The battle had commenced. Noin watched from the command center of the Antarctica base as Tallgeese and Heavyarms dueled. Zechs was holding up well against the younger pilot. They were equally matched; it truly would be a duel to the death. Heero fainted left then brought Heavyarms' gattling gun up, pelting the snowdrifts behind Tallgeese as Zechs dodged. He took to the air and rained down blasts from his own blast gun. Heavyarms sidestepped and fired off another round at the still air borne Tallgeese. Descending, Zechs let loose a shower of shots that would have intimidated a lesser pilot, but Heero wasn't fazed. He evaded each blast with relative ease.
After what seemed like forever, Heavyarms finally ran out of ammunition. Heero released the gun, letting it fall to the ground. It was then he noticed the surprise Trowa had left for him. The arm was gone from the elbow down and in its stead was a beam saber. Heero smiled evilly and drew the weapon. Zechs cast his own gun away and drew his own beam saber. They clashed and again. Sword met sword as the titans refused to yield to each other. Noin watched it all with a calm face despite the fear and apprehension she felt inside. One mobile suit would fall that day and she wasn't sure which one. If Zechs fell, a good friend would die and if Heero fell, a young life would be gone. She didn't want to see either of them die. When she looked at Heero and Trowa she thought of her own trainees back at Lake Victoria. All those young men and women she had trained to be mobile suit pilots. The friends she had made those that she had lost. War did nothing but take; yet she was part of it. Someday maybe she would escape, but she couldn't until it was all over.
"How long have they been fighting?" she asked a subordinate.
"About three hours Lt. Noin." Noin nodded. The light on the control panel next to her lit up. Blinking red, it triggered a siren. "Lt. Noin. Aries are approaching!"
"They must be from Romafellar."
"Leave them to me." Trowa stated from behind her where he'd been standing for the majority of the battle. He departed quickly to retrieve Wing. Moments later she watched him depart with the Gundam to hold off the Romafellar spies.
"I should have had someone else go with him." She said absently. Her instincts were getting the better of her. She didn't like to see one stand against many, no matter how good the pilot was. Suddenly the warning siren sounded again.
"Lt. Noin. We have a private aircraft approaching!" Noin's heart stopped. She'd come after all. The people at Lake Victoria had contacted her shortly after she left. That girl had tracked down Heero. Noin didn't know how, but she had managed to piece together the puzzle. She must have talked to Mrs. Noventa like I did, Noin thought.
"Patch me through to them immediately!"
"Yes ma'am!"
The plane flew towards the battling mobile suits without a second thought. Noin stared at the plane in disbelief. You were supposed to keep her at home, Noin thought desperately as she watched a beam saber come dangerously close to the plane.
"STOP!" Relena Peacecraft cried. She stood with the door to her plane open. It hovered between Tallgeese refusing to allow it to strike down Heavyarms. "HEERO!"
"Heero. I have a message from Mrs. Noventa to you." Relena stood her ground refusing to be ignored by either combatant. "She wishes you to live. She wants you to think of a peaceful future."
"Princess!" Zechs cried. "This is not a place for you." Tallgeese ducked under the plane and thrust his beam saber at Heavyarms. Heero rolled out of the way as Relena's plane moved to safety. Hanging on tightly, Relena pried her eyes open in time to witness Tallgeese's assault on Heavyarms. Heero, I must stop this senselessness, Relena thought checking to make sure her radio headset was still on. It doesn't matter what happens to me, I must make them stop.
"As Princess of the Sanq kingdom I order you to halt Zechs! If you are truly a knight of Sanq you will!" Relena snapped in her most regal sounding voice. She prayed that this would work. If Zechs Merquise were truly a man of honor, then he'd bow to his princess.
"I'm afraid I can't do that!" Zechs replied as he lunged at Heero.
"Then I have been misinformed about you." Relena said almost sadly. Resolving herself, she glared down at the mobile suits. Since Zechs wasn't going to follow the orders of the princess of his homeland, then she would have to try a different approach.
"Relena-sama. A message from Lt. Noin." Pargan called from the cockpit. Relena hurried to his side. Noin stood in the view screen saluting.
"Noin, I've apparently been greatly misinformed about Zechs Merquise." She stated accusingly. Noin sighed. "He is no knight."
"I apologize, Miss Relena, but I cannot controls his actions. You must believe me that he is an honorable man." Relena shook her head. Outside she could hear the mobile suits clashing again and again. She wanted the horrid sound to end.
"He is no knight of the Sanq kingdom." She said evenly. "If he were, then he would not be in this meaningless fight." Relena practically spat the last few words. This fight had no point that she could tell except to create death. The death of one and that one may be Heero. Relena couldn't let that happen. She understood Heero's mission, she didn't know anything about Zechs Merquise. Narrowing her eyes, she screamed.
"HEERO, KILL HIM!" She would rather have the instigator of this die than Heero. If he were gone then Heero wouldn't feel the need to duel with him. "Strike him down!"
"RELENA NO! Don't wish for the death of your own brother!" Noin cried, her eyes imploring.
"My brother?" Relena took a step back reeling from the unwelcome news. She glanced down at Pargan who was hanging his head. He knew! Pargan had known the truth about Zechs Merquise and had never told her.
"When the kingdom collapsed, he took the name Zechs Merquise and joined OZ to find the people responsible for its downfall. OZ was dedicated to bringing about peace, but it has fallen short of its expectations. Becoming disenchanted, your brother has sought out the one person he believes can give the courage to take the next step. By fighting with the Gundam pilot, he thinks he can achieve what they have already achieved. He is looking for some reason to keep fighting for peace." Noin said, her head hanging down. "I can't control his actions, I can only follow him."
"He's my brother." I can't order his death, she thought to herself. This isn't good, now what am I going to do? If Heero wins I loose a brother I never knew and if Zechs wins, then I loose my inspiration. On the video screen, Noin stared at her waiting for a response.
"You love him don't you?" Relena asked softly.
"Hai." Noin replied. "I love him." Relena smiled.
"Then take care of him." she said. Nodding to Pargan, he had the plane moved to a safer location to watch. There was nothing she could do until it was over with. It didn't matter whom won; Relena would loose someone she cared about. She had tried all she could, but understood that she needed to let them finish or it would never be resolved. Still, she offered up a silent pray that someone could stop them.
"There are OZ planes and mobile suits heading our direction. They will be here in five minutes." Trowa's voice said calmly over the radio links as Wing appeared. Relena thanked God.
"Thank you Gundam pilot, thank you OZ." She whispered.
"Relena-sama?" Pargan asked.
"Eh? Oh, nothing. Let's go home." She said. Walking to the middle of the plane, she took a window seat and looked out. Wing had turned into a bird-like plane and Heavyarms, holding its gattling gun, jumped up to take a hold of one foot. They flew after them as Tallgeese turned towards the approaching OZ units.
"He's going to face them by himself. How chivalrous." She murmured, a tinge of cynicism to her words. "Be careful brother. I have just found you, don't die before I can meet you."
"I think it's our only option." Quatre said. "Have you been hearing the reports from space?" Across from him Segundo, Duo and Kelima sat on Sandrock's foot. The four had been hopscotching across the Middle East and then back towards Europe for weeks. They were attempting to make it to a Martian base, but were failing. They had been forced to hide time and time again. At several points they'd thought about splitting up, but it hadn't lasted. They were blocked by OZ at every turn, but had managed not to be discovered. "There is a space port not far from here."
"And exactly what would going to space accomplish?" inquired Segundo. "The main OZ force is here."
"But OZ is now in space trying to convince the colonists to join them. If they succeed then all we've been fighting for will be for naught." Quatre replied. He began to pace back and forth. "We'll loose our support. They've already caught the scientists, your force has told us so." Segundo and Kelima nodded.
"Look, if we're going to space, we should split up." Kelima said standing. "There aren't that many pods that can hold something the size of a Gundam at these bases, ne?"
"Actually, there are." Duo replied. "They have to ship their mobile suits to space some how. Besides four Gundams have a better odd of succeeding than two." He smiled and leaned back. "And I'd like to see you guys in action. All we've been doing is running, no fighting. I feel rusty."
"We're pretty nasty. We fight pirates all the time." Segundo told him. "It's part of the job requirement. Fly experimental mechanized battle armor and blow the shit out of space pirates on a daily basis."
"So you've told us." Duo said narrowing his eyes. "Now you need to prove it."
"Oh, we will." Kelima smiled evilly. There was a demonic glint in his bright blue eyes. "We'll blow them all to Hell."
"You get way too happy about setting things on fire." Segundo pointed out. Quatre rolled his eyes. He was getting used to his comrades from Mars Primary, but they could be pains sometimes.
"Let's plan our strike." He suggested quickly. "I hope we can find some way to contact the others."
"Don't worry, they'll catch wind and follow." Kelima assured winking. "I know my friends and they'll bring the others to heel, hopefully."
Lady Une stepped out of the council room. The colonists were going to join OZ, she just knew it. They were voting now and soon she'd have her answer. With a smile she began to walk to her car. Her bodyguards fell in step behind her; they were here to keep her safe. Treize-sama was so kind to think of her safety. She had to call him tonight with the results of the vote. If they approved, the colony would become part of OZ and its goal for peace. That's what Treize-sama wanted. Peace.
Everything she did was for peace and for him. The ideal of peace under Treize-sama's banner of OZ made her smile happily. She was helping him in every way she could. Hadn't Treize-sama complimented her on her negotiation abilities? The colonists would be won over to their cause not by force, but by negotiations.
"Lady Une." A solider said opening the car door for her. "There is a message waiting for you."
"From who?"
"Nichol."
"I see." Nichol was an odd man. He was her second in command here in space. A competent man, he kept mixing her up with some other female officer named Une. Funny, she'd never heard of this other woman, yet something. She shook her head trying not to think about it. Instead she climbed into the car and waited for the solider to shut the door. As the engine started up, again her mind wandered to thoughts of the strange things Nichol claimed she'd done. It wasn't her; he had her mixed up with some other officer. Her head was beginning to hurt a bit. Her hand moved to the bridge of her nose and felt for something. What was it searching for? She couldn't remember. Replacing her hand on her lap, she turned her gaze out the window and watched the buildings roll by instead.
When she reached her room, she found a young woman waiting with her uniform. Une stared at it for a moment, then walked forward.
"Your uniform is clean." The woman said. "I made sure it was pressed the way you wanted. There is an officers meeting in twenty minutes."
"I know. I received a message from Nichol." The woman nodded and gave Une her uniform. Slipping behind her dressing screens, Une removed the blue dress she'd been wearing and replaced it with her OZ uniform. When she was finished, she walked to the vanity and sat down. The woman came over and immediately began combing and braiding her hair. When she was done Lady Une picked up the pair of glasses resting on the dresser. Slipping them on her face she gave a cruel smile.
"Whatever Nichol wants do discuss today, he'll find that I'm not so easy to roll over." With a cold expression on her face Lady Une left her room. The woman sighed as she watched her leave.
"It must be the uniform and glasses." She muttered. "It's like she's a different person when she puts them on."
Jeden was asleep. He was warm and happy on a soft mattress with a comfy pillow under his head. After all the time spent on that deserted island sleeping in Anubis, he was very appreciative of his bed. Upon their return to Martian base E2-two, they had handed their Gundams over to the skilled mechanics and headed for bed. Jeden planned to spend as much time as possible in his bed, under his blankets asleep.
Unfortunately, his superiors had other plans. San entered the room and called his name. Getting no response, he tiptoed over and shook his shoulder.
"Jeden, wake up."
"What the hell do you want?" Jeden growled. He snuggled down deeper under the covers. "Someone better be dying or I'm not getting up."
"Dr. Roku Wakusei has arrived, he wants to see us."
"Oh shit." Jeden sat up blinking in the dim light. "He's going to yell at us for loosing our partners isn't he?"
"I don't know. Get up and get dressed. We have our briefing in thirty minutes." San turned to leave.
"Christ, not even enough time to grab a bagel." Jeden snarled struggling out of bed.
"I'll pick one up for you." San offered as he closed the door.
Half an hour later, Dr. Roku was lecturing the two pilots. Jeden wanted aspirin, he really did. He had the world's biggest headache caused by sleep depravation. Across from him San was listening attentively. It'd only been four days since they'd gotten back, couldn't they wait another couple days before sending them out to recover Trowa and Heero? Jeden put his head down on the table.
"Windborne, are you listening?"
"Yes sir."
"Did you hear what I just said?"
"You want us to find the other pilots and head for space to hook up with the Phantom. Once aboard the ship, we are to await further orders." He repeated mechanically, if not muffled by the table.
"Correct. I need you to get on this immediately. We haven't a moment to loose." San raised his hand. "Yes, Valais."
"Is it all right to expose our Gundams to OZ surveillance now? I know we've been jamming the frequencies, but sooner or later they're going to figure it out."
"True. I don't care what you do. If you scare the living daylights out of them, that's fine. I'd like to see them sweat it out a bit. Especially after what they did to Dr. Em and myself."
"How is Dr. Em?" Jeden asked raising his head.
"He's totally engrossed in learning Ancient Martian. As of yet we still don't have much information on the engine. Our agents have said that it is still in the manufacturing stage and hasn't been tested yet. OZ is putting most of its energy into a Mobile Doll system. It's basically a remote controlled mobile suit to be used in space. The tests are going well, although there was a disturbance because of General Khushrenada. Apparently he doesn't like the idea of the Mobile Doll and believes it dangerous."
"I can agree with that." Jeden said. "It'd put us out of a job."
"The whole system is asking for trouble if you ask me." Dr. Roku stated. "Something is bound to go wrong and they'll blow up some colony. That won't go over very well with the colonists."
"I can see the same problems the Earth Primary military forces have with computer guided missiles very easily." Jeden pointed out. "How many embassies can we accidentally blow up?"
"I'm not familiar with that incident." Dr. Roku replied.
"Don't worry about it. It was all chalked up to human error anyway." San coughed.
"We should prepare to leave."
The sun had set hours ago when two shapes slipped onto the tarmac.
"I hope this works." Quatre said to himself, then contacting the others he asked. "Is everyone ready?"
"Just keep your head down." Segundo said. "I'll take care of any Aries who sneak up on you."
"Let's give OZ the scare of its miserable life." Kelima said evilly.
"I second that!" Duo crowed.
"Commence." Quatre ordered.
Alarms went off all over the base as Sandrock and Death Scythe opened fire on the mobile suit hangers. Soldiers scrambled to their mobile suits. They hit the Leo hangers first, leaving most of them in ruins. Lights illuminated the darkness as the first squadron of Aries took flight. They headed straight for the two Gundams who were steadily making their way towards the main arsenal where all the anti-mobile suit weapons was. Something flashed in the darkness, it struck an Aries heading straight for Sandrock. The pilot screamed as his mobile suit exploded. The leader of the squadron watched it fall to the tarmac in burning pieces. The blast hadn't come from any of the Gundams in front of them, where had it come from? A moment later a second Aries exploded.
"Commander that came from behind us!" a pilot exclaimed as a third Aries crashed to the ground. Turning his Aries completely around, the commander stared back over the lit base. He couldn't see any other enemy mobile suits.
"There's more than two or they have help!" he yelled over his radio. "Keep your eyes open!" But it was too late as another dropped, then another. He was loosing men fast. Fear raced through his veins, what was out there. As if his prayers had been answered a section of the motor pool exploded. Walking out of the flames came a black Gundam. Its left arm held a flame thrower that was making quick work of the rest of the building. He swallowed, he'd never seen that Gundam before. It wasn't one of the five he'd been briefed about.
"Holy Christ." He heard someone say. "It looks like the Devil himself." The Gundam turned towards them and began forward. A second squadron of Aries opened fire on it. The Gundam raised its flame thrower and proceeded to spray them with fire. Suddenly it leapt into the air and grabbed the leg of one Aries pulling it to the ground. Thermal claws ignited and sliced through the Aries, then it picked up the discarded Aries beam rifle and opened fire on the rest. At the same time, what Aries were heading to aid the endangered squadron were being picked off.
"Good God, they have a sniper, and they're fucking good."
Death Scythe ripped a Leo apart, then cleaved a second in half. Breathing hard Duo glanced up to see where the others were. He watched as two more Aries fell to Segundo's rifle. It wasn't a standard beam rifle that shot out a beam. Instead it had two settings, long and short. The first allowed for a steady long beam to be shot, the second for a quick small burst of energy. Duo had seen the size of the rifle, it was as tall as the Gundam. The barrel alone took up two thirds of the length. It had been built for sniping and Segundo used it well. She remained hidden just outside the base, where she could see everything. As soon as Quatre gave the signal, she would move in and follow Kelima's path of destruction to the space pods.
Using his huge schimentar, Quatre hacked through another Leo. The attack was going well thus far. They had hit the mobile suit hangers first, concentrating on the Leos as there were more of them. Segundo had promised to take care of any Aries that got in their way and so far she was true to her word. They were too busy trying to figure out where the shots were coming from or Fire Fight's flame to bother with them. He needed to give the signal though before reinforcements appeared from another base.
"Segundo, cease fire and come help Kelima. We're almost to the space pods."
"Hai, Quatre. Putting rifle away."
Attaching the rifle to the attachments on her back, Segundo checked to make sure the automatic locking mechanisms secured it before moving out. She and Alucard slunk towards the base in an attempt not to draw attention to them. The Gundam was made for stealth and speed, although be it short bursts of speed. She stepped onto the base and followed Kelima's smoldering footsteps. Only ten Aries remained in the air. They saw her and she could almost hear them gasp, they didn't expect four.
"Commander there's another!" the commander had two mobile suits left to his squadron. Others weren't so lucky. His eyes didn't betray him, a fourth Gundam stepped into the light, the longest beam rifle he'd ever seen was attached to its back. Please let them not draw that thing, he prayed. He didn't even want to conceive the damage that it could cause. Instead it drew a beam saber and both it and the other came at them.
Ten minutes later it was over, the base burned and four pods were launching.
"When we get into space, we should rendezvous with Phantom." Kelima said, he was still breathing hard from the exertion and adrenaline rush.
"What's Phantom?" asked Duo over the radio.
"Our mother ship as it were." Kelima replied. "It has resources we can use and it is safer than hiding out in a colony."
"Good idea." Quatre agreed. "Lead on and take us too your leader."
"Sir? Your Excellency?" Sgt. Fjorten Hale poked her head into Treize's office. He wasn't in. Puzzled she shut the door and thought. Opening it again, she walked into the office, made a right and knocked on the door there. "Treize-sama? I'm sorry if you were relaxing, but I have some urgent news for you. Four of our space ports were attacked last night by the Gundam."
"Only four?"
"Yes sir." Treize opened the door. He was wearing only his shirt, pants, and socks. His boots remained beside the cot set up in the small room. His coat was laid across the back of a chair. They stared at each other for a second before Fjorten continued. "One base was nearly wiped out. The reports are still coming in, but right now the count is four Gundams were at that base."
"Four?" Fjorten nodded and stepped out of the way as he walked towards his desk. "How many attacked the other ports?"
"Two of the ports have reported only one Gundam, one reported two and as I just said, the final reported four. That's a total of eight Treize-sama, just like you predicted."
"I didn't predict anything, I merely deduced." Treize stated pulling his chair out and sitting in it. He sighed heavily. "Zechs Merquise rebuilt Unit 01 and he will be punished for it. With the three shadows that have appeared, that brings the total to eight. Let us simply call them the Shadow Gundams to separate them from the first ones that appeared. May I see the reports and surveillance satellite photos as soon as possible?"
"I already have the photos your Excellency." She pulled them out from the folder she had been holding. They spread out as a testimony to the destructive power to the Gundam. Treize closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. He wondered how many names he'd be adding to his list this night.
"The photos all came out clear. There was no interference?" Fjorten shook her head. Treize stared down at his first good look at these new Gundams. Black, they were black. They had more black than Unit 02 two and it gave them a frightening appearance. He could plainly see Unit 05's shadow. The thermal trident slicing through and ripping apart. Unit 02 and 04's shadows were similar to Unit 05 and Unit 01 with their choice of weapons. That beam rifle looked highly specialized and highly dangerous. "Sgt. Hale, I am concerned. It appears that there is a shadow for every Gundam except for Unit 01 and 03."
"Perhaps there is none." She suggested.
"I want to believe in your wishful thinking, but something tells me that there are two more hiding out there. Perhaps they are already in space or maybe they are to stay here. I do not know. Unless they show themselves, we can do nothing. These eight though, they must be dealt with."
"Treize-sama, Lady Une has almost all the colonies turned to OZ, the Gundams have no where to go."
"They have their supporters or else they would not be going back to protect them. We will wait and see."
"Sir, the plans for the Mobile Doll factory on the Lunar base have been completed. They will start mass production any day now."
"I don't trust the Mobile Dolls or their supporter. Tsuborov is a fool to let them into battle."
"Will it not save soldiers lives?" Fjorten asked. Treize looked up at her.
"A soldier's duty is to risk his life for others and fight with honor. There is no passion, no fear of death, no soul in a Mobile Doll to infuse in it the desire to fight and survive. War will become a game rather than a real experience."
"I see." She said slowly. "I understand Treize-sama. You admire the Gundam pilots, don't you?"
"Hai. They have souls. Souls that are fighting for peace."
"But sir, isn't that what we're fighting for?"
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