Chapter 5: A New Enemy

One and a half months later...

The Peacecraft mansion had an air of hopelessness that seemed to plague it and would not disappear, despite their best efforts. In the office that once belonged to Relena Darlian, the two people known as Milliard Peacecraft and Lucrezia Noin were standing near the window, gazing out at the beauty of the Sank Kingdom. The light and beauty of the outside contrasted sharply with the darkness and rage that occupied their hearts.

"Today's Relena's birthday," came Milliard's bitter voice, so full of contempt, anger, and despair. The mood in the room was darkening by the minute.

"She's eighteen years old..." Noin's voice was full of so much pain. "I hope that she's celebrating it right now... wherever she is..." Noin felt tears roll down her cheeks but she made no attempt to wipe them off. They were the only things telling her that this situation wasn't a horrible nightmare.//Oh God, Relena... where are you? Are you still ali-NO! You ARE alive! If we acknowledge the fact that you might be dead, then the enemy has already won. We can't allow them to take away our hope as well... Oh, poor Milliard... he's spent so much of his life not being there for her and now he barely had the chance to make up for it before it was taken away from him again.//

"Any news from the pilots?" his question snapped her out of her brooding thoughts.

"Not much," she sighed. "They finished re-training three weeks ago and their Gundams are 100% complete. They've already begun their guerilla missions to locate and destroy the OZ bases. However, the ones that they destroyed were fairly small. My guess is that they were decoy bases set up only to divert our attention while the main bases were left to accomplish their tasks." Noin finished and looked out the window again.

"This OZ is much smarter than before," Milliard mused. "They don't seem to be taking anything lightly but they still haven't shown themselves.... Noin?"

"Yes?" she asked, eyes still fixated on the outside.

"... Please stay by my side... until this whole thing is resolved anyway." He turned his head to look at her, his face no longer full of contempt but of need... the need for comfort, answers, and reassurance.

"Of course, Zechs," was Noin's simple reply as she looked into his face and forced a smile.

Nine months after the night of the kidnapping...

"Oi, Quatre! Can you hear me?" Duo's voice came over the static of their communication link.

"I can hear you, Duo, but the static is getting worse. We should cut all contact until we reach the base. Do you copy?" his voice called out through the disturbance.

"I hear ya," with that the communication link was disconnected.//Man; I can't believe that it was another decoy... DAMMIT!! WE'RE GETTING NOWHERE!!!! *sigh* This is a fine time for OZ to actually start to develop a brain. BAKAYARO!!!... Oooo just you wait. Once I find your main base then nothing's stopping Shinigami. Just you wait and see.//

The two pilots and their Gundams slowly walked off into the severe sandstorm, making sure they were in close proximity so they wouldn't lose each other. After about half an hour into their journey they reached a spot that seemed to be located in the middle of nowhere. Slowly, Sandrock Kai's hands reached down into the sand. A few seconds later it lifted up a large metal door to reveal an entrance that led into nothing but darkness. Once the other Gundam was inside Sandrock Kai turned its head one last time at its surroundings before disappearing as well.

In the base the lights immediately turned on and the two Gundams walked over to a wall. As if resting themselves against the steel slab, their green eyes turned off and the cockpits flew open. With the help of the cable wires they soon lowered themselves onto the ground.

"I can't believe that we're actually back here," the braided pilot mused, recalling the time that they had retreated to this same area after Heero self-detonated his Gundam. Silence followed that statement until they reached another well-lighted room.

"So what did you want to say to me back there?" Quatre's soft voice pierced their surroundings.

"Huh? Oh yeah," Duo exclaimed as he remembered the transmission he received about an hour ago. "Lady Une contacted me. She said that we had to report back to Preventer Headquarters in four days."

"Four days? But why?" the blonde pilot asked with a worried look on his face.

"All she said was that we were going to receive new information then."

"I wonder if it's about Miss Relena," came Quatre's hopeful voice.

"Maybe, or maybe they finally found out where Heero disappeared to." Both their minds went back to the day their re-training ended, just two weeks after they had arrived at the secret lab on L1. All of their Gundams had improvements made to them, small improvements though, for the scientists found that they didn't have the same resources they used to during the war. Basically their Gundams were a little faster and the controlling was a bit more precise, plus the fact that they were adjusted to the pilot's own abilities.

*FLASHBACK*

On the night that they were supposed to go back to Earth together, Heero reeled himself into WingZERO and closed the cockpit entrance.

"What the HELL are you doing!?!" The other pilots, except Trowa, were screaming at him through his com-link.

"I'm carrying out my mission," he simply replied in his dead monotone voice, which was soon followed by a threatening, "Don't even try to find me because you won't. If need be I will find you." Then he left with WingZERO and disappeared again.

*END FLASHBACK*

"Do you think that Heero might have found her?" the Arabian boy asked again. "I don't think that the Earth Sphere Unified Nation can handle this any longer. I mean one month after her disappearance and they were already at each other's throat about it. Along with that the replacement that they got for her is a um... pushover. He's got no spine at all!" Contempt could clearly be heard in his voice.

"Oi, Quatre, just calm down. The guy is trying to do the best he can considering that some of those people in that office are taking advantage of this ordeal to get what they want. They would never act that way if Relena were still there that's for sure. Besides, the poor guy has got some pretty big shoes to fill for the job."

"You're leaving again, Trowa?" a female voice rang through the trailer occupied by a clown wearing a half mask. The tall boy turned around, walked up to the girl with the star earrings and the reddish-brown hair and gave her a hug. Once again he had used the circus as his means of getting around from one base to the next. It had worked pretty well so far, and he was able to hide it from Catherine and the other circus members. Although it pained him to do so, he realized that they would be in danger if they knew what was really happening. Not to mention the fact that Catherine would kill him if she knew that he had his Gundam again.

"I always come back, don't I?" he said softly, trying to turn this into a slightly happier mood. He soon placed a hand on her head once he felt the tears coming through his costume. "I know you're strong, sis, and I'm sorry I had to break my promise again."

The tears slowly subsided and the girl pulled out of the hug, her eyes sparkling with sadness and joy. "Find her for me too, okay?"

Trowa nodded and Catherine left the trailer leaving him to finish undressing from his clown costume to his Preventer uniform. Once he was finished he stepped outside and continued walking into a forest not far from the circus. The boy soon made his way to a carrier truck with a massive tarp covering a large object. He hopped into the driver's seat, adjusted the rear view mirror and started the ignition.

"Sir! The intruder's headed this way!" a soldier cried out as the lights of the room went out. Suddenly a loud explosion was heard and felt, followed by the sound of the door being violently kicked open. That was followed by the sound of bodies dropping to the floor, one by one. The soldiers practically had no time to react before they were taken out.

Once the struggles ceased, light footsteps could be heard walking towards the computer panels in the room. The screen was then turned on, its light illuminating a portion of the figure before it... well just the black helmet of its flight suit anyways. The figure popped in a disk, typed a few keys and the screen scrolled with information before going blank once more. As quickly as that person made its way inside the room, it was out in a flash. The sound of more bodies dropping could be heard throughout the hall.

A carrier truck was speeding down a dirt road, light from the sun revealed unruly dark brown hair covering determined Prussian blue eyes. Heero was finally going back to meet the others. After he had left the other pilots he had gone back to doing things his own way, meaning that no one would be there to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. The one known as the 'Perfect Soldier' had become just that. He was colder than he had ever been before, not even really giving a second thought to his actions before he executed them. He had destroyed so many bases in the past eight months that it had become automatic. The young man didn't even laugh that psychotic laugh he used to when he destroyed something, a true sign that his emotions were gone. His only contact was Dr. J, just like before.

He knew that the bases he destroyed weren't the main ones but he didn't care; they seemed to satisfy a part of him, something he wasn't really sure of. His mind had grown dark and desolate since the day he had lost her and every single time he failed to find her afterwards made it worse. This time; however, he had information that the others needed to see immediately. It was probably the first time in a long time that his eyes showed any hint of emotion when he came upon this... something that seemed like hope.

"Wufei, did you get the call in to Wind and Noin?" Sally's voice distracted the Chinese man from his work.

"Of course, I did, onna! I am not irresponsible!" he answered back obviously offended. "They should be arriving here today."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Can't you loosen up a bit, hmm?" The older woman looked across to her partner and grinned as she saw him glare at her.//I should really stop doing that to him... But it's so fun... that's a good enough reason for me.//

"Sally, Wufei, come to the conference room on the third floor right now," Lady Une said as she suddenly appeared in the doorway of their office. "Everyone has arrived."

"Everyone? Does that include Heero?" Sally questioned with hopeful eyes.

"Why not come see for yourselves." She turned on her heel and headed for the elevator followed by Sally and Wufei.

They were on the third floor in a minute and soon walked into the room to be greeted by Quatre who looked tired but still cheerful. As they took their seats they saw Trowa across from them, arms crossed against his chest.//Wait a minute, where is everyone else? Hmph, never trust a woman with such things-//

"Oi, Wufei!" The sound of that dreaded voice made Wufei turn ever so slowly back, hoping that it was just his hearing. It wasn't. Duo walked in, arms full of small packages. It wasn't until he sat down and laid the items on the table that Wufei saw what they were. Seeing the Chinese man's expression the braided pilot flashed a grin. "I just thought that I'd get a little snack for myself. The trip back here was a long one."

"Your stomach is as bottomless as the sea, Maxwell."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Wufie."

"Baka! I told you before, don't call me that!"

"Miss Noin!" Quatre's greeting broke them out of the fight before they could get started. They turned their heads and saw the raven-haired woman followed by the familiar figure of the Sank ruler. The moment the platinum-haired man walked in his facial expression changed from a passiveness to a dark scowl as he eyed something in the corner. Wufei noticed this and turned towards the corner he was looking at. Hidden in the shadows stood a figure with dark brown hair that was slightly visible, but nothing else, whom he hadn't noticed since he came in.//Man, Zechs has a sixth sense when it comes to Heero Yuy, just like his sister... must be a hereditary thing.//

"Please take a seat, all of you." Lady Une's voice resonated through the room. Soon they shuffled around the office and eventually found seats before the lights were suddenly turned off, and a large screen was the only illumination in the room. "A week ago Heero contacted me saying that he had acquired some information on something that concerned OZ. He didn't tell me much after that, only to gather you all together while he looked further into it."

"Typical."

"Quiet, Zechs."

"Fine, Noin."

The screen's light was soon obscured by the figure of the Japanese pilot. Once he was standing in the middle of the screen he surveyed the room before he began. "OZ is planning to launch a massive attack soon."

"WHAT!?!" Heero waited until they quieted down before resuming.

"I was headed towards Northern Spain awhile back when I intercepted a distress signal from a local military base. They reported being attacked by some unknown intruder. The intruder forced their way through, stole some vital information on military codes and weapons data, left, and then destroyed the base. All those codes and data would give OZ a definite advantage against any army, which means they plan to strike soon. The same intruder has appeared more than once and has attacked several bases so far. It's most recent one was a naval base in Northern Europe two days ago."

"So what does this *crunch* exactly mean?"

"They made a mistake," came the cold reply. "Although the bases were destroyed some files were still intact, mainly the video files. Since security videos now store what they record directly into another computer far from the base, the files can always be recalled for later use. I managed to hack into that system and retrieve the security footage of what happened." He held up a disk and turned around to insert it into the computer console. Images filled the monitor and they were barely able to make out the figure clad in a black and silver flight suit running through the corridors of a base.

"Kuso!!!..."

They stared in amazement as the figure took down three guards with ease, using the most minimal amount of energy needed to do so. The image then switched to show the suited figure throwing some explosives then kicking a door open. Everything that it did was with precise efficiency. Nothing seemed wasted, it had a goal and it always got to that goal by taking the quickest route possible. They saw the same thing during the attacks on different bases.

*GASP*

A certain explosion lighted the corridor in such a way that it gave the figure a more distinct image. Although it was only a quick glance they saw that the figure was... female.

*BOOM* *KABOOM* *BOOM* *CRASH*

The suited figure was standing with her back turned to the exploding building. She moved a hand up to a button on her helmet and pressed it. "Success," she said in a cold and dead tone. There was silence for a while before a voice answered back.

"Good job, Rei."

"Onna?!"

There was silence once more as they saw that the female was being surrounded by a group of guards this time. The soldiers were hesitating; they were obviously scared at what the enemy could do to them. Suddenly one of the men made a move on her. She jumped out of the way and elbowed him in the back, knocking him to the floor. Another attempted to lunge for her but she let out a kick and sent the guy flying into the wall. She then took out her gun and shot three more soldiers; however, one of them managed to grab her from behind and she tried to pry him off. As she did so, he pulled violently at her arm before slamming against another wall. The suited figure stood there afterwards, hand clutching her left shoulder.

"Oi, what's she doing?"

"Dislocated shoulder," Heero informed him.

"What's she doing now?" Duo asked again as he saw the figure ram herself into the wall repeatedly.

"She's trying to put the shoulder back into place."

"Ugh, by herself? Oh man, I just had a flashback to the time where you set your own broken bone. God, that was the most disturbing sight I ever saw. Seeing this doesn't make me feel any better."

The rest continued to watch intently as the figure succeeded then ran off as if nothing had happened, a few more explosions following her. Another scene soon appeared of the enemy running out the way it came back in. The sound of clanging metal could then be heard followed by the noise of take-off boosters, then jet thrusters, then there was static.

"That sounded like a mobile suit," Trowa's quiet voice broke out of the silence.

"Well, it can't be an Aries then because they can't walk on land, and it can't be a Leo because they're not capable of flight," Noin assessed. "Do you think it could be a Taurus?"

"That was the only thing I wasn't able to confirm. All external cameras were taken out prior to the enemy's appearance. My guess is that they blasted them from a long range distance before going inside," Heero replied.

"I guess they really don't want us to know, huh?" Duo said thoughtfully.

"It doesn't matter," Heero said, eyes narrowing. "We can use this girl. We will intercept her at her next target and use her to get to their main base. Since her attacks went unnoticed for awhile now it is safe to say that she was what OZ wanted to distract us from."

"While we attacked those decoy bases she made her move on the military facilities..." Quatre jumped in, realization hitting him like a brick.

"That confirms that she was sent from one of their main bases," Heero informed with a dangerously cold tone. "She will lead us to Relena." With that he walked towards the door and exited the room, leaving the others to contemplate this new turn of events.//Relena... I'm coming for you.//