

	�I loved her,� the dark youth said.  �Foolish of me,
but� there was just something about her.   She was
fragile, but there was strength in her.   She
fascinated me.�  He pushed a strand of her pale hair
off her forehead.   �I never told her.�  

	�I�m sure she knew� she was a Winner.�

	The man shook his head.   �No, she wasn�t� if she had
been a Winner, she would have been with your family,
where it was safe.�   Despite his words, there was no
accusation.   It was a statement of fact.  �She was a
streetie� and died like one.�   He chuckled low in his
throat, amused.   "Funny thing, though.   Her being a
Winner."

	"Oh?" I asked.

	Darkflight laughed again, a little more wildly.   "I
wonder what it is about Winners and Gundams.   You
were a pilot and she fucked one."

	The color drained from my face, and I felt rage-
partly mine, partly his.   I remembered her speaking
of a man, on the plane to Geneva, "Not even for him
can I whore myself to the family again," she had said,
but I hadn't taken time to figure out who he was.

	Now I did, and the picture came together in a
remarkably complete, and ironic, whole.   "Heero..." I
whispered, not sure what I would do if I saw him.   He
had been my friend, but he had helped Lilah destroy
herself.

	Darkflight seemed satisfied by the anger in my face. 
 "He was my partner... Atsuki's lover.   She came here
for him, Winner.   Thought she could help, though God
knows how.   All she ended up being was another body
on the ground.   Why go to all the trouble of going to
Earth to get killed when all she had to do was live in
the Breaks a while longer?"   He sighed and brushed a
hand into her hair again.

	Heero... an assassin.... my sister his whore.  I
stared at her, wondering how many secrets she had
taken with her when she died.  This was the second of
my sisters I had seen dead- Iria had been the first,
killed protecting me.   When she had died, I had felt
insane with rage, leading to the building of the Zero;
with Atsuki, I felt nothing aside from a distant
sadness, regret for what could have -should have-
been.   It was odd- Iria and Lilah had been my two
blonde sisters, the only ones who resembled me
physically.   Was it a curse, perhaps?  Were all
blonde Winners doomed to die violent deaths?

	I fingered my own pale strands of hair and wondered.

	Would I, too, soon be joining them?  And would that
be such a bad thing?   To die a martyr?   I shook my
head, rejecting the thought that kept coming back to
me.   We had been heroes, the other pilots and I.  
And heroes didn't let themselves become martyrs. 

	I looked down at the dark boy who was still cradling
the body of the woman who had born my sister, coming
to a decision.   He was shadows to her sun, but the
sun had set upon her life.   Night had come, and the
storms were breaking.   A poetic metaphor, but a very
true one.   "Darkflight," I said.

	He looked up at me, his dark eyes lackluster.  "What
do you want?"

	"What's the burial custom of the Breaks?" I asked.

	He shrugged.   "Sell the body to the maggots if
you're not close, otherwise burn it to keep it from
rotting.   The morticians and coroners wouldn't go
near the Breaks- no one blamed them."

	"Well, then... I'd better call the crematorium," I
said quietly.   "I'll leave you alone for a while
longer to pay your final respects."

	Darkflight looked at him, more life returning to his
features.  "I thought... you were Muslim."

	"I am."

	"Isn't it forbidden for the body of a Muslim to be
cremated?" he asked.

	I nodded.   "We'll perform the other rituals- the
washing, prayers, and three day mourning period, but
if the people of the Breaks are cremated, then Atsuki
should be as well."   I looked down at my sister's
shattered body for a final time.  She looked like a
child sleeping in the arms of a dark angel.

	"Why?" Darkflight whispered, unable to keep his voice
from cracking on the word.

	I knew how much that concession meant to him.  
"Atsuki isn't just a Winner anymore- she was a Winner
who lived in the Breaks.   Who knows what that meant?"
  I watched as Darkflight's callused fingers tangled
in her hair.  "I wonder if there ever was a Lilah
Winner... or if I was only seeing a mirage."

	He looked up at me and nodded.  Our eyes met, and for
an instant we understood each other perfectly, two
strangers who, had life taken its normal course, who
never would have met.   One a wealthy businessman who
had the world at his fingertips, and the other a
streetrat who didn't even rule himself.   Still, we
had been brought together because we loved the same
woman, a woman neither of us really knew.






END

Note: Maggot is Breaks slang for someone who deals in
human body parts, particularly dead ones.   They tend
not to ask questions about how the body is acquired.  
Healthy young bodies not long dead are the maggots
preferred stock.

Information about Islamic burial rites was retrieved
from:
http://www.ifishoulddie.co.uk/religious_traditions.htm

Dictionary definition of "mirage" from:
http://www.dictionary.com

=====
"No matter what the bible says, the battle always goes to
the strong. And I am strong. I don't need to prove that to
anyone anymore."
-Excerpt from Sainan no Kekka- Act Seven, Scene VII

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quicksilver/
http://www.midnightrevolution.org/gundam

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