PART 9 - Plunge
"Tell me its name..."
"I will show you."
Relena was awoken by an insistent, pulsing whine coupled with the whirr of heavy machinery being transported. A dull red light was seeping through the blinds into her room, the bright lines encroaching on the foot of her bed, and she drew her legs up reflexively, away from them.
A much younger Relena would have been curious - remnants of that naive girl felt impelled to peer through the slats and look across the airfield to the hangar. As for Honorary Adviser Darlian, she already knew what she would see: a weapon of destruction was being unveiled, unveiled to a world already broken to submission...
She shut her eyes tight against the intrusive glow and waited for a dawn that might never arrive.
Tendrils of steam lifted from the jasmine tea to wreathe the wrinkled face, and Liu Wen smiled. "I am a difficult man, am I not?" The Chinese rebel had not been in agreement with all of Sally's battle strategies.
Sally accepted a cup of tea herself, and the corners of her mouth turned upwards. "Let's just say that it's my specialty to deal with difficult men. I fully understand your situa - " She gasped as something soft and heavy dropped into her lap.
"Shuyan!" Liu Wen reproved his granddaughter.
The four-year-old simply beamed up at Sally, her green-tinged eyes hinting at her mixed ancestry, and Sally was completely won over. "Don't scold her." She gave the girl a tickle and squeals of childish delight followed.
Liu Wen leaned forward on his cane. "You have achieved things beyond ordinary women, Sally Po. But one thing eludes you, one ordinary, extraordinary thing..."
Blue eyes met brown, questioning.
"Motherhood would suit you."
Sally laughed, stroking Shuyan's dark hair. "Motherhood? How you flatter me, Mr Liu." A small sigh, and her expression grew wistful. "The things you don't have always seem so beautiful... and you do have a darling little grandchild."
"Well," said the old man rather testily, "if you'd said yes to my son a few years ago, she might be your daughter by now!"
"I wouldn't presume to be your daughter-in-law, Liu Wen. After all," she said, cleverly echoing his words, "I am a difficult woman, am I not?"
They both laughed at this, then Liu Wen let Shuyan climb into his own lap, patting her cheek affectionately. "Difficult? You are simply young and energetic, Sally. Whereas I am difficult because I am old and cautious. It has been said too many times, but I fight for the future, my weapon being experience. What else is there for an old man riddled with tumours?" The wrinkles on his face deepened as he frowned. "So let me warn you of this: The young have one fatal weakness...."
Sally stared into his eyes, chilled by the strange lights in them.
"They are soft-hearted. They are hurt, but because they heal, they let themselves - and others - be hurt again. Do you see the danger, Sally?"
She was silent; Shuyan continued to climb about, oblivious to the tension. Liu Wen went on.
"You are quick to spring to action. Yet before you take action, you must be free of doubt. After seven years, you should be..."
Sally's eyes narrowed. "Are you questioning my dedication to the cause, Liu Wen?" There was a tinge of reproach.
"Unlike some of your companions, you walked free from the last conflict. You endured the least personal suffering under the regime. And of us all, you knew him best before the fighting. So you are the least resolute. At the same time you are the leader! How can you reconcile that?"
"Noin asks me that, often. But it is unfair to say that I have not suffered." Sally closed her eyes, sucked into the past. She recalled how she had allowed herself to starve, till she no longer resembled the Preventer who was wanted by the newly installed powers. She saw once again the filthy public toilet where she had combed the dark brown dye into her hair, staining her hands and the rusty sink. And the new banners going up over the buildings - a child crying in the street as the black cloth emblazoned with a red insignia was draped like a shroud over his entire house. There was the dread of capture; not being able to go to sleep with a light heart for years, always hiding... It had taken so much to regain her confidence again.
"Jie jie?" Shuyan called her back to the present, green eyes large in her cherub's face. Sally's eyes snapped open.
"Yes, I am soft-hearted. But my soft heart only wants to make a quick end of it, to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. I am resolved..." She paused, seeing that Liu Wen still looked doubtful. "If a single bullet would end the war, I would pull the trigger. Yes, I would pull the trigger on Chang Wufei."
The clamps were released, and 4-inch thick metal casings slid away on oiled rails. Under the flashing red warning lights the massive figure was an inky black shape, but as the last of the protective structures was removed the sirens went mute and the hangar snapped into fluorescent whiteness.
"We can begin." Murmuring reverberations trailed Chang Wufei's voice, unhampered by background noise, for the few others in the hangar were rendered speechless. Even Major Girot, who had accompanied the precious cargo on its journey. Even the engineers who were party to its secrets, having constructed, assembled, dismantled and reassembled the components... For the Gundam was so much more than the sum of its parts. It had been built in the image of a warrior unparalleled, and now as creator and creation faced each other it seemed that the real and the virtual had conjoined.
Metallic midnight and liquid mercury cast into a humanoid frame - the dark blue was richly lustrous even under the artificial lighting. Its head was crowned with a finned helmet, twin gold spikes cresting obliquely on it; if a Gundam could have had a face, then the expression beneath the helmet's rim was brooding. An elliptical shield hung on each shoulder, and four-metre-long tapered sheaths pointed down from attachments at the upper legs, but apart from these there were no obvious weapons. The result was a machine that seemed surprisingly lean and lightly armed.
Lean, yes; lightly armed, no. Wufei knew that the shields concealed coiled flamethrowers, with multiple outlets such that both focused and omnidirectional firing were possible. From the sheaths separate beam shortswords could flare into life; these when joined end to end could form a dual-spiked staff. Another twist would reform the blade to a halberd or a trident. Retractable beam cannons were concealed in the Gundam's forearms, and beside them, gripping claws were ready to extend forward and beyond the giant metal fists. The vulcans were set such that they rotated on sensored discs, giving a combined 360-degrees coverage.
Yet the greatest physical weapon was its articulation. Wufei had recognised long ago that a more flexible warrior was a more lethal warrior, capable of projecting his attacks at any angle through to the enemy's vulnerable points. Shenlong and Altron had possessed the same simple joints as the other Gundams, and Wufei had pushed both to their limits in combat. With this new machine, however, radical new synovial joints had been perfected. Injection of a cushioning synovial fluid between ball and socket prevented the two from making contact; this lessened friction, in turn reducing wear and increasing speed of movement.
The Dictator broke the silence. "So this is the mate built for ANATEXIS." Her eyes followed the Colonel's ascent of the metal platform. Now the Gundam's maw was opening hungrily to accept its pilot, and Wufei stepped in without hesitation, disappearing. An interminable moment passed before the orb-eyes began to illuminate with an otherworldly green, then giant digits moved at the extremities of giant arms in tentative experimentation. It was akin to watching a mythical beast stir from hibernation, and Mariemaia stared, transfixed.
The next movement was sudden, violent, yet eerily smooth. Pivoting round, the Gundam raised its arm straight ahead - the beam cannon extruding and locking onto its target in under a second - and blew a hole into the hangar wall six metres across. The spectators dropped to the floor, the pressure from the blast pounding them.
"Your Excellency, are you alright?"
Mariemaia stood quickly, nodding curtly to the officer who had spoken. It was Yonoi, breathless excitement on his face, but her eyes hardly alighted on him before tearing to another mobile suit that had materialised at the newly created hole. A Serpent of the 1st MSD, it was making way for the new Gundam to exit. They were moving into the open airfield.
"Your Excellency, if you'll follow me...?" An engineer was pausing in a half-bow, indicating the way to the reinforced observation turret.
Before they reached the turret, the mobile suits were already beginning engagement. It was clear now that there were four or more Serpents, their forms lit by the floodlights which had been turned onto the airfield. Mariemaia briefly wondered what suicidal men had opted to participate in testing the new Gundam. But then she saw Major Girot donning an unusual helmet and glowing visor, his hands wrapped round a set of controls. He was remotely piloting one of the suits; beside him were three other pilots, similarly outfitted.
"ANATEXIS is running on all suits," said the engineer. "Test 1 commencing, M-01APF against augmented second generation Serpents."
"M-01APF," said Mariemaia sharply. The 'M-' prefix was common to all mobile suits of her army, and '01' evidently stood for the first unit of this new type. But the last three coded letters? "What does APF stand for?"
The engineer looked embarrassed, then shouted above the cannon fire. "The Colonel specified those as the project's working title, Excellency! We have used them since the beginning - "
The cannons reached an explosive high, then abruptly gave way to the low roar of flamethrowers. Mariemaia had to shield her eyes from the brightness of the flames.
"Active combat into 13, 14, 15 seconds....!"
A dark form leapt above the sea of fire, twisting in mid-air and then descending back into the brightness. There was a crash, followed by the torturous sound of metal twisting, grinding, ripping. Simultaneously in the observation turret, one of the pilots suddenly wrenched off his helmet, his muscles twitching convulsively amid the trailing wires. His Serpent had been taken out.
"...23, 24, 25 seconds...!"
The spike of a staff stabbed downwards before it suddenly morphed into a trident, splitting the abdomen of a Serpent. Golden sparks issued from the gaping breach, and already the new Gundam was whirling round gracefully to deal a sweeping kick to the two remaining attackers. It seemed almost choreographed, the succession of moves; the ANATEXIS system installed on all the suits drawing them in a deadly dance.
"Solanke!" Major Girot called to the pilot of the other Serpent. "Target the lower body. For God's sake stay away from his shoulders and those vulcans!"
"I read - " The African pilot strained against the controls. On the airfield, the Serpent caught the new Gundam's leg and hung on doggedly, even as the shortsword sliced down repeatedly. It was no longer operational, but at least it was hindering the Gundam.
"...33, 34, 35 seconds...!"
In the middle of a smooth slice, the new Gundam seemed to pause. The hesitation was obvious amidst the ANATEXIS-honed manoeuvres. The cut from the shortsword went wide, and Girot saw his chance, preparing to fire straight into the new Gundam's torso.
The Dictator's hand closed tightly around the rail, her voice rasping hoarsely from her throat: "No - "
This was no ZERO system flashback. As Wufei fought, as the flames rose and the metal flashed, he was actively recalling long-gone battles and lessons from history. Every perfectly executed move, every byte of information coursing through the ANATEXIS filter, was an analogy for an episode in his life. Precision brought clarity, successive hits brought certainty. This was purified combat, bringing sanity rather than madness.
War is an extension of the weapon. Heero, trained to unnatural proficiency, had known this well.
The weapon is an extension of the body. Duo had understood the bond between machine and man.
The body is an extension of the mind. Trowa had achieved superb control of both.
The mind is an extension of the soul. Quatre had carried this in his heart from the beginning...
The inexorable logic of it held, whether one was trapped in life or death! It could not be denied.
It held even for the fragile thread between life and death, which bound Heero and Trowa. With a sickening lurch of realisation Wufei saw that the blue glow of the instrument panel was nearly identical to that of the two tanks bearing the pilots' bodies. His hands slipped fractionally from the controls, and his shortsword missed Girot's Serpent.
Missed...
But the soul is an extension of a greater purpose.
Making use of the momentum generated by the miss, he swung away, avoiding the Serpent's shot by a fraction. Then his other forearm followed into the movement, the clawed grip extending and catching the Serpent by its head to fling it several metres away. When the claws had slid back again, the arm unit rotated to bring the beam cannon up. Wufei fired. The Serpent exploded.
The cockpit was silent. And in that silence Chang Wufei heard this:
I said you understood me, Wufei. Except... you did not believe it till this moment.
"41 seconds." The engineer moistened dry lips and then grinned. In the corner, a medical officer was checking Major Girot's pulse - the man's skin had a grey tinge to it.
"Your Excellency is satisfied with the outcome?" The engineer radiated pride.
"The Gundam... has performed well," Mariemaia told him, her thoughts elsewhere. In that moment, when it seemed that the Colonel was in danger, there had been an incredible weight in her chest. The sensation was unfamiliar; she had felt something like it only once before, when she had stood before her father's portrait, knowing that although he smiled down at her, he would never be able to speak. Mariemaia frowned, the expression distorting her heartshaped face.
Without warning, the communication unit lit up in front of the engineer, and a clear voice came through. "M-01APF to observation turret - "
"Colonel Chang!" Mariemaia immediately hit the reply button. "Are you injured?"
"No." Outside, the Gundam seemed to be staring into the observation turret, straight at her. "Preparing to log off."
A minute later the Colonel was descending from the platform, engineers rushing up to the Gundam to check its recorded combat data. If anything his face was more grim, yet there was colour in his sunken cheeks, and an energy in his voice and in his walk. He beckoned to his secretary, and Yonoi ran up. "Is Major Girot in fit state to command the 1st Mobile Suit Division?"
"We're not sure, sir. He has suffered a fair amount from the test."
"If he is not fully recovered in the next 24 hours, I am placing you in charge of the 1st MSD."
"Sir?!"
Mariemaia heard the exchange and feared that it implied the worst. "Colonel, why should you not be commanding the 1st MSD?" Her lilac eyes glittered with an intensity that made Yonoi back up a step. Wufei gazed directly into them, unaffected. His own eyes flickered strangely.
"The 1st Mobile Suit Division is to escort you back to Brussels as soon as possible. The Dictatorial Palace will be the safest and least uncomfortable place for you in the event of a rebel attack."
"And where will you be?" She stood in his way immovably. "Is there something here in New Guinea keeping you from your duty to the State?" A tiny tremor, midway between anger and dismay, had escaped into her voice, but it might have been an earthquake for the shock it generated in those that heard it.
The Colonel looked away first, over his shoulder, to the Gundam. "Its name is the Gundam Preterid. A surpassing of Self." There was nothing in the name to invoke Nataku or Justice, and they both knew the significance of its completion. Then tilting his head to one side, as if listening, he exhaled slowly. "The experiment is over. The answer has come to me."
All the blood drained from Mariemaia's face. "The experiment..." The Dictator only managed an echoing whisper. "So this is the end, then?"
"Only the end of doubt." His reply, quiet as it was, seemed to fill the entire hangar, the whole of Mariemaia's universe. "I am not deserting the 1st Mobile Suit Division. This is rest - a brief respite before I go on." There were things he needed to do before the curtain of war fell again. "Expect me in Brussels in a few days' time."
The jade green lake stretched shimmering beside a pagoda-crowned hill. Such was the paradox of life; for the fairytale scenery was an entirely artificial landscape. Thousands had toiled to carve out the earth and build it up into a high mound, all for the pleasure of a few - the Summer Palace of Beijing was indeed beautiful, despite having been built for a tyrannical royalty. "China has had its share of despotic rulers," murmured Sally. "History repeats itself, but we never learn."
Uncaring of history, Shuyan ran ahead, enjoying the sunshine and butterflies. Today, she was a princess, her lady-in-waiting following at a more sedate pace.
The two would be able to roam the many courtyards, gardens and pavilions undisturbed, for the Summer Palace had been closed to the public for almost eighty years. The timber buildings, an irreplaceable national treasure, had been slowly decaying under the breath of tourists, and the damage had progressed to the stage where heavy carvings were falling from the ceilings. Before sending them out, Liu Wen had marked out the less stable areas for Sally to avoid. His family had acted as caretakers and curators for generations, and knew both the privilege and peril of having the Palace virtually to themselves.
"Shuyan." Sally saw the girl run through a peony-framed doorway, and walked briskly after her. I really wouldn't want to tell Liu Wen that his granddaughter's fallen into a well... There's nothing worse than a meaningless accident. As she passed under the arch she thought she heard a rustle of leaves somewhere to her right, behind a building, but she was more intent on her pursuit of Shuyan, and gave it barely a thought.
If she had looked through a crack in the stonework just then, she would have seen what Shuyan saw - someone vaulting easily over the eight-foot-high vermillion wall.
"Shu-yan!" Sally began to feel slight unease. She had not intended to take the little girl so close to the edge of the Palace; this suite of buildings lay close to the road, where there were government offices.
"Wei shen me bu kai men jing lai? Wei shen me yao cong qiang bi tiao xia lai?"
The sound of Shuyan's voice stopped Sally from wandering further into the west wing - the girl was somewhere to the right and behind her. She had not been able to catch the girl's exact words, but it sounded like she had been talking to herself, and Sally guessed that Shuyan had stopped to curiously examine her surroundings, attracted by some pretty thing.
"Shuyan..." Sally turned the corner and froze, her heart rising to her throat.
Shuyan was smiling ingenuously at a figure who knelt beside her. They had both been contemplating a lotus pond. At the sight of the blonde woman Shuyan crowed, "Sally jie jie lai le" and ran to Sally's side.
The figure stood, his eyes first widening in disbelief, then narrowing to slits as he began to chuckle quietly. Tapered fingers dug into his temples. "No respite - "
Sally could not move. Like a gazelle who has just seen the lion crouching in the long grass of the savannah, she could not bring herself to run, though it might save her life. And it seemed that the lion could not bring itself to attack, not even when Sally finally remembered the gun in her padded jacket and closed her hand around its textured coldness.
Only at the very last moment, when she took aim, did he spring, knocking her to the ground. An excruciating pain bloomed in her wrist; he applied pressure to the delicate bones, then plucked the gun out from her grasp. He treated her desperate struggling with the same indifference, and already she knew what the outcome would be. It finally materialised with an audible crack, and she bit on her lip to prevent herself from crying out, but at once Shuyan began to sob in distress. Almost as if to compensate for soundless suffering...
Still her subduer maintained his hold on her, his arm tight against her throat. "Don't struggle anymore, Sally." His breathing remained light, the encounter hardly increasing his heartrate. Was there a trace of remorse, or was it simply pity at how weak she was?
Sally was exhausted, and the agony was blinding. "My wrist... you've broken it." After seven years of dearly cherished freedom, she had been overcome in less than a minute. Operation Crystallise, which she had fought to bring to fruition, was only days away from its launch. Now it seemed to vapourise for her. She groaned, partly from the sheer waste of it, and partly from the pain.
There's nothing worse than a meaningless accident...
As if reading her mind, Wufei shook his head slowly.