Test Tubes, Dragon Spawn and Demi-Gods

Chapter 74

Leaning against Wing Neo, Noriko watched as Matty and Lian battled it out in the simulations. She didn't envy Lian this fight, Noriko had reluctantly acknowledged that Matty was the best Gundam pilot of them all when he had trounced her in an earlier simulation.

"You did well, Nori," Aunt Noin smiled as she halted next to the young woman. "Don't look so cross."

"It's not good enough to do 'well', Aunt Noin." Noriko said, pushing herself upright. "I have to do better than that… especially if Nathaniel Septum targets me again."

"True," Noin acknowledged. "But if you perfect the techniques you have and learn the ones I showed you, then I think that you _will_surprise him next time you meet."

Noriko sighed slightly. "I hope so," she muttered and turned away, no longer wishing to watch the simulated battle. She wandered over to the techs clustered around the base of Reaper, Howard in their midst, and looked up at the newly built Gundam. Howard and Tane had certainly worked some magic with this one, she thought approvingly as she

circled it, all the Gundams had been upgraded, but Reaper seemed even more deadly than before.

There was a hiccup nearby and Nori swivelled around, looking for the source of the sound. She found the cause with his back to the wall, a circuit board in his hands and tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Shen…" Noriko knelt before the little boy. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Shen wrinkled his nose and wiped his cheeks quickly, leaving smudge marks on his sun-browned skin. "'m not crying." He said defiantly. "Just got something in my eye…" He looked into her sceptical face and sighed. "I'm worried, Nori…"

Noriko knew what it was concerning him so. "You think Aunt Sally's going to be hurt."

Shen nodded. "I heard…" he swallowed. "I heard Sammy and Jill talking about this plague thing that's gonna be released in Luxembourg and that's where Mama's gone…"

Nori tried her best reassuring smile. "I'm sure we'll stop them before they hurt Aunt Sally." She said.

Shen's eyes were frankly sceptical and Nori concluded that her reassuring smile was a failure. She was trying to think of some way to cheer him when a large shadow fell over them and Tane was kneeling beside her.

"You look a little done in, mate." He said conversationally. "But I know just the thing to get you feeling better."

Shen blinked owlishly at him. "What?" He asked and even Noriko looked curiously at Tane.

Tane stood up, towering over them both. "Come outside and I'll show you." He grinned at Noriko. "You as well, Noriko. You might enjoy this."

Noriko raised an eyebrow, but followed Tane and Shen outside. She sat herself down beside Shen on the soft green grass as Tane directed and regarded him. Tane folded his arms. "What you fellas need is something to make you feel braver, to stir up your warrior's blood. So I'm going to share something with you… It's a war dance called a haka by my people."

Nori blinked. "A war dance." She said flatly.

Shen's eyes brightened. "Sounds cool." He said.

Tane grinned and shifted his stance so that he was crouching slightly, his legs apart and his palms on his thighs. He pounded his hands on his thighs in a steady rhythm and began to chant.

When Tane had finished his audience was wide-eyed. Noriko's heart was beating rapidly and her hands were clenched as she reacted to the sheer power of Tane's haka. Shen scrambled his feet and ran over to Tane.

"Teach me! I wanna do a haka!" He cried. "Teach me!"

Tane chuckled. "Okay, mate. Now, get into the stance…"

"Excuse me, Tane?' Noriko got to her feet. "I'd like to learn this haka as well."

Tane's brown eyes met hers and he nodded. "In the old days, women weren't supposed to do it," he said. "But I think you need it as much as Shen here, ay?"

"Yes." Noriko smiled faintly and came to stand on his other side. "And I'm ready." She said as she copied Tane's stance.

"Right." Tane took a deep breath and began, his words echoed by Noriko and Shen. "Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!"

***

Lian gritted her teeth as she dodged another swing from Reaper's scythe. Then she was struggling to avoid the missiles heading towards her, and only just managed it by executing a clumsy jump to the side. Jilong had taken several cuts and Reaper none… Lian's chances of winning seemed to be getting further and further away the more she

and Matthew fought.

Options swirled through Lian's head… If only she could get in close! But Matty wasn't allowing her the opportunity to deploy her dragon claw or her beam glaive. The Reaper's pilot was going to claim another victim.

She snarled. It didn't matter that her opponent was her lover… She couldn't let her personal feelings rule her; not when there was so much at stake! Hinoki Hachi would offer her no quarter when they met again, as Lian was sure that they would, and Lian was determined to astound the arrogant soldier _this_ time! The thought of Hinoki's arrogant words renewed Lian and she plunged forward, using some of the new moves Noin had taught her early, and ducking the scythe, she pulled out her glaive.

For the next few minutes, which seemed like hours, the two Gundams fought ferociously. Lian pushed herself and Jilong to the maximum, taking risks to get in closer to Reaper. As she attacking him with an almost berserker fury, Matthew faltered slightly, and with a cry of triumph, Lian unleashed her dragon claw and her fire simultaneously. The claw buried itself into Reaper's shoulder and before Matthew could react to counter her, Lian brought the glaive down, slicing the arm holding the scythe. Then she pulled the dragon claw back, ripping off Reaper's front armour, and then plunged it back into the Gundam to tear and maul some more.

"Lian! Enough!" Her father's voice sounded in her ears and Lian halted with a gasp. As the mask was lifted off her head, she realised that she was covered in sweat and her limbs were trembling. She lifted her aching head and looked over at Matthew. He was staring at her in astonishment.

"What were you trying to do there?" He asked her. "Tear me to bits and jump up and down on the pieces?"

Lian swallowed, her breath was coming in gasps and her heart was pounding on her rib cage. "I… I… was fighting…"

Matty's eyes narrowed. "You look fucking awful, snapdragon. I think we should stop now."

_That_ was rich! Lian thought angrily, coming from him who was pushing himself to the limit nearly everyday! But she was so tired… she couldn't even muster the energy to glare at him.

Wufei glanced at her and frowned. "The boy is right." He said. "You need rest Lian."

Lian growled and pushed herself to her feet. "Father, I…" Her voice trailed off as her legs folded beneath her and she crumpled into Wufei's arms.

"Lian!" Matty hurried over to her, his expression anxious. "Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine." Wufei said crisply. "She just over-exerted herself." He glared reprovingly at his daughter and briefly hesitated before handing her over to Matthew. "Take her back to the house." He ordered.

"But…"

"Listen to your father," Zechs spoke up from the other side of the room. "The Gundams are powerful enough to kill their pilots…Tallgeese gave me a heart attack once."

Lian's eyes widened. "Yes, I understand." She conceded the point and allowed Matty to support her and take her out of the hanger.

"Ya gotta be more careful, babe," said Matty as they walked towards the house. "Otherwise _you_ are gonna be the one not attending the victory party!"

Lian sighed into the hollow of his shoulder. "I know… but I have to be prepared for when I face Colonel Hachi again." She said. "We will meet… and she _will_ single me out, I know it!"

"Yeah, but you'll have me with you next time." Matty grinned. "And I don't give a flying fuck about honour… if she starts ripping into you, then I'm coming to help you out!"

Lian chuckled. "Taking my victory away from me again, Matthew Maxwell? Why do I put up with you?"

"Because I'm gorgeous, sexy and charming as hell?"

"Oh yes, that's it… and you're vain too." Lian laughed and Matty squeezed her waist.

"What say I take you up to your room and tuck you in?" He asked.

"That sounds nice… and will you kiss me goodnight?"

Matty's grin broadened. "As you wish, my dragon lady."

***

Nathaniel steepled his fingers and regarded the man on the vid-screen. "Are you positive?" He asked calmly.

"Yes sir, the information is only known to the Preventers so far, but it's likely to spread soon."

"And they have no idea where it originated from?"

"No sir. If it weren't for our contact on the inside, well… we wouldn't know that there had been a leak until…"

"Until we walked into a trap. Thank you, commander, that is all." Nathaniel shut down the line and then stared moodily into space.

So… he had been betrayed. It didn't matter that there was no evidence as to who the traitor was, Nathaniel knew the person's identity and he wasn't too surprised by this outcome. Still, this would require some little changes in the original plan.

He keyed in a quick code and soon Hinoki Hachi's face appeared on the screen.

"Nathaniel-sama?" She saluted him sharply.

"Good morning, Colonel." He said nodding to her with an urbane smile on his lips. "I have a mission for you."

The barest flicker in the depths of Hinoki's eyes were the only indication of her surprise. "Yes, sir?"

"There is a factory in China, near Beijing. According to my current information, it is being used to stockpile weapons and armour for Mobile Suits. I want you to take a squad out and destroy it… now."

Hinoki hesitated briefly. "Now, sir?"

"Yes. I'm sure our little Gundam pilots will be nearly recovered from the first skirmish, and I would prefer it if we didn't have any distractions from other suits while fighting them." Nathaniel leaned forward. "Don't you agree, my dear Colonel?"

Hinoki inclined her head. "Of course, Nathaniel-sama. I shall assemble my squad immediately." She signed off and he smiled.

"Excellent."

Two hours later, Nathaniel watched as the lights from Hinoki's squad vanished into the sky. Quickly he turned and called up the laboratory.

"Is the plague ready for transport?" He asked the scientists.

"Yes, sir! But…" the oldest of them spread his hands helplessly. "We haven't completed the process to make it immune from _all_ of the conventional drugs yet. There are still three that…"

"It doesn't matter!" Nathaniel snapped. "I shall be using it _now_! There are enough delegates at Luxembourg to make this an effective warning. Prepare the carriers for transport!"

***

Sally exited the shuttle and stepped firmly onto the tarmac. Her expression was grave as she greeted Une who was waiting for her. "You've heard?" She asked.

Une nodded. "About the diseases? Yes. But I have some even more disturbing news." She said and proceeded to fill Sally in on the details of the proposed plague attack.

Sally grimaced. "Oh God… what a nightmare! What are you planning to do, Une?"

"At the moment I have refrained from calling a halt to the conference." Une said. "I have discussed it with the President and Relena and they both agree that we have to try and act as if we don't know what is planned."

Sally nodded. "Otherwise Nathaniel could just halt this operation and proceed with a new one that we might not get any warning about." She murmured.

"Exactly, so I…"

"Lady Une!" A young Preventer ran up to them and saluted hurriedly. "Lady! There is an army of mobile suits not more than two hours away from us!"

Sally's eyes widened. "He's striking early?" She gasped. "But why? Not all of the delegates are here… That doesn't make sense! Unless…"

"Somehow he knows that we have wind of his plan…" Une swore softly. She and Sally traded glances before Une turned to the soldier before her. "Quickly, go and get Heero Yuy. Explain the situation to him and request him, on my behalf, to lead what mobile suits we have here into battle." The soldier nodded and dashed away.

Sally broke into a run. "I'll call for the Gundams!" She called over her shoulder as she ran back towards the shuttle and the communicator inside.

Une clenched her fists. "Damn… Damn! I only hope that they can get here in time…"

***