Night had fallen on the OZ base in Nairobi. The Gundams hadn't been causing problems recently, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't. Patrols remained on alert in case one or more of the Gundams appeared.

Sitting in a cell, Dr. L. Em stared at the strange writing before him. On a piece of paper was the strangest form of writing he'd ever seen. It was his job to decipher it, but he wasn't having much luck. At least that is what his captors thought. Ever since OZ had learned of the existence of the ancient ruins in eastern Egypt, they had been pressuring him to translate the writings. The large paper in front of him on the metal desk was a rubbing he had made of the original stone tablet. Unfortunately, it was only half of the original. He hadn't made a rubbing of the second half because he had believed he could return without trouble. He had not figured OZ would be after him. The rumors that the ruins were from an alien society, were most likely the reason OZ had decided to quarantine the area. Of course they didn't know the exact location, only Dr. Em did. He had wandered into the desert alone and had emerged alone. I never should have blabbed about my find, he thought bitterly as he tried to read the line over again. He'd been trying to translate the line for an hour, but was having difficulty with the verb tense. Despite what OZ command thought, Dr. Em had managed to translate most of the map already. If OZ used the information from the map, then an innocent world would be attacked. Dr. Em didn't want the blood of innocents on his hands, so he fumbled over translations in front of the OZ officers. This allowed him to stay alive a little longer and to plan an escape.

Something exploded. His head snapped up as the alarm went off. The base was under attack by unknown terrorists. It could be anyone from Federation rebels to the Gundams. Folding the paper quickly, Dr. Em stuffed it into his coat pocket and waited. Another explosion followed by the sounds of Leo and Aries class mobile suits being deployed. There was turmoil outside, but inside the cell there was only silence and waiting.

Dr. Em leaned back in his chair and imagined the battle outside. He could almost see the mobile suits being destroyed one after another by Gundam units. At least he hoped it were the Gundams. They were the only ones he knew of that would cause both Leo and Aries deployment. He had seen pictures of the Gundams on television when they had destroyed the shuttle carrying high-ranking Federation officers. From what he had seen of their work, he figured that they had been tricked into killing those men. Tricked by OZ who had rebelled against the Federation and had staged a coup. The Gundams had simply been used as a scapegoat as to why they had taken control. It was disgusting. Something else exploded causing Dr. Em to look about and wonder what his chances of escaping were. He could hear the guards outside screaming something about the airstrip, but blanked it out and closed his eyes.

Shenlong stood in the middle of the runway randomly attacking any OZ mobile suit that approached. Wufei narrowed his eyes and used Shenlong's thermal spear or naginata to cut through the advancing Leos. Beside him Trowa in Heavyarms was busily shooting Aries down. The flying mobile suits were no match for the barrage of bullets Heavyarms carried, at least for now. Wufei snarled as he slashed through two Leos at once. He took no pleasure in defeating them. He really didn't want to be here to begin with, but the mission message had been written in such a way that Wufei couldn't refuse. Inside he felt like a coward, unworthy to pilot the Gundam given him. Nataku, lend me your strength, he thought. Maybe he is here. There was only one man that Wufei wanted to defeat, but he was not among the soldiers here. Most likely he was observing from a far, but Wufei would find him and kill him someday. Guiding Shenlong down the cement strip, he slew mobile suits leaving them to burn behind him. Slowly, with Heavyarms at his right, they worked their way towards the main hanger and the cargo planes inside.

As Trowa and Wufei continued to draw fire, Heero and Quatre snuck inside the main compound. According to their information, their target was being held in one of the cells on the lower level. Most of the guards were distracted by the other two pilots and didn't notice them sneak past. They had no choice but to work together to complete this mission. There was no way one pilot alone could accomplish this, it was to take all five. Quatre hoped he could trust the other pilots, they were all fighting for the same cause, right? Accessing a sub control room, they located the exact cell Dr. Em was being held in. With swift fingers and mind, Heero overrode the main computer system and managed to unlock the cell door. Quatre, with Heero following, hurried to the cell and opened the door. The older gentleman was startled when a boy with blond hair and green-blue eyes appeared then instructed him to accompany him. Dr. Em didn't hesitate.

Quatre and Heero escorted Dr. Em out of the building and to the hanger. The two Gundams had finished their job and followed their comrades. With most of the base in shambles, there was no one to stop them. Heavyarms and Shenlong were loaded aboard two separate planes. Duo, who had snuck into the hanger just as the fighting broke out, had them both ready for take off when everyone arrived. Flying both planes out of the cleared runway, the Gundam pilots headed towards their instructed rendezvous point.

"I must say that was fairly well orchestrated." Dr. Em complimented the young pilots. He sat down on the ground. They had arrived safely at the rendezvous point. Dr. Em looked about and smiled. It felt nice to be free from OZ.

"Thank you." Quatre spoke for all. "Now doctor, as soon as we have finished repairs we will be taking you to a secure location. Then you will be transported to the colonies for safety."

"Thank you. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to decline."

"You can't do that." Duo snapped flipping his long chestnut braid off his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving Earth without the second half of the map." Dr. Em retorted folding his arms across his chest defiantly. Duo cocked his head at him.

"Map?" Duo asked. Dr. Em nodded.

"It is a map left by ancient travelers. A map to another world." No one looked impressed.

"You've got to be kidding." Duo said.

"I'm not. Why do you think OZ wanted me?"

"We weren't told why you were captured. Our mission was to rescue you and get you to safety." Quatre commented handing the doctor a canteen of water. He accepted it and took a swallow before telling the pilots more.

"I was translating an ancient alien language. This," he took out the rubbing from his pocket. "Is part of a map that leads to another world. I believe that there was an ancient alien civilization that lived on Earth. They came from another planet, but apparently left no other trace of their existence except the ruins I found. This map speaks of two planets; one blue and one red that both have life on them. If we discover the location then could someday visit. I've always wanted to travel beyond our solar system and see knew life forms. Who knows what the aliens were or are capable of? I don't know, but I'm not leaving Earth without the second part of the map. I must have it." Dr. Em told them as all eyes studied the strange writing.

At first glance it looked as if it were ancient Egyptian, but few of the symbols matched any Egyptian that Quatre had seen. Also there were characters that were similar to cuneiform along side some of the symbols. Quatre was at a loss as to how anyone could read the text.

"I see you are confused. It looks like Egyptian, but most of the symbols don't match. On top of that there are lines that create tenses. I have yet to decipher all of them. It is a complicated language." Dr. Em said folding the crinkling paper back up and putting it in his coat pocket. "What do you say I take you to the ruins and show you the original? It is the safest place I can think of. OZ may have quarantined the area, but I know how we can get in."

The pilots objected. They would not waver from their orders just for his whims. Dr. Em disappeared for several hours then returned grinning as if he had just single-handedly saved the world from certain disaster. This worried everyone. It was then that they received a message from Dr. J and the other scientists. They were to retrieve a copy of the entire map. The rebels didn't want OZ to decipher it first. Dr. Em was delighted that they'd be going to the ruins and was eager to share his enthusiasm with the pilots. Heero buried his nose in his laptop checking Wing's systems. Trowa and Quatre went to see if they could get more ammunition for Heavyarms. Wufei disappeared and was most likely meditating somewhere. Unfortunately that left Duo to deal with the brunt of the over zealous doctor's lecture on aliens and how they would save mankind from itself.

The wind had picked up and was blowing sand across their tracks. Jeden sighed. At least they wouldn't be tracked. He hated the heat, but put up with it. The camel beneath him snorted and jerked its head back so it could look at him. Jeden raised an eyebrow at it.

"What?" he demanded. The camel snorted again.

"You don't think anything is following us?" Segundo asked from behind him. Jeden shook his head.

"We'd hear them if there was." Jeden reminded her. Alucard's pilot clucked to her camel and it picked up its pace.

"I hope there will be no trouble. Dr. L. Em was liberated from OZ two days ago." A middle-aged man with small rectangle wire framed glasses stated.

"If there is, we have back up, Dr. Wakusei." Jeden assured him. Dr. Roku Wakusei was one of their contacts on Earth Secondary. He was an archeologist who had been working under Dr. L. Em for a time.

"I'm afraid it is partially my fault that he learned how to read ancient Martian." Dr. Roku had informed the pilots when they had first met. "I had seen the first artifacts he'd brought back form the ruins. I recognized the writing immediately and had started translating them on my own. He found my notes. When OZ took him they tried to kill me, but their captain was a lousy shot and I managed to escape with only a punctured lung. Lucky for me Major Ochd was near and I was rushed to the Martian Primus medical facilities of hidden-base E2-zero.

"I feel that it is my responsibility to destroy the ruins so that OZ may never attack Mars and Earth Primary. Therefore, I will be taking charge of this operation from here on out." He had concluded. Shortly after he led them to the quarantined area in Egypt.

And that is how we came to be walking in this cursed desert, in this heat, with that nutcase of an scientist who won't stop whistling the theme to Gillagen's Island, Jeden thought miserably wiping his brow. He was for once glad that he wasn't wearing his favorite leather jacket. The black coat with the synthetic fur collar would simply have made the heat unbearable. Instead he, Dr. Roku, Segundo, and Kelima were wearing light colored hooded cloaks to keep themselves cool. He carried his beloved jacket amongst his supplies because it would be cold tonight and he wanted something warm. Adjusting his goggles so that he could see through the sand being kicked up by the wind, Jeden wondered how much farther to the ruins. Kelima had been uncommonly quiet. He had muttered something about his poetry partner having left school a few days before he had. Apparently he was ticked that the boy had left before they had completely driven the teacher insane.

"How much farther?" Segundo asked looking over her shoulder at Dr. Roku.

"Hopefully not too much." He replied brushing a lock of short dark brown nearly black hair away from his glasses. "From what we could see using the photo-imaging computer on Phantom," Dr. Roku said, referring to the star cruiser that was orbiting Earth Secondary currently. "It shouldn't be much farther."

"Good, I hate sand." Segundo grumbled pulling her dusk mask over her nose and mouth.

"Jeden," a voice crackled over the Jeden's transmitter. "We're tracking some bogies coming up behind you. Do you want us to take care of them?" Veir asked.

"No. If they are the indigenous people, we don't want to disturb them." There was silence for a moment while Veir conferred with San.

"Listen, San doesn't think they are, but we'll leave them alone. We'll continue monitoring them though."

"See that you do." Jeden replied. "Over and out."

"They're lucky they get to stay with the mechs and monitor the area." Kelima muttered. "I'm getting sand in my fucking shorts!"

"Thank you for that information." Segundo replied. She straightened herself on the camel and moved so that her guns weren't poking her in her side. Believing in being prepared, she always carried Baby and Sugar. Walk softly and carry a big gun, she thought with a smile. Those stupid pirates always underestimate me.

They continued traveling single file for another hour before coming across a rock formation. Like an island appearing on the horizon of the ocean, the hills burst out of the sand. Smiling confidently, Dr. Roku called in their coordinates to San and Veir. They were close to the ruins; Dr. Roku could feel it. The sun was beginning to set as they approached the foot of the rocky hillside. They would have to make camp tonight and look for the ruins in the morning. Once they found them, they would have to destroy them. It was important to set the explosives right as to not alert OZ. If they failed, Veir and San would be forced to come in.

With camp set, Jeden contacted Veir and San to check on the progress of the bogies that had been looming about since late afternoon. Veir stated that they seemed to be drifting towards them, but not to worry. San disagreed, but wouldn't attack unless they were attacked first. If these were OZ patrol suits, then hopefully their circuit would take them right past the group without seeing them. As near as they could figure there were five patrol mechs, which would be no match for Sentinel and Hard Rock.

Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Dr. Em had traveled all afternoon and night to reach the ruins. They had slept very little. Sneaking past the OZ guards had been easy, getting to the ruins had been harder. Taking the Gundams had been their only choice. In case they needed to make a quick escape, they had the mobile suits ready. Dr. Em had insisted that they keep the large mobile suits outside the ruins though, as not to disturb them.

The ruins themselves were nothing more than broken pillars sticking out of the sand. They reminded Trowa of the ribcage of a dead animal being exposed as the flesh was degenerating. All the columns set in neat rows to form the shapes of buildings. The stone roofs still stood on a few of the lower structures that had odd carvings on them. Carvings that resembled the writing on the map, Trowa noted as he walked past one.

Apparently there had been a small city here built up against the rocky hillside that hid the area from detection. Now that they were closer they could make out the beautiful carvings on the stone pillars. They looked like ancient Egyptian mixed with Greek artistry. Quatre thought they were stunning and wanted to spend more time studying them, but Dr. Em insisted that they needed to find the map. He led the five pilots to a cave in the hillside. Turning on his lantern, the doctor lead them to a door, which he managed to push open. They walked into the tunnel and were immediately surprised by the beautiful murals that decorated the walls.

"Wow." Breathed Duo in awe. "Look at all the pictures of birds and trees."

"Yes, I found that quite stunning when I first came down here. I wish my assistant were still alive. He would have loved this place."

"What happened to him?" Duo inquired running his hand across one mural tracing the outline of a black bird.

"He was shot by those OZ bastards when they captured me. He's the one who first deciphered the language." Dr. Em told Duo. "Roku was such a bright man."

"I'm sorry to hear that. No one's life should be cut short." Quatre remarked coming to stand next to the doctor. He smiled weakly at the small Arabic boy, then continued on.

They traveled further into the depths of the underground building. Each new turn lead them past more murals. Some depicted people, some animals, and others the night sky. There was one that Wufei stopped to look at. It was of a picture of sun surrounded by nine planets. The third planet was blue and the fourth was red. Hadn't the doctor mentioned something about a blue and red planet earlier? He couldn't remember.

Further in the labyrinth, beyond the Gunadm pilots, Dr. Roku supervised the placement of explosives.

"Pass me another charge." Kelima said. Segundo tossed him one and the boy set it. They had been setting explosives all over the underground room for the better part of ten minutes. It had taken them four hours to find the correct chamber. The map was written on a huge stone tablet that had been set upright in the middle a large open room. Four different tunnels fed into this room, each corresponded to one of the four cardinal directions. In each archway was an explosive set for detention. All they had to do was finish the chamber and then set some explosives on the pillars outside and they were through. Dr. Roku had suggested that they not completely destroy the city, as it was historically important. So they had modified their plan slightly so that they would only take out key buildings that would help seal off the map.

Dusting off his hands, Jeden reached for one of the two lanterns. "I think that's the entire." Jeden stopped mid-sentence. He drew out his gun just as Segundo and Kelima did the same.

"What is wrong?" Dr. Roku asked upon seeing the drawn weapons.

"I heard something." Jeden answered removing the safety. Kelima turned off one lantern while Jeden handed his to Dr. Roku. They slipped into the opposite tunnel from where the noise had originated. Weapons drawn, they waited for the inevitable. If it were OZ soldiers then they'd slip out and blow the room. Continuing to inch their way from the map, they waited patiently.

Someone cursed loudly and for a moment Jeden thought he recognized the voice. He turned on his communicator.

"San."

"Hai."

"We've got some company. Do you think you and Veir can get here in time to give us a helping hand?" Jeden asked, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Already on our way. We'll bring the other three mechs with us." San whispered back over the com link.

"Thanks."

"How exactly can they bring the other three mobile suits with them?" Dr. Roku asked. Kelima smiled broadly.

"There is an automatic pilot feature that allows the mechs to run without us as long as someone carries them. We've done this before." Kelima said smugly. "Now let's see if these bastards are going to give us some sport?"

"You're way too cheerful about this." Segundo whispered. "But then again so am I."

Jeden was still trying to place the voice he kept hearing when the owner emerged in the map room holding a large lantern. Unfortunately, the four could not see the young man. Jeden motioned for Dr. Roku to turn down the lantern and move ahead of them quietly.

"Hey, Doc. Is this what you were looking for?" Duo said walking over to the large stone. He stared at the map for a moment as Dr. Em entered.

"Yes, that's it!" Dr. Em told Duo as he came up next to him. He held the lantern up so he could read the writing. "Let me just get my paper out." He rifled through his coat pocket looking for a paper and charcoal to make the rubbing.

Meanwhile, the other four pilots began looking around the room.

"Something doesn't feel right." Quatre began.

"I think someone has been here." Wufei said. He moved his lantern closer to one wall. Staring at it intently, he pulled free a charge. "Very recently." Heero stared at the charge and then began scanning the perimeter for any others.

"Hey, Doc, it looks like someone wants to blow this place up." Said Duo pulling another charge free. "Shit, these look pretty powerful. They must want this place blown badly."

"How could anyone want to blow up this archaeological treasure." Dr. Em whined looking plaintively at the boys.

"I don't know." Heero said. "The enemy may still be here." Drawing their own weapons, the five boys fanned out to find the perpetrators.

Moving like a cat, Heero slunk over to the second tunnel leading away from the map room. Jeden heard him coming. Nodding to Segundo, he watched as she carefully eased her way back down the tunnel a few yards to wait. Heero didn't use a lantern. He could see well enough to find the enemy. Yet, the enemy spotted him first. Segundo had superior night vision, which made Heero a sitting duck. Hiding in the dark, she waited until he had passed her, then slipped behind him. Hearing something move Heero whirled around and shot twice. Segundo dodged the bullets and brought Sugar level with his head.

"I suggest you stop." She warned. Heero refused. Well trained in hand to hand combat, he brought a roundhouse kick to her hip. Caught off guard, Segundo swore as he sent her into the wall. A firm grasp still on her gun, she aimed it at his shoulder and shot. Heero jerked away in time to avoid the bullet, but was hit from behind by the butt of Kelima's gun. He dropped.

"One down." Kelima gloated giving his friend a big smile.

"I wouldn't say he's down." Segundo snarled. He didn't look like a soldier, but she didn't stop to examine him. The sound of their scuffle had alerted Heero's comrades. Already she could hear more people coming from the map room.

"Retreat. That is an order. We'll blow the room from the mechs." Jeden's voice cracked over their transmitters. They did as they were told.

Trowa was the first to reach the stunned Heero. Heero hadn't expected more than one person to be left spying; the second had caught him off guard. It wouldn't happen again. With Trowa's help he climbed to his feet.

"There are at least two." Heero stated before picking up his gun from where it had landed. Trowa nodded.

"Dr. Em, you need to take that rubbing and then we got to leave." Duo called back into the map room.

"I'm almost done."

"We need to stop whomever it is from blowing the room before we're gone." Quatre said staring at the other pilots. "I'll stay with Dr. Em." The others quickly ran up the tunnel after the assailants.

Bright blinding light greeted them as they reached the surface. Looking left then right, they surveyed the land.

"There could be OZ soldiers any where. I'm going to get Death Scythe." Duo informed the others. They nodded and watched the pilot vanish. Quickly they spread out in search of their targets.

The targets had divided into three groups. At the edge of the city, Jeden stood next to Dr. Roku talking with San. So far they hadn't seen the mobile suits that Heero and the others were using, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Most likely they were positioned outside the perimeter of the city, Jeden reasoned as San's voice replied.

"We're five minutes away." San radioed. Jeden was relieved. Kelima and Segundo were setting the remaining charges on a few pillars. When they blew, they'd take out at least half of the ruins. Dr. Roku stood waiting patiently.

"It's really a shame we have to blow this place up. It reminds me of some of the surface ruins on Mars Primary." Jeden merely nodded. Scanning the horizon for signs of the approaching mechs, he wasn't aware of Heero's approach.

Having spotted two men standing just outside the ruins, Heero crouched low and slunk over. He calculated how he could get to them without being noticed. There were only so many places to hide. Noting that one was wearing a black leather jacket and the other only a shirt, he decided that only one could be concealing more than one weapon. Heero moved in for the kill.

Four camels were laying down in the shade. Wufei crept up to them. So there must be four all together, he thought as he carefully slipped past. He didn't know where the enemy was. Part of him hoped it was Treize Khushrenada, but knew that was unlikely. A shadow snuck to the rocks above him.

Segundo's black boots made no sound as she slipped into position. He wasn't the one she'd attacked earlier. This one had jet-black hair slicked back into a ponytail. He reminded her of Seyth only more harsh. She watched him sneak passed the camels on his way towards the structure that Kelima was currently rigging. Oh, no you don't, she thought aiming Sugar. As she held the gun someone moved out of her line of vision. She didn't notice Trowa sneak past her towards the building. He didn't see her either.

With long practiced ease, Trowa silently entered the structure. It reminded him of a miniature Greek temple. He could see the figure in a dirty tee shirt carefully placing an explosive on the stone wall. Trowa raised his gun and aimed. The man apparently wasn't aware of his presence. This was a relief as now Trowa had the advantage.

Kelima had heard someone enter. He knew it wasn't any of his companions, they would have called to him. He continued with his work as to not alert the person that he knew of them. Between his teeth was a knife. Patiently waiting for the intruder to demand to know what he was doing, Kelima finished with the charge. He heard Trowa inhale deeply before he pulled the trigger.

Turning with lightning speed, Kelima ripped the knife from his teeth, ducked low and hurled it at Trowa. It streaked straight at Trowa's left eye. He moved just in time that it only grazed him and he fired. Kelima already had his hands on the bag of explosives. He charged Trowa, took the bullet in the arm, cringed, but continued. Smacking the other boy with the bag, Kelima managed to knock him down as he made a hasty retreat.

The discharge of Trowa's gun startled everyone. Wufei ducked just before Segundo opened fire on him. The bullet hit the rock face he was pinned against. She snarled and fired again. Wufei bolted, made it halfway to the structure and ran into Kelima as he jumped down from the top of a toppled pillar. The bag of explosives tumbled out of reach. Startled for just a split second, Wufei punched him. They began to wrestle, rolling in the dirt for a few moments while Segundo and Trowa hurried to their companions' aid. Finally Wufei got the upper hand and threw Kelima off, just as Trowa appeared. Aiming his gun at Kelima, he told him to stop.

Finding that he was not only wounded, but now out numbered, Kelima cautiously stood up. Now he could get a good look at who he'd been struggling with. To his surprise he realized it was his classmate.

"Drop the weapon." A firm annoyed female voice said. Wufei turned to glare at Segundo. She held Sugar at Wufei's eye level. "I said let him go." A woman, there was still a chance, Wufei reasoned. Using a spin kick, he knocked the weapon from her hands. Segundo scooted backwards away from him and pulled out Baby from underneath her long Australian duster. She didn't hesitate and shot Wufei twice, once in each thigh.

"SIT!" she ordered. Wufei dropped to the ground in pain.

Trowa recognized Segundo although her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, rather than hanging loose. He stared at the wounded Wufei and realized that she would shoot him too. Her partner was still capable of attacking although he seemed to be waiting for something. Kelima turned to look at Trowa.

"I suggest you drop the gun. She can be very testy." Trowa let the weapon drop as he held up his hands in surrender. Elsewhere they could here more gunfire.

Heero had waited until after he heard the gun fire. The two targets whirled around and Heero could see plainly that only one carried a visible weapon. With great stealth he eased himself around their point of view and came up behind them. Aiming he shot twice. Both shots missed as Jeden pushed Dr. Roku aside. They hit the ground. Heero shot at Jeden again, leaving the doctor be. Jeden rolled away from the shots, lucky to still be alive. Heero's gun clicked empty. Jeden smiled and aimed his own gun.

Their eyes met for a split second. Jeden hesitated, then pulled the trigger. Heero rolled to cover. Hiding behind a pile of rumble, he reloaded his gun.

Jeden and Dr. Roku dove behind a pillar. K'so! Jeden snarled mentally.

"San, how far are you away? We've got problems down here." Jeden reported. Over the transmitter, San's voice crackled loudly.

"About two minutes. We'll try to hurry."

"I wonder exactly how many there are?" Dr. Roku said. "If there are more, I don't know how long we can hold them off."

The gun shots, Jeden thought worriedly. I hope Segundo and Kelima aren't dead.

"We have at least one for sure." Jeden touched the transmitter again. "Segundo, come in." "Segundo here."

"What's your status?"

"We've secured two prisoners. Hastings is down, but not out." She sounded all business, which meant something had pissed her off. "One prisoner wounded."

"See if you can get any information out of them. Dr. Wakusei and I are pinned by a lone gunner, but we can handle it."

"Hai. Over and out."

"That's three gunmen." Dr. Roku said.

"There's probably more," Jeden told him. Then he called out to Heero. "You're comrades have been captured, surrender."

There was no response. Heero wondered if Jeden was bluffing or not. Just then a great shadow descended. Duo had arrived with Death Scythe.

Jeden stared up at the mech that wasn't from Mars Primary and nearly squeaked. He'd seen stills of the OZ mobile suits. This one looked nothing like them. In fact it was closer to what Anubis looked like than anything. A loud recognizable voice blared from the external loud speaker.

"Surrender or I'll blow you up." Duo said plainly. For a moment Jeden thought he was going insane. How could both his classmates be part of OZ?

From the door in the hillside two new figures appeared above the action.

With their work done, and time of the essence, Quatre and Dr. Em had run up the tunnel from the map room. Emerging, they hurried towards the Gundam as Heero scooted towards Jeden and Dr. Roku's hiding place. His gun loaded and ready. Knowing that Heero had had time to reload and that there was giant mech looming above them, Jeden thought it best to surrender. He heard Kelima swear over the radio, but ignored it.

Nodding to Dr. Roku, they stepped out from behind the pillar. Duo saw them and tapped a few buttons so that he could zoom in on the people.

"Jeden Windborne?" he said to himself. "How in the hell did he get here?" He didn't have time to wonder as all the warning lights in the cockpit went off.

The appearance of Death Scythe had startled Kelima. He'd been expecting San and Veir. Sitting with Baby pointed at Trowa and Wufei, he studied the new mech while Segundo bandaged Wufei's legs. Wufei moved, she cursed and yanked the bandaged tightly in hopes that he'd yelp. He didn't, but he did winced.

"Onna!" Wufei said. "You should surrender. That is one of ours."

"Really?" Segundo replied. "Good for you. And when our friends get here they'll have to shred your little toy." Kelima knew she was still angry about having Sugar knocked out of her hands. The last person to knock either gun from her hands had ended up less of a man.

"A bit touchy about Sugar, ne?" he asked. Segundo glared at him.

"My father gave me those guns." She spat.

"I do suggest you surrender." Trowa stated calmly. "I doubt your OZ mobile suits are a match for us." So Quatre had been right. Segundo was part of an OZ scheme to hunt the Gundam pilots down. That was regrettable.

"OZ?" Kelima stared at him, then started laughing. "You think we're with OZ?"

"Ah, it looks like our friends are here." Segundo said looking up. "Kiss your little mech goodbye."

Sentinel and Hard Rock landed. Everyone looked up at them. Wufei and Trowa visibly paled. The two mechs stood behind Death Scythe and released the other three units.

Duo stared at them intently. They looked like they were built out of Gundamium like his. Even the designs were similar. Swallowing hard, he realized that it was five against one. Shit, I'm fucked, he thought as Sentinel aimed its double barrel buster rifle at him.

"Surrender." San's voice clearly stated over the radio. K'so! San's involved in this too? Duo thought.

"No fucking way!" he yelled back.

"Then you'll die." San replied calmly.

"WAIT!" Quatre cried. "Who are you and why do you want to destroy these ruins?" Duo and San paused and glanced down at Quatre as he frantically waved his arms in an attempt to get their attention.

"We don't want them falling into OZ hands." Dr. Roku answered turning to face Quatre and Dr. Em. Dr. Em stared at him wide eyed.

"Roku! You're alive!" Dr. Em exclaimed practically rushing over in his excitement and relief. Dr. Roku nodded stiffly in a stunned manner.

"Yes. I have friends in high places." He replied. Jeden coughed and Dr. Roku smiled.

"That means you are his colleague?" Quatre asked pointing to Dr. Em.

"Hai. I am his assistant."

"So then you're not with OZ?" Both Dr. Roku and Jeden nodded. "Then you must be with another rebel group. We shouldn't be fighting." Quatre insisted.

"I'll tell my men to stand down if you tell yours to do the same." Dr. Roku said. "But we do need to cover this place. We can't have the map being translated by OZ. Too many lives are at stake."

"Destroy the ruins?" Dr. Em said, his voice sounding hollow with disbelief.

"Yes." Dr. Em had to think about it, but he knew his colleague was right. "Very well."

"Good, as soon as we get everyone clear we'll detonate the explosives and conceal the area." Dr. Roku turned to Jeden. "Tell everyone to stand down and the prisoners should be brought here."

"Hai." Jeden replied and carried out the order. Sentinel lowered its gun and Duo breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was to have Death Scythe blown apart.

Following Jeden's orders to cooperate with the other group, Segundo hoisted Wufei onto her back before he could protest. Trowa followed them with Kelima directly behind him.

"Five more Gundams." Wufei said as Segundo trudged forward.

"Five more what?" she asked.

"Gundams." Trowa replied. "That is what they are called."

"We call ours mechs." Kelima said wincing at the pain in his left arm. He'd been shot before, but he that didn't mean he liked it. "Although, Gundam sounds cooler."

"You would think that." Segundo said tartly. She'd stuffed Sugar down the front of her pants with the safety on so it wouldn't bother her while she was carrying Wufei. Later, she would think that maybe she should have had Trowa carry him, but right now she didn't care.

Veir climbed down out of Hard Rock. Jumping to the ground he hurried towards Jeden and Dr. Roku. He paused to look at Quatre, they recognized each other and Veir suddenly felt like laughing. This was too strange for words.

"Ah, Veir." Dr. Roku said. "Could you go and help Segundo and Kelima. They have some wounded that need to be taken care of. Veir nodded and left. He slowed as he walked past Quatre.

"Fancy meeting you here." He said as he passed.

"Same to you." Quatre replied.

"Roku, who are these people?" asked Dr. Em walking over to Dr. Roku and Jeden. Heero and Quatre followed. Dr. Roku sighed.

"I believe this will take a bit of explaining. First though, do you have the map?"

"Yes. The entire thing."

"May I see it?" Dr. Em was hesitant. He wasn't sure what was going on and didn't know if he could completely trust Dr. Roku. "I'm not planning on destroying it. I just want to check something."

"That could be done later." Jeden said. "San says we've got bogies heading our way. We should leave before OZ discovers our whereabouts."   "All right." Dr. Roku paused. For a few seconds he was very silent. "Jeden, I will take full responsibility for what I'm about to do. If they court martial me, then just say you were just following orders."

Jeden raised an eyebrow.

"Very well." He replied having a vague idea of what the doctor was up too.

"Dr. Em, are there any more of those nearby?" Dr. Roku pointed to Death Scythe. "And if so, your pilots should get to them. We'll be leaving this area immediately."

"And where will we be going?" asked Quatre. Dr. Roku smiled.

"You'll see. Now get to your mech."

"Gundam." Quatre corrected.

"Whatever."

"We're doing WHAT?" Wufei demanded as Segundo dropped him unceremoniouslessly onto the ground.

Veir watched Segundo retrieve her gun from Kelima and head straight for Alucard as Quatre tried to explain the situation to Wufei. This whole day was ranking a 7 on his weird shit-o-meter. First they're supposed to blow up the ruins. Then they are attacked by a group of unknowns, who turn out to be people they know. An unknown mech makes an appearance, threatens to kill San, then suddenly everyone is friends? On top of that it turns out that there are four more Gundams, which were the colonies' best mechs and that the Martian Primus intelligence was insisting they help. Veir was beginning to get a headache.

"We're going to cooperate with Dr. Roku Wakusei and his pilots." Quatre stated firmly.

"I don't trust them." Heero murmured. Wufei muttered in agreement.

"We don't have a choice." Quatre replied calmly. "They are allowing us to retrieve our Gundams, but we have to go with them to their base."

"We will do as you ask." Trowa said. Veir was standing nearby watching them.

"If you don't trust us, that's fine." He said to the other pilots. "We don't exactly trust you either, but I think there has been a bit of a misunderstanding. We can talk about this later, after we escape. According to our sensors, there are some mechs approaching."

"Mechs?" Wufei asked narrowing his eyes at Veir.

"You call them mobile suits, we call them mechs. They're pretty much the same thing."

"WE NEED TO LEAVE." San's voice boomed over his loudspeaker. "NOW." There was no room for argument. Jeden gave the order to withdraw and prepare to blow the area. The Mars Primary pilots promised to cover the other pilots while they made their way to their Gundams. Veir offered to carry Wufei to Shenlong as a sign of good faith between the groups. Dr. Em was to go with him while Dr. Roku took Hard Rock's controls. He'd flown the original prototype for these mechs before it had blown up five years ago. He was glad to see they'd made improvements since his mishap.

Wufei wasn't at all happy about being carried about like a rag doll and would have protested if it weren't for the fact that they were in a hurry. The remaining mobile suits were to prepare to detonate the explosives and fend off any OZ mobile suits that made it that far.

Duo watched his fellow pilots, head off to their Gundams worriedly. Now he was alone with five possibly friendly pilots. He prayed they wouldn't turn on him, he had a bad feeling he'd loose.

"When the others reach their mechs, get ready to move. Understood?" Jeden asked over the com link.

"Yes." Duo replied clutching his controls tightly. They waited in silence for several minutes before San's voice broke it.

"The bogies have changed course. They're heading East away from us."

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone. Jeden leaned back in his seat, pressing the back of his head into the soft cushion. He hated being leader. He felt he was not good at it, which was probably the reason Dr. Keller insisted he lead. Anyone else could do a better job, but he'd been given the task. What was that line Segundo used to always say when she was forced to be leader? I don't want to be the fearless leader; I want to be the sniveling whining follower. Jeden smiled at the memory and greatly sympathized with her. No one truly liked being the leader, not even San who seemed like the natural choice because of his stoic demeanor during battle. Segundo was a fairly decent leader, but she and Kelima had a habit of squaring off. Kelima would get his chains rattled about something and then wouldn't budge. Of course this had all taken place at the very beginning of their training together, when they were first introduced to one another. Things were different now. At least they respect me and that counts for something, Jeden thought. Without respect, they wouldn't accept me as a leader.

"Jeden. We've secured the Gundams. We're ready to... ow! Hey, watch that." Veir yelped over the radio.

"There isn't enough room for the both of us in Nataku." Wufei stated loud and clear. Jeden heard Veir sigh.

"Listen, deal with it."

"Get out."

"No. It would take up more time for me to hike back. We don't have time. We need to go." Wufei was silent, but Jeden could hear him breathing. He wondered why Veir hadn't noticed he was still transmitting. Maybe he did, but didn't care.

"Fine." Wufei finally said.

"Jeden, we're ready when you are."

"All right." Jeden cleared his throat before broadcasting to all the mobile suits. "Let's move out. San, Segundo take flanking positions and keep an eye out for OZ. Kelima, Dr. Wakusei you keep to the rear. Everyone else, pick someone and stay close to them. The last thing we need are some OZ mobile suits catching us."