MOBILE SUIT
GUNDAM:
THE BATTLE OF ANGELS
DEADEYE
Chapter 3: Genesis of Conflict
Tyler awoke from his slumber and looked around, rather than the rocky ocean waves he felt solid ground under his raft. It happened quickly, something went wrong and his suit totally shut down and took a nose dive into the water, he’d only barely gotten out in time with the raft and a very small packet of dried fruit. After struggling to get on the raft he had fallen asleep, he remembered waking up a few times and eating from the packet (which was now empty) but besides that everything was a blur. How long was he out there? He’d seen land when he’d crashed, so how long did the surf take to get him here? Aw, no matter, he was alive, and in decent health as well, though he felt rather sore all over.
He looked around once again, he wasn’t on an island, he could hear a car drive by over head, there must be a road. He looked up and saw a large ridge with a rail on the end, that must be it, then spotted a part of it that wasn’t quite as steep and had a good handhold here and there. It was enough to get him to the top.
The climb was very painful, his muscles must not have functioned for a good while for they were now panging with a pain which was mix between sore and stabbing with a bit of the pain that comes with stretching, it wold go away with some activity, he knew. When he was at the top he stood there, behind the white line on the edge of the road thinking what he should do next…what else? Hitch hike.
Colony L5
Plague swore repeatedly as he remembered the entire battle again, it would’ve been his win if the damn suit Tyler was using hadn’t of had a reentry system. He should not have shot just then, not when so many people were watching, he had been relying upon the din that followed to mask his movements, it had worked wonderfully but the people around had a full look at him when he took aim. It was good he was wearing sunglasses, but he wasn’t wearing a hat, he was not able to get one. It had been about 24 hours after the battle and he’d dyed his hair brown from it’s usual black, but his facial features might still be enough to tag him.
"So now what to do?" He asked himself as he stared down at the concrete floor of the alley he was in, he had to somehow get off of the colony, and get to Earth. But how? All the shuttle ports were blocked and he couldn’t barely move, not unless he wanted to have himself be chased by a group of cops. He stepped out of the alley and onto the sidewalk and walked with the many people bustling about their lives without the burden of knowing they might just have let be unleashed another horrid war.
Well at least they wont ID me on clothing he thought as he looked down at his new Hawaiian shirt, he really hated it, but it was about the most opposite of him he could get. He walked about looking around until he passed by an electronics store showing a TV tuned into a news station in the window.
"And in this week’s news the UESA Chief Representative Relena Peacecraft will appear today in a conference with the UESA Board of Military regarding the issue of producing weapons in a time of peace." Plague froze, that was it, the Peacecraft girl was his ticket out.
UESA Research Center, Mojave Desert, California
"YES!" Came Doctor T’s ecstatic yell from his office. Kert shot up from his seat on his bed and ran out the door and looked down the hallway, Doctor T was running to his room like a madman. Kert almost thought about getting something to defend himself but reminded himself that this raving lunatic was still Doctor T.
"Look at these test results!" Doctor T said as he walked up to Kert who was now in the hall waiting for him. Kert took one look at the reslts and nearly shouted out loud. He WAS a newtype, his brainwave had gone about one eighth the length of the Zero System wave beyond it. "Better still, I’ve contacted my higher ups and now they have granted us funding to begin more thorough research!" He continued, almost like a five year old unwrapping his Christmas present.
"What kind of research would that be?" Kert asked, almost worried.
"Oh nothing dangerous, we are just trying to see the full potential of what a Newtype can do, I’m already making something up and it will be ready in about a day, but until then you’ve got all the time you want!" Doctor T took the chart and walked back to his office. Kert was left trying to figure out what Doctor T had planned for him…
Road, near US east coast
"Geeze I needed this time off." Joseph said to himself as he drove along the road toward the sea port that would take him on his two week vacation cruise. He was once again looking over the brochure (while still driving) when he noticed a man by the road with his thumb sticking out. Joseph pulled over and rolled down his window.
"Need a ride?" He asked.
"Yeah, where’s the nearest air base? This is important!"
"Wait a minute, that’s a flight suit! Are you with the UESA Military or something?" Joseph inquired.
"Yeah, my mobile suit was shot down while I was on patrol duty, I need to tell them so they might be able to suppress a rebellion I think may be happening!" The man replied.
"What?!" Joseph’s eyes went wide, he remembered the entire Marimeiah Army invasion back in 196, the last thing he wanted to happen was to have another damn rebellion, "Where’s your mobile suit?" he asked as he got out of his car.
"Right down there." The man pointed down behind the railing, Jacob took a look.
"Wait a second there’s only a raft down there! HOOF!" Joseph was winded as a skilled fist hit him in the gut and he was pushed over the side of the railing and tumbled all the way down to the small sandy shore. Amazingly he was still conscious, he managed to get to his feet and look up at the man.
"You sonova bitch! What the hell was that for you bastard!" Joseph yelled as loud as he could, which was reduced from the fact that two of his ribs were broken, "You can’t just leave me down here!"
"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me! I almost forgot that I couldn’t leave any witnesses." The man replied as he drew out a 9mm pistol.
Colony L5 Capitol Building, Convention Hall
"These guidelines, if properly obeyed and enforced, will help to set up a world where total peace and pacifism will become a reality!" Relena said, finishing off her speech as the L5 Delegates, listeners, and various other government officials rose up in triumphant applause. Meanwhile one of Relena’s bodyguards sat unconscious in a locked closet in his underwear whilst his attacker stood in wait at the gate to the shuttle.
20 minutes later…
"You’ll really have to give me a copy of the proposal Miss Peacecraft, I do have my reservations about it but I may be willing to vote on it as is." Said one of the delegates as he walked alongside Relena in the shuttle bay.
"Why certainly Mr. Ritener, I’ll make sure to have one sent to you as soon as I get back to Earth." Relena replied respectfully, Mr. Ritener gave a nod and walked back out while Relena walked up the steps to the shuttle with her two bodyguards behind her. They met Pagan in the passengers section.
"I trust the meeting went well Miss Peacecraft?" Pagan asked as he got up from his seat and motioned for Relena to sit down.
"Wonderfully Pagan, thank you, now I’ll need to be left alone a while so I can check my messages from the delegates again." Relena said as she sat down and took out her laptop from her briefcase.
"You take the forward compartment, I’ll take the back." Said one of the bodyguards to the other, who walked to the forward compartment while the other went to the rearward storage area.
"It’s working, they don’t suspect a thing, as long I stay to routine I’ll get their in no time with no trouble at all." Plague thought to himself as he stood at attention in the forward compartment.
Road, nearing New York
Tyler drove along at a relaxed place, he’d gone down and got what he could out of the ex-driver’s body. He’d gotten his wallet, with fifty dollars in it and a few credit cards, he’d use these to get a room when he got to a motel, then he’d have buy some new clothes.
"Damn that Plague!" he thought, "Making me forget my suitcase at the airport. Good thing there wasn’t anything incriminating in it." He then let himself relax and listen to the humming of the engine, then he turned on the radio to a music station and continued down the road.
Earth’s atmosphere above Arizona, USA
Plague was nearly dozing when he was suddenly brought to stiff attention by the intercom which started with a loud "beep".
"Attention, we will be entering Earth’s atmosphere in 25 seconds, please fasten your safety belts." Plague looked around, and found a small seat with a seat belt on it, he sat down and buckled in. Soon the turbulence began, light at first, but it got heavier, and heavier, and heavier till it felt like the ship was going to break apart then and now. But Plague held still, this was normal for re-entry, he admired the pilots for working correctly in such conditions. Soon it started to recede until it stopped completely, they were in the atmosphere.
"You may now remove your safety belts, we will be landing in Phoenix Space Port in Arizona. Have a nice flight." Plague thought, Arizona wasn’t where he wanted to go, he wanted to go to California, because he heard Kert was living there. Suddenly he heard a commotion in the back, and rushed in.
"PUT DOWN YOUR GUNS OR THE GIRL GETS IT!" The other guard had a pistol pointed to Relena’s head, she looked calm.
"You’re surrounded! You have no hope of escaping, put down the gun and turn yourself in!" the guard that was in the middle compartment had an MP5 aimed at the attacker’s chest. Plague followed suit.
"You think you can threaten me with your big guns, but it’s not who has the bigger gun it’s who shoots first right partner?" The man said as he looked over to Plague. Plague eyed him quizzically then snapped to realization, the other guard Plague had mugged was this guys partner in this operation. This was a good opportunity, he turned his gun at the other guard.
"Right." He said promptly, they tied up the guard and locked him in the back compartment.
"Okay, now go tell the pilots we’ve got to land at the LA Space Port in California, our guys are waiting in there." The guy said as he bound Relena’s hands and feet and set her on a chair.
"Roger." Plague nodded and went into the cockpit. "Okay people, we need to adjust course to land at the LA Space Port."
"But sir, those are not the orders we received from UESA HQ!" Said the pilot, he soon was looking down the barrel of an MP5.
"I said, adjust…course." Plague said grimly, the pilot, trembling, reached over to a dial and adjusted their heading.
"Keep it there, I can tell if this ship moves so if it does I will come back here and shoot you both, and I would hate to do that." He went back into the central compartment, the guy now had Relena gagged and was sitting at the other end of the room pointing his MP5 at her.
"They cooperated?" He asked.
"Ecstatically!" Plague said with a grin.
"Good, now keep an eye on the broad and I’ll get the camera." He went into the back and came back with a video camera, he got a wire, hooked it up to something in the cockpit, then hooked the other end into the camera.
"Right, stand over there and point the gun to her head." He said to Plague, who did so, but was careful to not even have his finger on the trigger. The guy went into the cockpit and said something, then came a moment later and turned on the camera. He waited a few moments then began talking.
"A sad sight isn’t it? A beautiful young lady like Relena Peacecraft, bound and gagged with a gun pointed at her head, this guy is ready to waste her." He walked in view of the camera, "unless of course, the UESA agrees to pay a ransom that will be given to them within five min," something started beeping on his wrist and he slid back his sleeve to reveal a watch like device with a small microphone, he pressed a button on it and held it up to his ear. "Yeah what is it?" he asked.
"Oh thank God I got to you in time Aruki, we just found Umitsu unconscious in a janitor’s closet back at the colony! That’s not Umitsu! Repeat, that is not you partner!" yelled the voice through the microphone.
"WHAT?!" Aruki shouted then turned around only to receive a knife into his face, Plague then took the watch device off his wrist and stomped on it. Relena looked on wide eyed.
"I’m sorry you had to see that." Plauge said as he faced the camera. "All you who have seen this message need not regard it in any way, Relena Peacecraft is now safe." He then turned off the camera, he’d been wearing his helmet so he’d not just shown the world who he truly was, or rather those who that message was being sent to. He took off his helmet and walked over to Relena and took off the gag.
"Are you alright Ms. Peacecraft?" Plague asked.
"Yes I think I a…YOU! YOU’RE PLAGUE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled and started trying to back away but was foiled by the chair she was sitting in.
"Look, I just saved your life and I didn’t want to hurt anyone here, but I ended up having to. So you are just going to have to trust me here." Plague said as he reached down to untied the rope her hands were bound with. Relena sat still but with an understandable amount of distress. Once her hands were free she hit Plague right in the face and sent him reeling back into the wall.
"Shit, she’s stronger than I thought." Plague thought as he looked at the blood on his hand from his nose, meanwhile Relena had gotten the rope off her legs and had the MP5 Aruki had and pointed it at Plague.
"I’m warning you, one step closer and I’ll shoot!" She said, stern faced as ever. Plague get to his feet and wiped some of the blood off of his upper lip. He calmly pointed his gun down, took out the clip, threw it to his left, and then did the same with the gun.
"I’m at your mercy, Ms. Peacecraft." He said, then sat back down again. The guard in the back compartment suddenly burst out and shot Plague in the shoulder and slightly above his chest, Relena stopped him before he could shoot again, Plague held a hand over his shoulder, bleeding profusely, blood pouring down the side of his suit and trickling out the side of his mouth.
"I…guess…I…failed…I’m…sorry…" He said with every ounce of strength left in him and then collapsed.
Hotel, New York City, New York, USA
"How many nights will you be staying Mister, eh, Williams?" The clerk asked.
"Oh I don’t really know, but I might be staying at most a week, how many nights will this get me?" He replied as he held up the $50 bill.
"hmm, I’d say that’ll get you a week with some leftover, these aren’t exactly top notch rooms you know." The clerk said.
"I could guess, well which room do I get?" He asked. The clerk reached over and got a swipe card and glanced the number on it.
"Room 15, have a nice night." The clerk said, then went back to watching his small TV. Tyler went to his room and unpacked.
"Tomorrow I start…" Tyler muttered as he practically fell on the bed and was asleep in 2 minutes.
UESA Research Center, Mojave Desert, CA
Kert sat up in bed thinking, there was more to this situation than he thought. The phone call from, well he thought it was from Plague, telling him that he was going after Tyler, and then the shootout he heard of on the news, and then the transmission from the shuttle that had been broadcast world wide where the man’s partner killed him and then told everyone there was nothing to worry about. The man’s voice sounded almost exactly like Plague’s, but if that was Plague, than that meant he was headed to Earth, and the only reason at this point he’d want to go to Earth was if Tyler had succeeded in getting to Earth, so that had to be it, Tyler was on Earth, and Plague was coming to get him, and in the process he’d managed to stop some kind of terrorist group operation on that shuttle. Kert grinned as he thought maybe that would save him a few years purgatory. Kert knew he needed to tell someone, but right now was not the time, Doctor T was having too much fun with this research anyhow. But this situation probably took priority over the project, oh well, he figured he’d sleep on it as he turned out his light and slowly dozed off.
Plague has seemingly failed to get to Earth out of the grasp of the UESA, but has he really been gunned down? Who is this group of terrorists who tried to ransom Relena Peacecraft and what has Doctor T got planned for Kert? Find out in the next episode of The Battle of Angels…
Resurrection of Heroes