Operation Meteor

Noin resumed her job as a preventer after her mother’s death. All her friends were sad, Alfred gave her a pager-like device, so they could keep in contact. Noin buried her mother near stream where her father always wandered about. Then, she immediately went to the headquarter of the Preventers.

The situation was critical. No one knew where Relena was or who was responsible for the abduction. Noin received a file from Lady Une, indicating the mission she was going to work on. Her code name was Fire. She had to leave for L3 at once. She saluted to Lady Une before she left the room. She has completely changed from the mode of being a rescuer to that of being a soldier. Yes, there was going to be a war again. “Why did people love fighting and wars so much?” she shook her head. No questions again, she was tired and did not want to produce answers for anything. She quickly reported to the Back-up Unit. From there, she got a fake passport, a set of civilian clothes, a gun and some bullets. She did not have time to practise her mobile suit skills. “Well, I hope I still have the chance to practise it in the battlefield.” she thought as she got in a shuttle.

She was waiting; there were still five more minutes. Everything seemed normal in L3. The parents still took their children out to play in the park. There was still a long queen of taxis along the station, including the taxi, which she was in. Five minutes passed, someone was knocking against the window. “It’s urgent.” a male voice was heard. “Open the door.” Noin smiled. “Sir, it’s lunch time.” She did not open the window, or looked at the man. “I’ll pay you triple.” The man said. “How about your luggage?” The man laughed and knocked the door again. Noin opened the door. “Hello, Preventer Wind.” “Nice to meet you, Preventer Fire.” the other said. They both smiled to each other. “So, we have to go, Zechs.” Noin said, starting the engine. “It’s been two years since I left.” said Zechs, who was Preventer Wind. “I was really surprised that you were not a preventer during these two years. What did you do?” Instinctively, Noin thought of her mother, it was just a month after her death. No, she should not think of her now. She changed the subject and concentrated more on their mission. They finished their investigations in L3 a month later. They were really upset when they found that Barton was one step ahead of them. Investigations and negotiations no longer worked. War was again unavoidable. They had to move fast. They did not have any advantages at all, no matter on the time allowed and resources. Zechs volunteered himself to the mission in finding Relena. Although Lady Une did not want Zechs to do it, Noin promised to help him and so they got the permission from Lady Une. They traveled from colony to colony, tracking the way that Relena took. Zechs was nervous as well as tired. He had already tried every method to find her sister, but he still has not got any news about her. He worked days and nights to get information, Noin started to worry about him. She knew he was fit and strong, but she also knew that he would use up all his energy before the war. She had to make Zechs to take a rest, because she knew that Zechs would be very important in the coming war. How can she get him to take a rest?

“Here’s the file for Tallgese III.” Noin said to Zechs, who happened to take a rest just then. Zechs quickly scanned through the paper. “It’s stored in a cargo in Port Number 5 in L1.” “Cargo number 5316.” Zechs added. “Wind, you can go and get the Tallgese first.” Noin said, offering a cup of coffee to him. “How about you?” asked he. He was truly sensitive, beginning to guess what exactly Noin meant. “Fire, the workload for you will be tremendous.” “No problem, I think I can follow the case quite well. Besides, I need some time to practise my mobile suit skills.” “Fi…Noin, what exactly did you do in these two years?” Zechs asked this question again after they have worked together for nearly a year. Noin prepared to answer, suddenly an emergency call signal was heard. “Wind and Fire.” Noin said as she took the headset. It was the report from other preventers that they had tracked some suspicious transportations of some sort being performed between L1 and resources satellite. After a brief discussion, Zechs set out for Tallgese III and at the same time, investigated on the transportation. Noin would stay there to do all the back-up and follow-up job. “See you on the Earth, Fire.” Zechs said as he left. The door closed, she switched on the computer again, she skimmed through the data files and set up the schedule for herself. She worked alone in the Camp in K2. She closed her eyes to take a rest. Every single piece of information implied that this war was going to be a big one; a lot of people were going to pay the price. There were already some regional conflicts on Earth, induced by the some ‘power-thirty’ people. Civilians never wanted wars. Noin sighed, it was time to work. Preventer Wind would arrive in L1 in a few days; she needed to prepare the file and other information for him. Also she had to send a report to Lady Une to keep her informed. Just then, a call came, “It’s Water calling.” a female voice said. “It’s Fire.” answered Noin. “Can I talk to Wind for a moment?” the female preventer, who was Sally Po, asked. “Wind has gone already.” Noin replied. “Then, Fire, here’s a new piece of information. We have already found out what Barton ordered to transport. They are mobile dolls. They were packed inside twenty cargoes.” Preventer Water finished her report. “So, you mean there will be no soldiers in the opposite side?” Noin had to make sure of that, too. “We’re not pretty sure. But I’d say there should be soldiers there too. I’ll try to find out some more information about that. Besides, I’ve got one more thing to tell you. Go to Port number 4 in L2 and get your White Taurus.”

“Where are you, Zechs?” she asked again and again. Originally, she expected Zechs to be earlier than her to arrive, but she had already waited for two days. She was deeply worried. “Did something happen on him?” She searched for Hercules, the warrior in the sky among the stars, “Bless him, keep him safe.” she whispered. It was midnight, she could clearly hear the sounds of some insects in the wood she was hiding. She was tired and worried. She found a way to keep her spirit up. She cursed Zechs playfully, “Zechs, why are you so late? You snail, you turtle, you 486 ancient computer…” “Don’t say something so harsh,” a familiar voice was heard. “Noin, you jay!” Zechs emphasized on the last two words. They both had a small laugh, just like in the days in the Academy. They continued to talk in the old, friendly manner. This talk did not last long. After three or four minutes, siren was heard everywhere. “Action, Fire!” Preventer Wind said as he ran for his Tallgese. For the next three days, they have not slept for a single minute. They were fighting fierce for days and nights, side by side with each other.

Noin has just finished the checking of her White Taurus. The repairing work has finished and it would be transported back to the base. Noin stretched her muscles as she walked. These were long days for her. It was the fourth day after the war ended. Although she was busy, she still managed to get enough sleep. This helped her to regain her energy. “Noin,” someone was calling her from behind. “It’s good to see you here.” “Zechs, you looked tired!” she said, examining her friend at the same time. “Yes, you know…” Zechs began to explain when he was rudely interrupted by a young man in uniform running, “Preventer Fire, please go and see the President at once.” Noin answered the young man and almost immediately went away without noticing the disappointment shown on Zechs’ face. On her way, Noin shook her head, “It would be much better few days later.” she thought. She wanted to have a good talk with Zechs. After the meeting, she went to the same place to find Zechs but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, she remembered that she still had something to do, so she quickly went to her desk and finished it.

It was already nine o’clock in the evening. Noin was finally free from her work. She has finished the last piece of her job and she went to her locker merrily preparing to change her uniform. She has not opened her locker for more than one year. There were two sets of clothes, some money, a toilet set and the pager device inside. Due to curiosity, she switched on the pager device and saw an urgent message there. It was a message from Alfred and was sent out just two days ago. “What happened?” she quickly searched for the information. It was just a short message: Noin, lots of people trapped. Rescuers needed. At the end of the message, there was a telephone number. Noin found a phone and made the call, she frowned when she heard the news. Although she has just recovered her strength, she promised to help. She went to see Lady Une and asked for the permission to leave for about two weeks. Lady Une was not pleased with the idea. She told Lady Une that it was an emergency situation and finally she agreed. After Noin booked the air ticket, she went to find Zechs, but he was having a meeting. The others were nowhere to be found too. So Noin left without even saying goodbye to anyone.

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