It is the year After Colony 199, and the New Unified Sphere has branched into a more cohesive unit. The controlling powers of the governing bodies distributed more powers to various parts of Earth, dividing themselves into regions that work under the influence of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. These regions appointed advisors and congressional bodies to work under the sphere and more effectively relay the desires of a unified Earth.
Most of the regions appointed leaders that were to be expected, but there were two appointees that shocked the rest of the Sphere. These two seemingly came out of nowhere to take the roles of advisors, and for a great while, there was concern as to the their goals and aspirations, but they quickly became two of the most respected advisors of the Sphere.
The first was the Advisor of North Am, Aelan Marcus. The second, Kiron Gorrs; advisor to the Space Colonies. These two would soon perform actions that would cause a cataclysmic change in the future of the galaxy…
The Day before…
"So you mean to tell me every surveillance camera in the bay mysteriously went off-line the night before the test?" Noin said doubtfully.
"I never said it made sense." The Security official replied, "I’m just saying what happened. The entire network in the science bay went down for about five minutes, then reactivated after that. From that point on, there were no problems."
"Could five minutes be enough to sabotage the Fold Generator?" Quatre mused, "It seems awfully convenient that only the science bay would be affected."
"That’s an awfully complex device to sabotage in just five minutes." Noin replied, "But you’re right, it’s awfully convenient. Let’s talk with Science Officer Ryu. Maybe he could give us some clarity as to who could have done this."
"I can’t think of anyone with the capability to perform such a complex act of sabotage in just five minutes. The man or woman who did this performed such complex actions inside the generator that we would never see the interference until we began the test." Ryu Jumija replied.
"How long would it normally take to do something like that?" Quatre asked.
"Don’t get me wrong." The science chief corrected, "It is possible to do it, but they would have needed to understand the generator so perfectly, that they would only be able to make each adjustment perfectly the first time, and without needing to run a test to ensure the sabotage would work. Not even I am that confident in my abilities."
"I see." Noin replied, "Thank you, sir. You’ve been most helpful."
Noin and Quatre left the Science Bay, and started to compare notes.
"Do you think that Science Officer Ryu could have been responsible for the sabotage?"
"Why would he want to do that?" Noin asked, "This is his credibility we are talking about. Most scientists aren’t willing to give that up for all the credits the world can offer."
"Perhaps…" Quatre admitted, "but I still think that we can’t totally rule him out as a suspect."
"Agreed." Noin added, then said in alarm, "Heads up, it’s Advisor Kiron."
The Colony Advisor approached them, and he seemed a little surprised, "Admiral Noin, I’m surprised you are still here. I figured you would have went back to Earth with Advisor Aelan."
"When I ran into Quatre at the assembly, I decided to spend a little time to catch up with each other. It’s been a while since we met last." Noin explained.
"I see." Kiron nodded, "Well, far be it for me to interfere with two old friends swapping war stories. I’ll leave you be."
The Advisor left, and Noin sighed in relief. "Are you sure you think that Advisor Kiron is in on this?"
"I don’t necessarily think he’s in on any sabotage, but I don’t think that he’d be too willing to admit that someone under his charge isn’t totally devoted to the advancement of humankind." Quatre explained, "He’s been trying really hard to copy what Aelan did with North Am, and it wouldn’t look good for his record if a saboteur emerged under his nose."
"I see…" Noin replied. A man walking the other way bumped into her, knocking over his satchel of goods. "Hey, pal, watch where you’re walking."
He pulled the brim of his hat down slightly, then muttered, "I’m sorry." He knelt down to pick up his goods, then asked, "Can you help me, ma’am?"
With an exasperated breath, she complied, and started to pick up some of the various items. He put his hand on her shoulder, and whispered, "I hear that you’re looking for the saboteur."
"Who are you?" Noin asked.
"That’s not important. I will tell you that I am one of the technicians who worked on the Fold Generator." The man replied, "I think I might have the answer that you are looking for."
"What do you mean?"
"It is true that the security cameras in the science bay went down during the night, but there still were eyes on the fold generator."
"Explain."
"One of the technicians in the science bay was developing a sonic camera. It would record images in low or no light. It used a similar principle as sonar systems, but at a much higher resolution."
"And this is important… how?"
"The technician left it on during the night to test if it worked to the degree he was hoping for. It wasn’t connected to the same control board as the security system, so it remained on, and in perfect position to see the saboteur."
"Where is the recording now?"
The man gently placed a small disc in Noin’s hand, "Right here. I should warn you though, you’ll never believe who did it."
"Who?"
The man finished packing his equipment back in his satchel, and stood up. "I’ll let you see it for yourself. I already said you’d never believe it…"
Noin opened the door to her hotel room, and ushered Quatre inside. She closed the door, and pulled the drapes hanging at the sides of the full-size windows shut. "All right, pop the thing in, and let’s see who’s behind all this."
Quatre inserted the disk into the computer terminal located on Noin’s desk. He sat down in the chair in front of the terminal, with Noin leaning over his shoulder. As the black and white scene started to play, Noin instructed, "Advance it to 23:50 hours, that’s when the security cameras went down."
Quatre complied, and the next few hours of tape flew by in super speed. Finally, the all-important timeframe started to play. Sure enough, a man entered the science bay, seemed to work on the generator, and then walked out, but not before the camera got a clear shot of the man’s face.
Noin’s jaw dropped in total disbelief, "Quatre, why don’t you come with me to Earth. They might want to hear this from a friend."
"Understood."
Deathscythe Hell shot off to the east, then cut in low, flying mere feet above the rocky ground of the Mexican highlands. Several hidden bays opened in the ground just past the facility’s main structure, and out flew 20 Taurus class Mobile Dolls.
"They just had to be Taurus’s, huh?" Duo commented with a wry smile, "Leave it to a White Fang dissident to have the finest equipment available." At that moment, he heard the sound of gunfire just above him. HeavyArms was starting to provide cover fire. Duo activated the twin scythe of his Gundam, and prepared to engage the Taurus’s at close range…
Meanwhile, Heero ignited Zero’s beam sabre, and launched the Gundam ahead, as if he were trying to go in the main entrance. More Mobile Dolls started to emerge, but Wing Zero had too much of a head start, slicing through the defense units before they could even take off. He stopped right in front of the north entrance of the facility, near meters from the double doors. From there, Heero pulled out his twin buster rifle, and aimed it at the center of the facility, where the Quantum Fold generator, and most likely Amore, waited.
"I’ll give you one last chance, Amore." Heero warned, "It doesn’t have to come to this. Surrender your post, and nobody will have to die here."
"I already told you. I’m not leaving. You’re going to have to destroy this whole place." Amore replied.
"Amore, your father is dead. There is no point in waiting for him. He’s not coming back."
"YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!" Amore screamed, "He’s not dead, HE’S NOT!"
"I don’t want you give up your life for some stupid fantasy, Amore. If he hasn’t come back yet, it’s doubtful that he ever will."
"You don’t know him, Heero. He’d never die without saying goodbye to his Amore… he wouldn’t…"
Heero sighed in defeat. He couldn’t tell if she really was dedicated to her father’s return, or if it was just another ruse to buy her some time to gain some reinforcements. Suddenly a blip appeared on Heero’s sensor screen, and he decided that it was the latter. He prepared to fire, but the reinforcements came a lot faster than he had expected. An enemy mobile suit collided with Wing Zero, sending the buster blast off harmlessly into the atmosphere. Wing Zero quickly regained its balance, and sought to identify its new foe.
"Wufei?" Heero asked. He wasn’t sure what to make out of all this. Sure enough, Altron stood between Wing Zero and the Generator facility.
"Wufei, what the hell are you doing?" Duo shouted.
"I will not tolerate such injustice, even from you, my friends." Wufei calmly explained. "Amore Doran has not harmed anyone, and I cannot allow you to harm her."
"You IDIOT!" Duo hissed, "She’s shipping in Mobile Dolls from God knows where! They probably belong to the remnants of White Fang!"
"Can you prove any of this?" Wufei demanded, "I cannot allow you to harm a woman simply due to mere accusations."
"Regardless, our mission is to destroy the Fold Generator. If you do not step away, I will be forced to kill you." Heero replied. He figured that his friends would have realized by now that not even they can step in the way of him completing his mission.
"You are welcome to try, Heero Yuy. Nataku and I will fight to our last to stop you!"
"STOP!" A voice blared over Heero’s intercom. From the reaction of the other pilots, they heard it as well. From the skies above, two more suits slowly became visible. Soon after, Sandrock and Noin’s Ares dropped into the battlefield.
"Great, now the whole gang’s here…" Duo quipped.
Trowe quickly asked, "Quatre, are you friend or foe?"
"Neither." Quatre replied, "This has all been a setup."
"I suggest you explain, Quatre." Heero said blandly.
Noin stepped in instead. "The Fold Generator on L1 was sabotaged yesterday."
"I fail to see how this is relevant."
"Just bear with me. Quatre and I discovered who sabotaged the generator. It was… Aelan."
"WHAT?" Duo shouted, "Did you check your air supply when you left the colony?"
"It’s true. A camera in L1’s science bay caught him the act. We hoped to contact you when we got back to Earth." Quatre answered, "However, by the time we arrived, you had just left for here."
Quatre took a deep breath, and continued, "When we learned that there was a Fold Generator here on Earth, we put it together. Aelan is trying to destroy the generators."
"For what purpose?" Duo asked, "It doesn’t make any sense."
"I agree." Heero replied, "Aelan doesn’t gain anything with this…"
At that moment, his transmission was interrupted, "Heero! Come in, Heero!" Aelan shouted over the comm-unit. He seemed agitated.
"What is it, Advisor?" Heero replied.
"Please tell me you didn’t destroy the generator."
"No, we didn’t. Why?"
"Something’s wrong. Return to North Am, and I’ll explain."
"You mean to tell me that somebody hacked into the colony’s sensor array, and sent you false information about the status of Amore’s Fold Generator?" Noin asked.
"According to Advisor Kiron, yes. I’m not sure why, but when I heard about this, it started to add up. There’s a setup here, that’s for sure, and it appears I’m the target."
"Then again, you could be making this up to cover your own ass." Wufei suggested, "When you realized that Noin was onto you, you made up this story."
Noin shook her head, "I didn’t tell Aelan that I arrived, or that I had found who I thought was the saboteur. There was no way he could have known."
Heero leaned back a little heavier on the wall, and crossed his arms, "So… someone is trying to destroy the Fold Generators, and tried to have Advisor Aelan take the fall."
"It appears so, and until I find out who, I want Amore’s generator guarded at all costs." Aelan replied, "I will inform the Congressional Body of this development. I want all of you to try and figure out who is behind this." Then glancing at Wufei and Quatre, he replied, "If you would be willing to help."
Quatre nodded, "Of course."
"Slinking in the shadows, and blaming others for your injustices is not what I would consider honorable." Wufei stated, "I will hunt down the man to repay due justice on his evils."
"Good. Let’s get going." Aelan replied, and the group filtered out of Aelan’s office, and just in time. His terminal beeped in an odd chord, and Aelan sat down in his chair.
Aelan unplugged the keyboard from the main terminal, then reached into his desk drawer, pulling out a different board, marked with symbols that bore no resemblance to any human language. Taking a deep breath, he began to type…
Duo receives an order that he is none too keen to carry out. At the Earth Sphere Unified Nation state’s address, Duo and Aelan try to find a way around Relena’s death warrant, but what happens when Heero gets to her first?
Coming in Episode 5: The State’s Address