Conspiracy Theory-Part 2
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2002 1:11 pm
AN: Disclaimer-I don?t own Gundam Wing. I am sorry that the first two parts of this story were short but I promise the story shall move along. The next few parts shall be longer and will explain more as the story unravels. Please R&R! Thanks!
Somewhere on L1?
The story of the terrorist attack on earth was spreading quickly. Word of whether or not the Vice Foreign Minister had survived was still unknown. The news was showing images of ground zero. People were running, smoke rose from small fires, and rubble was everywhere. A reporter at the site of the attack explained the details of what had happened, despite the little known facts.
A young man stood with a large crowd that had gathered outside of an electronics store, watching and waiting for what would happen next. His eyes were fixed on the screen just like so many others. The television was once again showing footage of the aftermath. Suddenly the reporter stepped back into the picture,
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just discovered some startling new information regarding to the attack. First and foremost, Preventers headquarters has just confirmed that Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian is safe and in a secure place at this time. Unfortunately, we have also found that these attacks were caused by," her voice faltered slightly, "? by mobile suits."
Some in the crowd gasped and others just shook their heads. Most just remained silent and continued to watch the broadcast. The young man silently slipped away from the crowd, his Prussian blue eyes flashing with an unfamiliar emotion.
He paced through the streets of the colony, not bothering to move for anyone that was in his way. He simply walked and walked, until he finally reached an apartment complex at the edge of a large park. He strode up the stairs of the complex to the second floor where he entered a long narrowing hallway. His pace never slowed until he reached his own apartment. Yet, as he was about to open the door he stopped, for it was already open.
Instinctively, the young man silently and swiftly drew out a gun that had been concealed inside his jacket. He opened the door, cautiously, holding his gun out in front of his body as if it were a part of him. He slowly entered and closed the door. He walked into what used to be the small living room. Now, it was simply a mess of overturned furniture and a sea of papers.
The young man picked his laptop off of the floor and turned it on. The screen was blank. All the data from the computer had been erased. Silently cursing, the young man threw the useless machine onto the ground. He brushed aside his unruly brown hair. He lowered his hands to his sides, his right one still carrying his gun. Suddenly, he turned around and fired the weapon quicker than lightning.
The man who had been secretly trying to sneak back out of the door fell lifelessly to the ground before he realized what had happened. The young man walked towards the body and knelt beside the breathless form. He searched the man and found no identification, what he did find however, were two copies of the data that previously were contained on the laptop.
He walked into his the bedroom and shoved clothes and other necessary items into a duffel bag. Grabbing the data he placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Walking out of the apartment, he closed the door, and left the body of the intruder behind.
Preventers Headquarters?
Lady Une was in her office along with Zechs, Wufei, and Noin. They had been sitting in silence for the past hour. The day had been long and undesirable. A knock was heard on the door and Lady Une commanded for the visitor to enter.
Sally Poe stepped into the office. Her eyes showed extreme fatigue, but she smiled despite her weary condition. She approached Lady Une and saluted. After returning the salute, Lady Une motioned for Sally to proceed with her business,
"First of all I just wanted to inform all of you that Miss Relena only accessed minor injuries and is now resting comfortably. She may be released at any time you wish for her to leave," she explained to Zechs. He nodded and then Sally continued, " The other thing is the results of the attack?"
"Go on?" replied Lady Une.
"Well?" another Preventer bursting into the room suddenly interrupted Sally. His breath was ragged, and the scene he made by his intrusion caused everyone in the room to jump.
"Commander! Another one? another attack! This time in North America!"
Everyone immediately burst through the door of the office and headed down the hallway of the military compound.
Later?
Five hours had passed. They were five of the longest hours that the Earth had ever known. The mobile suits made another four attacks aside from the attack on the ESUN conference. Though there was not a massive amount of casualties, human lives had been lost, and this above all angered Relena as she lay hopelessly in a bed in the infirmary. As soon as she was told of the attacks, she beckoned a guard to command Lady Une and the others to see her when they had the chance.
She waited patiently, knowing that the head of the Preventers was busy and giving out orders. She wanted to hear all the facts of the attacks from the person who would know the most. She needed to know what was going on.
Relena turned her head to see Lady Une, Milliardo, and Noin come towards her bed. They all looked as if they hadn?t slept in days. Yet the three of them stood steady and looked at the young Minister through grave eyes. Relena looked away from them and concentrated her vision on her hands that she had folded in her lap.
"I don?t care how hard it may be. I need to know all the facts," she said to them solemnly.
"Five attacks total: All of them in important cities in North America, Europe, and Asia. The death toll is currently sixty-one. The toll of the injured is two hundred fourteen," Lady Une stopped.
"Sixty-one innocent lives lost," muttered Relena.
Just then, Sally and Wufei entered the room. They walked side by side towards Relena?s bed and saluted to their Commander. She returned their gesture and asked them what their business was.
"Commander," started Sally, "we believe that we may have discovered a pattern to these attacks."
"Proceed," commanded Lady Une. All occupants of the room listened intently on the next words that were about to surface.
"All attacks have been against the Earth. Each one has been in a major city on the continents. These cities are quite important to the ESUN in terms of delegates and representatives. Also, at the attack on the ESUN conference, eight members of the committee died as a result. All of these members happened to be from the Earth," Sally stopped to catch her breath.
"Just what exactly are you saying?" inquired Relena.
Wufei rolled his eyes sarcastically. Women were just too simple minded to understand anything when it was needed, "What she is saying, is that these attacks were not spontaneous. They were well planned and made deliberately against the Earth. No attack was made upon any of the colonies, understood?"
"I understand you perfectly. You all believe that the colonies are behind this, don?t you?" accused Relena.
"We are not openly accusing anyone," put in Sally.
Lady Une spoke up, "Until we have sequential evidence, this knowledge does not go beyond headquarters, understood?" All nodded in agreement. "I believe that the Vice Minister is in dire need of some rest," said Lady Une as she started to walk out of the room. The others followed, all save Zechs. He stood for a while by the bed looking down at the young woman who lay there. Finally he spoke,
"Relena? I hope you realize what this could mean. If these attacks continue, it could lead to another war with the colonies. The people of Earth are already beginning to blame them."
"Yes, but I do not believe that the colonies are behind all this. From what I understand, only several terrorist groups have expressed their hatred towards the Earth. They believe that Earth still holds too much power over the colonies," stated the headstrong girl.
Zechs shook his head, "Relena, all I am saying is to be careful, you don?t know what?s going to happen next. This is going to change things forever. Peace has existed for two years and now this. Yet you could see this coming, could you not? Deep down Relena I think you could feel the tensions rising the whole time. I think all of us could."
"What are you saying?" Relena asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"All I am saying is this: We need to be prepared. Unless we can find a way to end this and pull the ESUN back together, there will be war. We do not yet know the culprit of these attacks, but once we find them? Relena if it does turn out to be the colonies then?"
Relena shut her eyes tightly. She knew what he was going to say. Somehow in her heart she had a feeling of the truth revealing itself. She choked back a small sob and took a deep breath. She would not cry, right now.
"Milliardo, if the ESUN falls apart, then I will fail horribly. War would mean that everything I have stood for, my ideas and dreams would be crushed. People will die: both the innocent and the damned."
She looked at her brother, her sapphire eyes seaming with pain. Yet she did not falter and continued to speak to him gravely, "I promise you, and the rest of the world, that I will find a way to prevent people from death and suffering."
Zechs looked at her, all emotions drained from his face. He understood her seriousness and respected her strength. "Sleep now, Relena. Tomorrow we will come up with a solution to all of this." He gently squeezed her hand and started to walk out of the room. He stopped just as he reached the door and turned around,
"They would be proud," he said.
Relena was puzzled by his statement, "Who?"
"To know that you have truly lived up to the name of Peacecraft," with that said he left the room.
Relena stared after him and a single tear made its way down her cheek. She never knew her parents and what he said made her feel confused. She still did not feel as if she was worthy enough to hold such a strong name. It was the name that gave hope to millions of people in the universe. What if I can not fulfill their hopes and give them the strength that they need? Relena lay her head down on the soft pillow of the bed. She stared up and the ceiling and her eyes glazed over with crystal tears. As they began to fall down her cheeks, she remained motionless and whispered painfully,
"God give me strength."
***********************************************************************
Zechs found Noin, Sally, and Wufei sitting in one of the worker?s lounges. All three Preventers were drinking black coffee. A television was on, still showing footage of the attacks. Zechs took a seat next to Noin on the large couch. She gently leaned her head against his shoulder. Silence filled the room except for the words of the reporters on the television. Yet at the moment, no one felt as if they heard them. Everyone seemed to be in a different world, reflecting on everything that had happened. Finally, Wufei broke the silence,
"There?s something that I need to tell you all, but I didn?t wish to say anything in front of the Minister."
Noin rose her head off of Zech?s shoulder. Sally shifted in her seat. All eyes were fixed upon the former Gundam Pilot.
"The mobile suits that made the attacks, from what I could tell they were a new model, but seemed to have the capabilities of a Virgo. However, one of the suits caught my attention. It was during the third attack in North America?" he stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Well, out with it Wufei! What is it?" Sally was becoming impatient. Wufei glared at her, but she didn?t care. Nothing the young man did ever phased Sally Poe.
"As I was saying, the suit that caught my attention appeared to be a Gundam of some sort."
Meanwhile on Colony L2?
A young man with a long braid was working away furiously in his garage. He?d been up for over forty-eight hours after he heard of the attacks on ESUN and Earth. He?d become restless and felt a sense of uselessness wash over him. So he threw himself into his work, ignoring his body's growing need for rest.
"Duo Maxwell!"
The braided boy stopped what he was doing and turned to face a slender, young woman with short black hair. Her blue eyes burned with worry and concern. Duo sighed and put his tools down. The young woman walked over to him, her eyes never leaving his body.
"Hilde, what are you doing up this late?" inquired Duo.
"Worrying about you," she replied.
This took Duo by surprise. Since the end of the war, Duo had been living with Hilde, a former Oz officer. They owned and worked together in a salvage yard. They had become the best of friends, and shared all of their secrets with one another, all except for one of them. The secret that could give them eternal happiness, or take everything they loved away.
Duo now stared down at Hilde, his violet eyes growing serious. This startled the girl, for Duo?s demeanor was usually cheerful and pleasant. She could sense tension starting to build around her. She decided to break the silence that had surrounded them.
"Duo, you?ve been up for nearly two days. You need to eat and get some sleep. More importantly," she added with a small smile, "you need a shower."
Duo smirked. If anyone could make him feel better it was definitely Hilde. She just knew everything about him. A little too much sometimes. But he sighed and turned away from her. Her ran his greasy fingers through his hair. It didn?t matter if it got any dirtier.
"I know babe, I just, I feel like I should be doing something. Mobile suits attacking innocent people? it just isn?t right. I wish I could make myself useful somehow."
"You can? if you want," said a deep voice. Hilde gasped and turned around to face it. Duo jumped in front of her protectively. Yet something told him that there was no danger. Something about the voice was familiar.
A figure strode towards them from the shadows. He was tall and slender. His wild brown hair fell about his face, but his Prussian eyes pierced through Duo?s violet ones. Duo slightly smiled then mumbled the first thing that came out of his mouth,
"Heero?good to see you pal."
Somewhere on L1?
The story of the terrorist attack on earth was spreading quickly. Word of whether or not the Vice Foreign Minister had survived was still unknown. The news was showing images of ground zero. People were running, smoke rose from small fires, and rubble was everywhere. A reporter at the site of the attack explained the details of what had happened, despite the little known facts.
A young man stood with a large crowd that had gathered outside of an electronics store, watching and waiting for what would happen next. His eyes were fixed on the screen just like so many others. The television was once again showing footage of the aftermath. Suddenly the reporter stepped back into the picture,
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just discovered some startling new information regarding to the attack. First and foremost, Preventers headquarters has just confirmed that Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian is safe and in a secure place at this time. Unfortunately, we have also found that these attacks were caused by," her voice faltered slightly, "? by mobile suits."
Some in the crowd gasped and others just shook their heads. Most just remained silent and continued to watch the broadcast. The young man silently slipped away from the crowd, his Prussian blue eyes flashing with an unfamiliar emotion.
He paced through the streets of the colony, not bothering to move for anyone that was in his way. He simply walked and walked, until he finally reached an apartment complex at the edge of a large park. He strode up the stairs of the complex to the second floor where he entered a long narrowing hallway. His pace never slowed until he reached his own apartment. Yet, as he was about to open the door he stopped, for it was already open.
Instinctively, the young man silently and swiftly drew out a gun that had been concealed inside his jacket. He opened the door, cautiously, holding his gun out in front of his body as if it were a part of him. He slowly entered and closed the door. He walked into what used to be the small living room. Now, it was simply a mess of overturned furniture and a sea of papers.
The young man picked his laptop off of the floor and turned it on. The screen was blank. All the data from the computer had been erased. Silently cursing, the young man threw the useless machine onto the ground. He brushed aside his unruly brown hair. He lowered his hands to his sides, his right one still carrying his gun. Suddenly, he turned around and fired the weapon quicker than lightning.
The man who had been secretly trying to sneak back out of the door fell lifelessly to the ground before he realized what had happened. The young man walked towards the body and knelt beside the breathless form. He searched the man and found no identification, what he did find however, were two copies of the data that previously were contained on the laptop.
He walked into his the bedroom and shoved clothes and other necessary items into a duffel bag. Grabbing the data he placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Walking out of the apartment, he closed the door, and left the body of the intruder behind.
Preventers Headquarters?
Lady Une was in her office along with Zechs, Wufei, and Noin. They had been sitting in silence for the past hour. The day had been long and undesirable. A knock was heard on the door and Lady Une commanded for the visitor to enter.
Sally Poe stepped into the office. Her eyes showed extreme fatigue, but she smiled despite her weary condition. She approached Lady Une and saluted. After returning the salute, Lady Une motioned for Sally to proceed with her business,
"First of all I just wanted to inform all of you that Miss Relena only accessed minor injuries and is now resting comfortably. She may be released at any time you wish for her to leave," she explained to Zechs. He nodded and then Sally continued, " The other thing is the results of the attack?"
"Go on?" replied Lady Une.
"Well?" another Preventer bursting into the room suddenly interrupted Sally. His breath was ragged, and the scene he made by his intrusion caused everyone in the room to jump.
"Commander! Another one? another attack! This time in North America!"
Everyone immediately burst through the door of the office and headed down the hallway of the military compound.
Later?
Five hours had passed. They were five of the longest hours that the Earth had ever known. The mobile suits made another four attacks aside from the attack on the ESUN conference. Though there was not a massive amount of casualties, human lives had been lost, and this above all angered Relena as she lay hopelessly in a bed in the infirmary. As soon as she was told of the attacks, she beckoned a guard to command Lady Une and the others to see her when they had the chance.
She waited patiently, knowing that the head of the Preventers was busy and giving out orders. She wanted to hear all the facts of the attacks from the person who would know the most. She needed to know what was going on.
Relena turned her head to see Lady Une, Milliardo, and Noin come towards her bed. They all looked as if they hadn?t slept in days. Yet the three of them stood steady and looked at the young Minister through grave eyes. Relena looked away from them and concentrated her vision on her hands that she had folded in her lap.
"I don?t care how hard it may be. I need to know all the facts," she said to them solemnly.
"Five attacks total: All of them in important cities in North America, Europe, and Asia. The death toll is currently sixty-one. The toll of the injured is two hundred fourteen," Lady Une stopped.
"Sixty-one innocent lives lost," muttered Relena.
Just then, Sally and Wufei entered the room. They walked side by side towards Relena?s bed and saluted to their Commander. She returned their gesture and asked them what their business was.
"Commander," started Sally, "we believe that we may have discovered a pattern to these attacks."
"Proceed," commanded Lady Une. All occupants of the room listened intently on the next words that were about to surface.
"All attacks have been against the Earth. Each one has been in a major city on the continents. These cities are quite important to the ESUN in terms of delegates and representatives. Also, at the attack on the ESUN conference, eight members of the committee died as a result. All of these members happened to be from the Earth," Sally stopped to catch her breath.
"Just what exactly are you saying?" inquired Relena.
Wufei rolled his eyes sarcastically. Women were just too simple minded to understand anything when it was needed, "What she is saying, is that these attacks were not spontaneous. They were well planned and made deliberately against the Earth. No attack was made upon any of the colonies, understood?"
"I understand you perfectly. You all believe that the colonies are behind this, don?t you?" accused Relena.
"We are not openly accusing anyone," put in Sally.
Lady Une spoke up, "Until we have sequential evidence, this knowledge does not go beyond headquarters, understood?" All nodded in agreement. "I believe that the Vice Minister is in dire need of some rest," said Lady Une as she started to walk out of the room. The others followed, all save Zechs. He stood for a while by the bed looking down at the young woman who lay there. Finally he spoke,
"Relena? I hope you realize what this could mean. If these attacks continue, it could lead to another war with the colonies. The people of Earth are already beginning to blame them."
"Yes, but I do not believe that the colonies are behind all this. From what I understand, only several terrorist groups have expressed their hatred towards the Earth. They believe that Earth still holds too much power over the colonies," stated the headstrong girl.
Zechs shook his head, "Relena, all I am saying is to be careful, you don?t know what?s going to happen next. This is going to change things forever. Peace has existed for two years and now this. Yet you could see this coming, could you not? Deep down Relena I think you could feel the tensions rising the whole time. I think all of us could."
"What are you saying?" Relena asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"All I am saying is this: We need to be prepared. Unless we can find a way to end this and pull the ESUN back together, there will be war. We do not yet know the culprit of these attacks, but once we find them? Relena if it does turn out to be the colonies then?"
Relena shut her eyes tightly. She knew what he was going to say. Somehow in her heart she had a feeling of the truth revealing itself. She choked back a small sob and took a deep breath. She would not cry, right now.
"Milliardo, if the ESUN falls apart, then I will fail horribly. War would mean that everything I have stood for, my ideas and dreams would be crushed. People will die: both the innocent and the damned."
She looked at her brother, her sapphire eyes seaming with pain. Yet she did not falter and continued to speak to him gravely, "I promise you, and the rest of the world, that I will find a way to prevent people from death and suffering."
Zechs looked at her, all emotions drained from his face. He understood her seriousness and respected her strength. "Sleep now, Relena. Tomorrow we will come up with a solution to all of this." He gently squeezed her hand and started to walk out of the room. He stopped just as he reached the door and turned around,
"They would be proud," he said.
Relena was puzzled by his statement, "Who?"
"To know that you have truly lived up to the name of Peacecraft," with that said he left the room.
Relena stared after him and a single tear made its way down her cheek. She never knew her parents and what he said made her feel confused. She still did not feel as if she was worthy enough to hold such a strong name. It was the name that gave hope to millions of people in the universe. What if I can not fulfill their hopes and give them the strength that they need? Relena lay her head down on the soft pillow of the bed. She stared up and the ceiling and her eyes glazed over with crystal tears. As they began to fall down her cheeks, she remained motionless and whispered painfully,
"God give me strength."
***********************************************************************
Zechs found Noin, Sally, and Wufei sitting in one of the worker?s lounges. All three Preventers were drinking black coffee. A television was on, still showing footage of the attacks. Zechs took a seat next to Noin on the large couch. She gently leaned her head against his shoulder. Silence filled the room except for the words of the reporters on the television. Yet at the moment, no one felt as if they heard them. Everyone seemed to be in a different world, reflecting on everything that had happened. Finally, Wufei broke the silence,
"There?s something that I need to tell you all, but I didn?t wish to say anything in front of the Minister."
Noin rose her head off of Zech?s shoulder. Sally shifted in her seat. All eyes were fixed upon the former Gundam Pilot.
"The mobile suits that made the attacks, from what I could tell they were a new model, but seemed to have the capabilities of a Virgo. However, one of the suits caught my attention. It was during the third attack in North America?" he stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Well, out with it Wufei! What is it?" Sally was becoming impatient. Wufei glared at her, but she didn?t care. Nothing the young man did ever phased Sally Poe.
"As I was saying, the suit that caught my attention appeared to be a Gundam of some sort."
Meanwhile on Colony L2?
A young man with a long braid was working away furiously in his garage. He?d been up for over forty-eight hours after he heard of the attacks on ESUN and Earth. He?d become restless and felt a sense of uselessness wash over him. So he threw himself into his work, ignoring his body's growing need for rest.
"Duo Maxwell!"
The braided boy stopped what he was doing and turned to face a slender, young woman with short black hair. Her blue eyes burned with worry and concern. Duo sighed and put his tools down. The young woman walked over to him, her eyes never leaving his body.
"Hilde, what are you doing up this late?" inquired Duo.
"Worrying about you," she replied.
This took Duo by surprise. Since the end of the war, Duo had been living with Hilde, a former Oz officer. They owned and worked together in a salvage yard. They had become the best of friends, and shared all of their secrets with one another, all except for one of them. The secret that could give them eternal happiness, or take everything they loved away.
Duo now stared down at Hilde, his violet eyes growing serious. This startled the girl, for Duo?s demeanor was usually cheerful and pleasant. She could sense tension starting to build around her. She decided to break the silence that had surrounded them.
"Duo, you?ve been up for nearly two days. You need to eat and get some sleep. More importantly," she added with a small smile, "you need a shower."
Duo smirked. If anyone could make him feel better it was definitely Hilde. She just knew everything about him. A little too much sometimes. But he sighed and turned away from her. Her ran his greasy fingers through his hair. It didn?t matter if it got any dirtier.
"I know babe, I just, I feel like I should be doing something. Mobile suits attacking innocent people? it just isn?t right. I wish I could make myself useful somehow."
"You can? if you want," said a deep voice. Hilde gasped and turned around to face it. Duo jumped in front of her protectively. Yet something told him that there was no danger. Something about the voice was familiar.
A figure strode towards them from the shadows. He was tall and slender. His wild brown hair fell about his face, but his Prussian eyes pierced through Duo?s violet ones. Duo slightly smiled then mumbled the first thing that came out of his mouth,
"Heero?good to see you pal."