Heart of a Mercenary
By Stormwind
Chapter 1
Setting: Earth, Southeast Asia, Preventer World Headquarters
The Preventer World Headquarters was a relatively ordinary looking building. Only two things gave its purpose away; it was set in the absolute middle of nowhere (actually somewhere in an “undisclosed location” in Southeast Asia) and the six large mobile suits on a very large landing pad near the building. Different colors, weapons, and performance set them apart, but they did have one thing in common; all six were Gundams, some of the most powerful mobile weapons ever created.
Inside the ugly brown building, and exceedingly boisterous looking teenager walked in, his four foot braid jumping wildly as he ran into a large room with a set of seats around a single large round table.
“Well here’s the party! Now there’s me, Quatre, Arys, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and finally Lady Une! But here’s the real question; where are the snacks?”
A loud and audible “oomph” was heard as Heero calmly walked up to Duo and hit him hard in the gut.
Lady Une looked relieved, “Thank you Heero.”
The tiniest flicker of a grin passed on Heero’s face, “No problem, Commander Une.”
Arys looked as calm as Heero, asking softly as she sat down, “So why have you called us here? An emergency Preventer meeting doesn’t just happen everyday.”
“Correct Arys, there is a specific reason I have called you here. While the Unified Nation has called for complete disarmament…”
“Which the Preventer Agency completely ignores.”
“Wufei I don’t think your comments are necessary at this point.”
“Fine. I still think disarmament is a stupid idea.”
“That’s only because you’re a sword-happy nutcase ninja warrior.” Duo piped in.
“Why you little…At least I’m not a priest who wears a braid like a woman!”
“BREAK IT UP!” Everyone stared in amazement at Quatre, “Ummm…could we please hear what Lady Une was about to say?”
“Thank you Quatre. As I was saying, the Unified Nation has called for complete disarmament, but there are many groups that still have mobile suits, and some larger congregations may even have small suit factories. Then there are the mercenaries…”
Trowa looked up, reminded of a piece of his past, “Yes, the mercenaries have become quite a powerful force. I’m personally amazed that they have become so strong.”
“Not to mention the suits they use are often on par with gundams.” Heero looked grim; he didn’t want to think about contending with another Epyon.
“The situation gets worse. The mercenaries have been on a rampage recently, and innocent colonies are being attacked.”
“Why?” Arys looked worried, she didn’t like where this was getting to.
“Large companies like ALT (Advanced Lunar Technologies), are beginning to realize that industrial sabotage is much more effective than loopholes in the law. The best way to get rid of a rival…”
“Is to hire a pilot to do your dirty work.” Heero looked detached, remembering a bit of his own past…
Quatre looked confused, “But we already knew all of this, why hold a meeting?”
Lady Une looked distressed before the words left her mouth, “A new faction has arisen. They’re called the Remnants. They are a mix of the leftover soldiers of OZ, the Alliance, and White Fang. They declared war on the entire Earth Sphere two hours ago.”
Stunned silence followed.
Duo was the first to speak up, “How do they have enough power to take on the Earth Sphere.”
“They managed to not only get plans for the Vergo mobile dolls, but commandeered some old factories. We also believe they have developed at least one new breed of mobile suit.”
Quatre broke the new awkward silence “Any other news, Commander Une?”
“Only this, they have already begun attacking supply convoys to earth. They are trying to cut off our contact with the colonies. Noine and Sally are already investigating.”
The pilots all stood up simultaneously.
“When do we leave?” said Heero, giving voice to everyone’s thoughts.
“Immediately.”
* * *
Anyone who had been paying close attention that night on the VTI (Venus Technology Incorporated) Station IUR-654FH would have noticed a bright blue contrail, zooming like a shooting star through the sky, with a single glinting point at its front. While readily visible, the object had quickly hid itself among the varied space debris around the station. This phantasm was no shooting star however. Rather, it was someone with a job to do, someone who wished to remain unnoticed.
Behind the space debris, a large mobile suit floated in the vacuum of space, looking serene and deadly. Its size and appearance instantly classified it as a gundam. The mobile suit was blue and white, with its vents and jets colored a sleek silver. A long thin shield was fixed on its left arm, and in the grasp of its right hand, a large customized beam rifle was positioned. Mechanical wings adorned its back, their dozens of metallic feathers each capable of individual movement for pinpoint maneuvering. With its green eyes glowing dully, the suit looked like a demon out of legend, prepared and ready for action.
Inside the cockpit, the mercenary was formulating a strategy…
“Alright, so here we are. Artemis, how long will it take you to hack into the mainframe? I need to know.”
“It depends on the security networks they have set up. If they are anything like the normal systems in these stations, three minutes…tops.”
“Good, I think I can hold down the fort that long. If things get nasty, switch over to Storm and pick me up, okay?”
“Roger that.”
The gundam’s hatch opened, and a small figure in a spacesuit jetted out. Using small jets on the suit, the pilot maneuvered slowly, till he faced the colony. With a small visible blast of air, the mercenary propelled himself towards the rotating space station.
I have to be careful. Moving over a mile in a vacuum is no piece of cake, even I admit to that. But I have to stay out of the sensor grid. But just on the safe side…
Moving his arm carefully, the merc touched a stud on his helmet, activating the comlink to Artemis. “Activate Storm’s jammer. I want a blackout on that colony. False sensor readouts, radio jamming, and an ECM mask. Got it Art?”
“Think so, just don’t call me ‘Art’.”
The merc grinned, and then focused hard on the colony. Five agonizingly long minutes later, he had reached it…
The magnetic boots on the spacesuit did their work, and made a soft ‘clink’ noise inside of the merc’s suit. Walking slowly, the pilot made his way towards the docking hatch.
Swinging around, the pilot reached over to the docking hatch. He lifted off, then slowly jetted towards the large door, designed primarily for mobile suits and shuttles. The door was designed so that it could be opened manually, however. This override was exactly what the merc was hoping for.
Alright, a little code box, is that all they have to get in manually? Hmm, this is just tooooo easy.
Flipping open the cover of the box, the pilot set to work. His fingers flew across the little number pad, decoding it manually.
Most people would think this was insane.
But the sudden blinking patterns of lights showed that the code had been entered correctly. He was no ordinary mercenary.
The door opened a crack. The mercenary had entered a hacked code, one that would allow the door to open only a little, but just enough so that a human could fit inside.
Grabbing onto the edge, he swung himself through the opening, the door closing softly behind him.
The hangar was huge. Large service cranes on huge towers dotted the surface of the floor and ceiling. The zero-G room was designed so that even large cruisers could dock without having to worry about the threats of gravity on their superstructures. And on a set of refueling ports…
Were mobile suits.
Mobile dolls, the pilot thought, noticing the lack of hatches. The Taurus suits were painted the normal black and purple color scheme, but something looked different…
Anyway, I see I’m not the only one who has kept a MS. Looks like some companies disagree with the Unified Nation’s policies as well.
But the pilot wasn’t here to sightsee. Using the ceiling as a kickoff, he floated to the airlock, the real entrance to the inner sanctum of the colony.
Stepping into the airlock, the door behind him closed silently. In a few seconds, he could hear the hiss of the pressurization, and then another puff as the pneumatic door in front of him opened.
The pilot removed his helmet, taking a deep breath of air. His dark brown hair fluttered in the zero gravity, beads of sweat forming glittering droplets in the air. Darker brown eyes glittered like topaz gems, a hidden deepness to them. His frame was lean, but tough and covered with muscle.
“So, another door to get into the colony,” He let out a very large sigh, “the trouble they cause me, you’d think they almost were trying to keep me out…)
Reaching within his vest, he drew out a small card. Swiping it through the lock, it beeped in a strange pattern, the opened.
“Universal keycard, never leave home without ‘em.”
The corridor revealed was long and dark. But the pilot was more than ready…
Drawing a pistol from his vest, he twirled it, stopping it upright, cocked, and ready for action in his hand. His sword dangled on the left side of his hip, a long fancy looking saber, which in the hands of an expert, was as deadly as any gun…
I freely and willfully admit that I do not own Gundam Wing, or its various little spinoffs. I do take ownership of the original character, Artemis the sentient program, ALT, Storm, and some new MS designs. If anyone has a problem with that…Talk to someone else, because I don’t really care.
The second part of the new story is here. I’m still not going to tell you who the character is, but if you’ve read NewType Factor, the description gave him away ;-)
There are going to be a few Cowboy Bebop-esque fight sequences coming up, so stay tuned! (I sound like a commercial again…)
