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omaewokorosuFRESH HELL: 86 IT FROM ORBIT
it may have won nanowrimo 2013 but at what cost
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
(Not to be confused with the RP snark series, though it it related kind of.)
So that fic I talked about in my last entry.
I present to you... Let the Sun Fade Out. My NaNoWriMo 2013 win.
Karu pulls out some sunglasses.
Let's do our Fandom Civic Duty, shall we?
Karu opens a fancy looking box complete with velvet lined interior as Zelda5 - Treasure Chest Open.ogg plays but not to completion, just loops over and over without getting to the dun nuh nuh NUHHHHH part; inside are various sizes of sporks that can be seen in the glow of the golden light coming from somewhere within, all in silver and with ornate inscriptions and decoration.
These are too fancy for this piece of shit. Like using Falchion to kill a boss in the Prologue, or using the Chrono Cross against a komodo dragon for rainbow scales instead of using it against the Time Devourer. No, no... We need something more basic. The Iron Sword of Sporking.
Karu snaps that one closed, the golden glow and music coming to an abrupt end. Karu picks up and opens another box, this one beat up like it went through the Eve War, was nearly sent to the Sun, and then fell through atmo without any shielding to protect it; there is also a thick layer of dust Karu blows off with a huge breath before coughing, both from the air expenditure and the dust particles now airbourne. Inside is a plastic spork made of the same material the Good Vietnam MRE Sporks Steve1989MREInfo talks about are made of; scratched into the handle with a pocket knife or a razor is OLD RELIABLE, not to be confused with SpongeBob's jellyfishing net of the same name.
"It's dangerous to go alone," a voice sings from within, the audio slightly artifacted. "Take this!"
The Iron Sword equivalent spork is infinitely more useful in this situation, Karu thinks, than a "wee-wee weapon".
After all, how can you spork a badfic if you are sporkless?! Being sporkless doesn't mean busting out the Mani Katti of Sporks, however.
Armed with an Iron Spork+5 named "Old Reliable" and his trusty Void Cat named Morticia, Karu prepares for battle. Will they make it out alive?!
Or at least with their sanity in tact???
Let's get to fucking sporking.
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| THE KEY |
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| BOLDED ITALICS = The fanfiction text |
| ITALICS = Any rewriting that I do to cope with this madness |
| BOLDED = section dividers |
| REGULAR = My commentary and tears shed |
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Tires screech as a car door opens. It's Karu, looking straight at the audience and thus breaking the Fourth Wall that was already broken to begin with.
"Get in your Gundams, fuckers, it's time to kill some OZzies."
(Yes I realise the ASCII is gonna be fucked up looking because it's not fixed width font like Courier New, it's fine.)
----------------------------------
| SUMMARY |
----------------------------------
To keep tabs on the scientists after they leave OZ because they disagreed with Operation M, the leader of the OZ Specials, Colonel Treize Khushrenada, sends Cadet Aodhan Clark to Dekim Barton to become a Gundam pilot to gain Intel on Colonial rebels.
Can we just talk about the summary for a second here? Because I normally don't really give a shit about summaries because we all suck at them and whatever. They are the hardest part of writing fic imo.
(That and titles.)
But. Like. I know that the concept of time is shaky at best when it comes to After Colony but like... The summary makes it sound like the scientists left OZ like. Right before the series begins. Which isn't the case because as we know, it took fifteen years for the Gundams to be built. They started this whole thing five years after the assassination of Heero Yuy in AC 175. The Gundam pilots were born in 180 at some point. Treize says in episode one, "None of this would've happened if we were both in OZ 15 years ago." He is referring to Operation Meteor even being formed.
Treize was nine; Zechs was five. Neither was even old enough to be in OZ lmao this was something happening like...before anyone could do shit.
(Treize was three when Heero Yuy was assassinated; Zechs wasn't born yet.)
The amount of Gundanium that needed to be produced for one Gundam is a fuck ton... You add in four more? That's a metric fuck ton. The only thing not Gundanium on a Gundam is the frame.
The questions start to really mount here.
1 - why the fuck does OZ care about the scientists at this point in time???
2 - WHY IS TREIZE SENDING SOMEONE TO DEKIM BARTON??? HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BARTON FOUNDATION. Did my younger self think that because Dekim was the birdie on Septem's shoulder going "hey so this guy named heero yuy? he's a problem. you gotta get rid of him" that he worked for OZ???
3 - WHY IS TREIZE SENDING HIS OWN PEOPLE TO DEKIM BARTON??? WHO IS TRAINING GUNDAM PILOTS
AND GUNDAM PILOTS ARE COLONIAL REBELS WHO FIGHT FOR THE COLONIES LIBERATION ORGANISATION
SO WHY IS OZ—
You know what for my sanity (and yours) I'm just going to stop thinking about it. We will be here ALL FUCKING DAY otherwise.
----------------------
| CHAPTER 1 |
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Earth, Aodhan supposed, was beautiful, in its own broken, ruined way.
I would like to interject here because this name is not pronounced like you think. Because even though it is the Gaelic spelling of "Aiden", it is not pronounced like Aiden (or even the Gaelic). My younger self has it pronounced as it is spelled.
So ah-ohd-han. Why? Because for whatever fucking reason, when the last volume of Frozen Teardrop (hiss!) dropped and we all discovered Heero's birth name, someone I guess thought "Adin" (ah-deen) was actually...just a fancy fucking spelling of "Aiden" (ay-dehn). The fandom fucking rolled with it. For some godawful reason.
My younger self wanted to be different and spelled it this way (Aodhan) because of some convoluted reason Aoi explained in a one shot that was never finished nor posted anywhere where she wanted to name her son after his baby daddy, but didn't want it to be obvious. Thus. This. It does kind of sound like Adin (ah-deen) and Odin (oh-dihn) had some kind of name lovechild.
And then idk someone fucking figured out reading the original Japanese it was Adin. Like ah-deen. Heero's fucking birth name is Adin Lowe Jr like Episode Zero has.
(For the longest time I kept Heero's birth name as "Aiden" and it was only fairly recently, relatively speaking, that I changed it to Adin (spelled the old way, Odin). I'll switch everything over to the new spelling at some point.)
Anyway. Saying that Earth is ruined and broken makes me think it's the Earth from Future Century which was a...literal wasteland for the most part.
Some places were better than most. Lake Victoria, for instance, had a peaceful, if bland, landscape around a picturesque lake. He liked to spend his free time out here skipping rocks on the lake’s surface, watch the ripples break the otherwise glass smooth surface, each one growing as it left the centre of impact.
I do like some of the descriptions. "glass smooth surface" for the lake in particular is just. idk. It's nice. It's better than Rachel's (lack of) descriptions.
The grass this morning was wet, both with morning dew and last night’s rain. The well worn tracks that had long ago trampled the grass and left nothing but mud were slick still, footprints deep, boots just cleaned now once again caked with mud.
Again, really nice description, though the tracks that were made long ago being slick still, the way that that's worded, is a little confusing. Something like The well worn trails through the fields created long ago, the grass long gone in most places due to its continued use, the mud left over was slick from the overnight downpour; footprints left deep marks, the sodden dirt leaving remnants in the tread of everyone's boots, caking once cleaned and polished shoes in filth.
The sun was just starting to come up, the sky not quite blue, still a dark blue,
Which is it? Is it not quite blue or is it still a dark blue? "Not quite blue" implies it's not any shade of blue. Is dark blue no longer a shade of blue???
the same colour his mother always said his eyes were,
That is a great way I guess to describe what shade of dark blue his eyes are even though I've never really used that I've used like "the night sky before a storm" or some shit
and lighter blues closer to where the sun touched. Edges of clouds tinged a pinkish orange, not quite on fire, but hot enough to singe, perhaps, if one touched them. He fiddled with his sleeve cuff, a habit he did when he was lost in thought, something he did absently.
If Aodhan was completely honest, this wasn’t really the path he would have chosen. His father was the military man, as was his uncle, and their parents before them. Seis Clark
exists in Frozen Teardrop
was a lieutenant colonel in the Specials unit of OZ,
no he was not he was the chief engineer in both OZ and the UESA at different points
his specialty being recon work.
No it was not, he was in charge of creating the Leo
Uncle Trant was just a regular OZ soldier.
he was just a lieutenant for OZ iirc
Aodhan was a cadet, still green despite possessing excellent markmanship skills.
okay idk what having "excellent markmanship [sic] skills" has to do with not being considered a noob, which he is since he's not even a fucking private,
So like he's a fucking nobody.
but also why are you sending a student more or less off to participate in bullshittery???
His father taught him to shoot a gun when he was seven years old,
Heero canonically learns to shoot a gun when he's with Adin so he's like. Six? when he first learns. I'll forgive this because it's an AU though.
though his mother didn’t exactly approve. He’d recently turned fourteen,
this is important, note this somewhere!
recently earned the title only a few in his class possessed–cadet.
what
y'all are cadets
like
lmao my younger self, I don't think knew what a cadet is
Most were simply too green–they weren’t ready.
He stood from the grassy shoreline surrounding the lake and brushed himself off.
Stray any longer, he thought, and Lieutenant Noin will be looking for you.
He had no intentions of being one of those cadets who strayed just because they were already top of the class and had family legacy to boot.
I'm glad that
He spun on his heel before sliding his uniform standard issue cadet cap on, hiding the mess that was his hair,
his hair probs goes against dress code
and headed back to the military school where he had the fortune (or misfortune) of staying.
If I had had a choice, Aodhan thought, perhaps I’d still be on L1 with Mom
L1 is a colony cluster. It's a group of colonies in the L1 point. lmao
instead of here in the middle of nowhere. As if being here learning antiquated war technologies will help change the world.
let us pause here for a moment.
Karu stabs the spork into
This isn't how this character speaks. This isn't Heero's speech pattern. This is more like a Marth speech pattern.
Here's how I would fix this: If I'd had a choice, I would've picked staying with Mom on L1-[insert letters and numbers here]. Instead, I'm here in the middle of nowhere, learning about antiquated warfare strategies and techniques used with modern technologies, and being told by my instructors that that will help change the world.
*
“Lucrezia.”
The needle on a 33 scratches the record before lifting.
WHO IS CALLING NOIN BY HER GIVEN NAME
AND WHY I think the why is more important than the who tbh
Noin saluted Treize
why is Treize calling her "Lucrezia" she told him off for doing so in Episode Zero
until after the door to his office was shut. She assumed an at ease position.
did Treize tell you you were "at ease"
why are you even saluting him really when you think about it like you don't really see Noin and Zechs salute him lmao
“Colonel.”
Treize gave the smallest of smiles before clasping his hands in front of him on his desk.
“You called for me,” Noin said. “What do you need?”
Treize moved his seat slightly, enough so he could cross one leg over the other comfortably, the leather of his boots faintly stretching from the tension.
Treize: I completed Leg Day and wanted to show you my results. What do you think?
Noin: I think you'll need looser pants and looser boots.
Treize: I have made quite a few gains since I started...
“I have an assignment I need done; I don’t have anyone who fits exactly what I need.”
Times Treize mentions this assignment: |
He rested his elbows on the armrests of his chair now, fingers steepled in front of his face. “I was hoping that perhaps you did.”
Noin looked mildly surprised. “What sort of person do you think I might have? With all due respect, Colonel, I deal with only trainees, both in and out of the military academy. They are not yet ready.”
Treize stared past her. “Sure there is someone.”
Treize: I need someone who is barely trained for this.
Noin: Why?
Treize: Cannon fodder. You know.
“What did you have in mind?”
He referenced a report on his freshly polished desk.
“I need a boy with excellent marks in recon and stealth work. Ideally, someone looking to go into undercover work. Skill with a gun as well since this may turn into a call for execution if I find reports of requiring the need for it.” He looked to her again. “Anyone come to mind?”
OZ is basically a black ops organisation, or at least it was originally.
Noin narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t just hand one of her lambs over to be slaughtered before it was the right age to be given up!
Get used to this metaphor, it's used a bunch.
She had no one for the job
Noin: Sorry, Your Excellency, but I don't have anyone—
except two…
Noin: —except for two people. Maybe.
One with a pedigree, the other looking to start one.
“What is the assignment?”
“I can’t discuss that with you,” Treize answered.
Times Treize mentions this assignment: | |
“I’m afraid it’s top secret. A pet project, you might say, of a personal nature–not to myself, of course,
Then it can't be "personal" if it's not for you, sir
but rather to certain higher ups. Now, Lucrezia…”
Stop calling her that she told you in Episode Zero to call her "Noin" because sex has no place on the battlefield and she didn't want to be treated any different
Noin sighed. “I have two names in mind.”
Treize raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“One is named Nathaniel Green. Nearly graduated.”
Treize shook his head. “Too old. I need a boy. Do you have any you are willing to part with?”
That's kind of creepy... Why do you need a boy? Also assuming they graduated at like 17 or 18, they're still...kind of...kids, when you think about it.
“Yes, Colonel. I have a cadet. Clark.”
“Seis’ son?”
Noin nodded. “The very one.”
Treize: You want me to kill his son???
Noin: Wait what?
Treize: *clears his throat* Never mind. I can't tell you anything about this assignment.
“Following in his father’s footsteps, I see.” Treize chuckled. “Make sure he sees me later. I will send for him if I must.”
why can't you have him come to you right now?? you are literally the head of this fucking organisation
Noin saluted again. “Yes, Colonel.”
“You may go back to your flock.”
Treize heard the door close and uncrossed his leg, the sound of his boot sole hitting carpet echoing in the otherwise quiet room.
how hard is this carpet
He stared out the window, brows knitting as he thought again about the report on his desk.
I knew he was capable of this. I just didn’t think he was mad enough to do this.
who
who are you talking about
Traveling down the grapevine of OZ intel were whispers of old Jay Null
oh well everything makes sense now maybe like we know if Dr J is involved there's fuckery afoot because like
have you looked at him
he's clearly a mad scientist
trying to put a stop to what was known as Operation Meteor without exactly ‘putting a stop’ to it.
was Operation Meteor really this poorly kept a secret
The behaviour exhibited was certainly noted as suspicious, but it appeared that he was doing as ordered–for now. However, no one would be able to infiltrate without sticking out like an unhammered nail.
"The nail that sticks out will get hammered down." That's the Japanese proverb Deru kui wa utareru.
He needed a boy who could be the ‘perfect soldier’ for Dekim Barton’s project,
oh this is where all the fucking confusing bullshit comes into play
got it
um
why is Treize, who works for OZ on the side of Earth giving Dekim Barton who works for Barton Foundation and is on the side of the Colonies one of HIS OWN PEOPLE to the fucking rebellion force against Earth???
a project he himself did not condone. Why would anyone want to destroy such a beautiful planet?
SO THEN WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING THIS???
Unless, of course, they’re too blinded by ambition to see how beautiful Earth really is.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO GO ALL FLOWERY
He wasn’t surprised at all. Typical aristocratic behaviour.
the aristocrats don't even know who tf Dekim Barton is he is not one of them
They all thought this was a game. And maybe that’s what it was to them. But not to Treize. Treize didn’t appreciate them trying to cheapen everything.
????
That’s why he needed to do this. Even if it meant taking one of Noin’s baby lambs and offering it up with the potential for an early slaughter.
I.
...
what
there was a reason why Treize did all of the shit he did right like he wanted everyone to think war was so bad and awful and evil that humanity would be like "let's never do this again k? k" so like
what does he get out of sending one of his own soldiers-to-be...to what is essentially the opposition?? Is Treize actually in charge of Operation Meteor? (Because if he was it would've gone so much better and made so much more sense.)
*
“Cadet Aidan Clark.”
All eyes were on Aodhan as he left his classroom seat. Noin stood in the doorway and ushered him out the door.
“Lieutenant, with all due respect, my name is pronounced Ah-oh-dahn.”
*snort*
dumb
“My apologies,” Noin answered. “I’ve only seen your first name written down. I call you by your last name in class.”
excuses excuses
Technically it is Aidan, he thought as they came to the end of the hallway where two staircases were. He followed her up the staircase on the right, to the top floor, where faculty and staff offices were located. They entered her office.
This is never brought up again nor elaborated on. Also, why are we going to Noin's office when Heero was summoned by Treize? Is he in her office? Why?
“Colonel Treize has requested a meeting with you.”
Aodhan raised an eyebrow. “What does Colonel Khushrenada want to have a word with me about?”
Colonel Khushrenada is correct but they call him "Colonel Treize" in series.
Noin crossed her arms and leaned on her desk.
“That I don’t know, Aodhan. He refused to give me details. I’m relaying everything I know. Please see him after your lessons are finished or at your earliest possible convenience.”
wait
we're gonna have His Excellency wait??? instead of just sending Heero on his way?? we're gonna have Treize fucking Khushrenada, head of OZ, wait so we don't miss lessons???
Aodhan saluted.
“Is that all, Lieutenant?”
Noin nodded. “Yes, Cadet. Please return to your class and send my apologies to Instructor Giovanni for interrupting his lesson.”
We're going to make His Excellency wait.
why.
Aodhan turned to leave the office, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he made his way back to the fourth floor where his history lesson was still taking place.
Instructor Giovanni barely glanced at him as he re-entered the room, taking his seat towards the back. He tried his best to pay attention and focus, but only one thing was on his mind.
What does Colonel Khushrenada have to tell me?
WHY DON'T YOU GO FIND OUT??? EXCUSE YOURSELF FROM CLASS LIKE "I GOTTA GO, HIS EXCELLENCY HAS SUMMONED ME." THEY WON'T TELL YOU NO.
He rested his chin on his palm as he stared through the textbook. Had he done something wrong? Was he being moved to a different school? Perhaps something happened to his father? His stomach filled with cold, hard lead at the thought. Noin did have a particularly grim expression on her face. Had his father’s mission gone wrong?
It doesn’t do any good to dwell on it, he thought. You’ll just have to wait and see what the colonel has to say. Hopefully it’s good news.
what is this speech pattern who is this speech pattern for SURELY it's not for Heero
"It won't do me any good thinking about it. I'll just need to wait until I've seen Colonel Treize."
When the end of class was called, Aodhan rushed out the door, the first to leave, and headed for the main “base” of operations for the academy. He’d need a pass to leave, and he’d need transportation.
The sooner I get there, the better.
Where are we even going that we need transportation like
I would think he'd be at the school...in like a conference room or something, waiting patiently for you...
*
The skies overhead were crystal clear and a rather spectacular shade of light blue with nary a cloud in sight. Hedges and trees lined the perimeter of one of the Khushrenada estates Treize owned for privacy purposes, Aodhan assumed.
...where is this estate? Because Treize's home base of operations is in fucking Luxembourg and as far as I know he only has one estate so like. are you telling me that we went from fucking Kenya to fucking LUXEMBOURG??? DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR THAT IS???
(Image courtesy of Google Earth.)
It's like almost 4,000 miles, give or take because I don't have like, exact coordinates for where Treize's estate is or where the military academy is.
You are not going to fucking Luxembourg. If anything you'd be going to Nairobi, because there is an Alliance base there, and OZ at this point is still part of the UESA. So that would be ~200 miles. It would make more sense to fly via small prop plane or helicopter or something, because flying is faster and you avoid different road hazards.
(But if we're not gonna have that it would make more sense for Treize to pop in at the actual school. Like why is Heero going to him? His Excellency should be meeting with Heero.)
The drive was, for the most part, smooth sailing–no bumps on the road.
WE ARE DRIVING???
Aodhan had never explored too far from the school, and his only glimpse of Earth up close was Lake Victoria and the surrounding area.
are you prepared for one of the most nonsensical things ever
After traversing up a ridiculously long driveway, the car pulled up in front of two plain mahogany doors. There standing outside waiting for him was Treize Khushrenada himself. No guards in plain sight, though Aodhan knew there were probably a few hidden in plain sight, watching his every move. Treize himself seemed to be watching him with great interest.
Should I be getting creep vibes here lmao
Aodhan stepped out of the car and barely closed the door when Treize beckoned for him to follow him inside. Aodhan did so, obeying the silent command without question.
*porno sax BLARES*
is this going to be a fucked up 13x1 situation???
listen
I feel like if Treize asked Heero to give him a blowy, Heero would fucking drop to his knees with his mouth open, because out of anyone in OZ that Heero would ever respect, it would be Treize (and Noin and Une).
He hoped his civilian clothes were okay–he planned on going to the gym after this, so he was dressed in spandex shorts and a tank top. Treize said nothing about it and Aodhan took that as a good thing.
reminder that Heero basically runs around in his skivvies all day errday because the tank top and shorts are based off of the underthings soldiers wear (which is a tank top and shorts).
“I see you plan on training after our short meeting.” It was an attempt at small talk. “Tell me, how are your combat skills?”
"""Combat skills""" I can taste the air quotations
“I’m in the top five of my year, sir.”
Despite wearing hard soled sneakers, Aodhan could feel how plush the carpet runners on the hallway floors were. The place wasn’t all that large–Treize didn’t come here all that often, only for business.
“Please, ‘Treize’ is fine.”
Treize: "Treize" is fine, but you can call me "Daddy" if you're good.
Heero: ??
Treize: Now, how is your gag reflex?
Heero: I...don't know...?
Treize: *undoes the buttons on his jacket before doing the same with his belt*
Heero: Your Excellency, what are you—
Treize: *grabs Heero's hair* Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.
Heero: *obeys* Your Excellency, I don't see wh— *gagging noise*
Treize: Relax your throat for me.
ah yes I knew writing Crawford/Schuldig fic in WK fandom would be good for something (maybe)
They arrived at a double door entrance at the end of a long hallway. Two men were stationed outside it; both saluted, their heels clicking together as they stood a little taller, a little straighter.
lmao what the fuck
“‘Sir’ makes me feel old and stiff. All soldiers I consider as my equals.”
This is very un-Treize re: the "sir makes me old" thing like. It's just. protocol. Protocol doesn't give a fuck.
Treize led him inside, offered him the seat in front of the large, mostly empty desk.
“Can I offer to get you anything?”
Aodhan shook his head. He wanted to cut to the chase, get to the bottom of this.
I would prefer to cut to the end of this shitfest myself.
“Your father always wants to skip the formalities as well,” Treize commented, taking a seat behind the desk. “I suppose you want to know what I’ve called you here for.”
“It’d be a nice thing to find out,” Aodhan replied.
The sass is there but the wording is off to me. "You supposed correctly," would be more Heero tbh.
Noin always hated when he used sassy remarks, often said to him, “You remind me of Lieutenant Zechs–and not in a good way!”
Treize smirked, but didn’t respond. Maybe he thought the same thing, but didn’t wish to say anything.
“I have an assignment for you,” Treize said, as he crossed one leg over the other.
“Assignment?”
It wasn’t unusual for cadets to get training assignments–they were usually something stupid, such as skeet shooting (and pretending clay pigeons were enemy soldiers, because enemy soldiers were totally the size of clay birds) or fake recon missions (like the one last week where someone “broke in” and stole Colonel Treize Khushrenada’s hair gel, and you must find out who took it and infiltrate the enemy camp).
are you insulting His Excellency, younger me
“It must be pretty important if it’s coming from you.” Hopefully it had nothing to do with missing personal care products.
Treize pushed a manila folder across the desk.
“The finer details are inside the folder, but what you need to know now is that this is an undercover recon mission.”
He planted both feet firmly on the ground now before swiveling so he was finally facing Aodhan.
wait so he was facing away from Heero but also at the same time able to give him a folder? what?
“I’m not sure exactly how much I should tell you and how far in the dark I should keep you,” he continued, “to provide some sense of authenticity. However, the reason I want this mission—assignment-whatever you want to call it—secret to most of OZ—and by extension, Romefeller—is because I am asking for you to keep an eye on a friend for me.”
Heero: Is it Lieutenant Zechs?
Treize: What? No. Why would it be Zechs?
Heero: He seems to be the only person you're close to.
Treize: Mm. Well. You're not wrong.
Dekim Barton wasn’t a friend at all, but their relationship was too complicated for him to explain during a mission briefing.
It's so complicated I can't wrap my head around the logistics and leaps in coherency.
One of the older aristocratic families at Romefeller, Dekim was hellbent on having the spotlight on him, and felt the Earth Sphere was meant to be ruled by him, and was planning extreme measures to get it.
He's not an aristocrat. The "he wanted to rule Earth" thing is pretty accurate but that's about it. Like.
“Surely there’s more to it than that.”
“You will be playing the part of a nameless test subject for this friend.
(We're sick so Karu has asked for reinforcements. Aleks noisily sips tea.)
Aleks: I can hear the air quotes around "friend".
Nothing brutal. He is building something that is in dire need of a beta tester
Aleks: You make this sound like it's some computer program and not a 16.3 meter tall machine of death.
and so far all of them have died due to a lack of skill.
Aleks: That's... That's great! "You might end up dead but nbd."
But Noin spoke highly of you, and that is why I chose you.”
“That’s it?”
Aleks: My thoughts exactly. "Oh, that's it? It's just something that might kill me, what's there to lose?"
Treize nodded. “Report everything you see and hear.
Aleks: Do you want him to wear a bodycam or something? You might as well have him wear a wire. Also, everything he sees and hears? There's going to be a lot of, "I heard someone taking a dump in the stall next to me."
I expect this to be a rather long assignment. Most undercover missions are a few months, but with things the way they are… It will probably be longer.”
Aodhan nodded. “I see.”
“Will you accept this mission, Cadet Clark?”
Aleks: Sir, why does this sound like it's a marriage proposal? Or said with the same...inflection? As a marriage proposal. "Aodhan Clark... Will you accept...this ring? I mean, this mission?"
Karu: ngl that's what I said when I was typing this up like "is this a marriage proposal???"
Aodhan leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other at the knee.
Karu: What is it with describing how they're sitting and why is it always crosslegged???
Aleks: Men don't really sit crosslegged at the knee, the ankle is usually resting on the other knee.
“And what’s the reward? What do I gain from this?”
Aleks: "My hand. My estate. My lands. My—"
Karu: I don't think he gives a shit about that.
“Come back alive…and you’ll be given a warm welcome to Specials…Lieutenant.”
Aleks: That's not really a reward, is it?
A promotion in rank and a spot amongst OZ’s elite forces. A spot he’d share with his father.
Karu: Except Seis was never in Specials... He was in OZ, sure, but not Specials.
A spot he was told to shoot for.
But did he really want it?
“I accept.”
Aleks: "I accept your proposal. I don't want this other garbage though."
Karu: "I can't believe I'm gonna be Mr Khushrenada at age 14!"
Aleks: Aodhan is 14??
Karu: Yeah. He's suppposed to be Heero with a dumb name spelling.
Aleks: Weird way to spell "Heero".
What did he have to lose?
Karu: oh idk his life maybe?
(Aleks has stepped out, probably because of this bullshit.)
*
Aodhan shut the door behind him before leaving, retracing the steps he’d taken with Treize earlier. Under his arm, in his hand,
Which is it?
was the manila folder Treize had given him. No one had saluted him. For now he was a nobody, and Aodhan was perfectly content with that. His mission was to be a random nobody, a street rat with nothing to lose except his life.
okay but in this AU right you have things to lose
And even that, given the role he was supposed to play, wasn’t worth anything. He was still trying to figure out why Treize chose him of all people when he nearly bumped into someone. He looked up and saw the familiar mask of one Zechs Merquise.
“Good morning, Lieutenant,” Aodhan greeted in passing. Zechs said nothing, but nodded in acknowledgement. He stopped in the hall as Aodhan went by, probably wondering what he was doing here and why he was dressed like that—and saw the driver was still there waiting for him.
what if that car is actually the one that dropped Zechs off and now he's got no ride lmao
He got in the back passenger seat and buckled himself in before the driver asked, “Where to?”
The gym or his dormitory?
“Take me back to the dormitories,” Aodhan said. He gave one last look to the manor before the car drove off.
He needed to think.
You have to do that at the dormitories? Can't do that at the gym??
*
Zechs ignored the salutes, found them pretty annoying at times, to say the least, as he knocked on the door three times.
“Come in,” came a voice from the other side. Zechs opened the door and saw the back of Treize’s burgundy coloured executive style chair. One arm hung over one armrest, the other held a glass of wine, which he idly swirled.
lmao I love how he's drinking at his desk
"It's actually whiskey, I just poured it into a wine glass because that's all I have."
When are you not staring out the window?
“Who was that boy?”
The wine glass stopped.
“Zechs.”
"No, I'm Zechs, that boy was someone else."
"Yes, that boy's name is Zechs."
"Your Excellency, are you fucking with me?"
"No, but I am fucking you."
The chair did a quarter turn.
“What brings you here?”
Zechs placed a folder on his desk. “Reports.
It's the future and you can't just fucking PDF that shit and send it as an email attachment?
Answer me, Treize—who was that boy?”
Treize swirled the wine again. “No one, Zechs. Just a cadet running an errand.”
"Was he sucking your dick??"
"Why? Are you jealous, Lieutenant?"
"I thought we had an agreement."
"What agreement was that?"
"That I wouldn't be thrown in the cuck chair."
Treize shrugs and takes a sip of wine.
"If you continue to be a good boy for Daddy, you don't have to worry about that possibility."
Zechs nearly choked on the saliva pooling in his mouth.
"Bark for me."
Zechs did so. Treize threw him a treat.
Zechs could hear the smirk, didn’t even need to see Treize’s face to know it was there. His brow furrowed.
“Don’t tell me that’s the boy you planned on sending.”
Treize turned away, took a sip of wine.
“Okay then, I won’t.”
LMAO
Zechs walked around the desk. “Who is the boy?”
Treize sighed. “One of Noin’s cadets. Clark.”
Zechs’ eyes widened. “You’re sending Lieutenant Colonel Clark’s son?”
he was a chief engineer holy fuck
“It has nothing to do with who the boy’s father is.” He took another sip. “It just so happens he is the best in his class. And I require the absolute best on this mission, Zechs. Someone strong. Someone Dekim can’t break.”
"So not you, obviously. You're not the best in your class or your year."
"What are you talking about?"
"We all know it was Lucrezia Noin who was at the top, but for some reason she lowered herself so that you would be first and her second. I don't understand her logic. Is your dick really that small, Merquise?"
“You’re sending sheep off to the wolf without telling him the wolf looks just like him.”
tf does this even mean
“Have a little faith in me, Zechs.” He looked out the window again. “And don’t underestimate someone simply because they are a cadet. Look at all we accomplished—look at your achievements when you were his rank and age.”
Zechs had no achievements lmao except being "as quick as lightning" or whatever the fuck. Noin surpasses him in every way.
Zechs had nothing to say to that. Treize placed the glass down.
“Would you feel better if you could see his progress? If you could watch him like some sort of masked guardian angel?”
"Your Excellency, are you fucking with me?"
Treize couldn’t see Zechs’ eyes, but from the way his head snapped to him and the set of his jaw, he could see that his intuition when it came to the Lightning Count was still spot on.
“Go, then. I will give you specifics tomorrow when he leaves.”
“I don’t want an innocent child’s blood on your hands,” Zechs replied, before leaving without even so much as a flutter of his cape.
“He is much more than a child,” Treize said to himself as he picked up his wine glass. “He may end up saving the world.”
Heero Yuy is Jesus Christ = confirmed...?
Providing, of course, Aodhan didn’t end up like all the others. Broken beyond repair.
So how many cadets or whatever have you sent off to become Gundam pilots and had die as a result???
*
The shuttle was being prepped as it slowly made its way to the runway. Aodhan checked over his luggage before handing it off to a baggage checker, which would then place it on a conveyer belt and into the cargo hold of the shuttle.
“I hope I’ve prepped you enough,” Noin said. “You’re a smart kid and I know you’ll do just fine, but remember that we will always have your back. Your safety is important to us. If at any time you need to abort the mission—”
“Lieutenant.”
Noin smiled. “Sorry. Come back in one piece. That’s an order, Cadet.”
Aodhan saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
“We’re ready for you,” said one of the attendants. “Please begin boarding. Take off is in five minutes.”
“Good luck,” Noin said, before Aodhan walked towards the mobile staircase. He was directed to sit where he most felt comfortable, so he took a window seat so he could remember how beautiful Earth looked from the Colonies.
Mother, Aodhan thought, as he buckled himself in and sat back in his seat. Okaeri.
It would take two days with a pit stop on the Moon for refueling and leg stretching. Two days until they reached the L1 Colony Cluster.
Two days until he was home.
Two days until his mission officially began.
Dear god what was this
THIS IS JUST THE FIRST CHAPTER there are five more left and imo they get more and more nonsensical.
