Gundam Wing/AC 1. Pt. 1

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: The Price of Peace

By: Shadow Chaser

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Author's Notes:

Thank you for all the people who have been waiting patiently for this story to come out. It is finally completed for you to enjoy and comment! This is my third installment of the After War Trilogy and is the sequel to Vengeance of Wars. Thank you for waiting patiently for this fic to be completed, hope that you enjoy it! **Note this is a spin-off from the original series and doesn't follow the OAV Endless Waltz.** Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and all its associated characters do not belong to me, this is merely a fan's story. However, my characters that I have created, do belong to me and if you want to use them, please ask before you do. Started: 5/27/00. Completed: 8/22/00.

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Year: AC 224

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Main Characters:

Vailo "Val" Yuy- male age 17 - pilot of the Gundam Falcon Zero

Tarrant Maxwell- male age 16 - pilot of the Gundam Wing Zero

Reyna Maxwell- female age 16 - pilot of the Gundam Hellfire

Adler Barton- male age 17 - pilot of the Gundam Taliesin

Cerelia "Neo" Winner- female age 15 - pilot of the Gundam Sandstorm

Cavan Merquise- male age 18 - pilot of the Gundam Scorpion

Xylon Riyet- male age 15 - pilot of Titan Columbia-Zero

Lealya Dabnerba- female age 16 - pilot of Titan Orion/Gundam Black Wing

Jordan Kent- male age 17 - pilot of Gundam Lafayette

Severn Cawley- male age 17 - American origin from Seattle, Earth

Locke Dabnerba- female age unknown, mostly likely ageless

Adeline Chaser- female age 16 - Canadian origin from Toronto, Earth

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Additional Characters:

President Mariemaia Kushrenada- female age 35

Colonel Lady Une- female age 52

Commander Heero Yuy- male age 44

Major Wufei Chaing- male age 44

Captain Trowa Barton- male age 45

Duo Maxwell- male age 44

Quatre Winner- male age 44

Zechs Merquise- male age 48

Dr. Warren Parker- male age 39

Dr. Tanya Kent- female age 32

Azure Williams- female age 43

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History Outline:

Wars are fought using mobile suits and Gundams, but in the year After Colony 212, the mobile suits were abolished and sent into the sun. The Gundams remained in a dormant stage until they too, were destroyed and their plans and scraps all sent to the sun to melt away. Peace had arrived and Relena Peacecraft's dream of full pacifism came true. The Gundam pilots married and had kids, knowing that they were living in a total safe haven. Ties to each other were severed over the time and everyone got on with their own lives, only seeing their comrades on the news or by infrequent messages. But unknown to the Unified Earth and Colonies, a rebel group has been slowly gathering its forces, waiting…preparing for the time to strike when they least knew it and take over all of the Earth. It was time to regroup the legendary Gundam pilots again…

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Story:

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Chapter 1- A Call to Arms

Pictures flashed on a holo-projector, illuminating the dark room with flashes of light. A young woman sat a bit away from the holo-projector, her sharp light green eyes flashed like fire. Her jet-black hair was tied up in a bun, accenting her Asian face. She narrowed her eyes as the pictures repeated their pattern.

"Who are these teenagers?" she asked a person behind the holo-projector.

"They are the possible candidates for Project Conquer," a blonde haired lady with steel-rimmed glasses that was glued to her pointy nose said. "This is Severn Cawley, seventeen-year-old Caucasian from the resource satelight MO VI. He is about five feet eight inches and has brown hair and very deep green eyes that seems almost cat-like. He is an expert in mobile suit training, almost like the Gundam pilots, but slightly shy of their abilities. Right now, he's stationed on Earth as a mechanic."

"Retrieve him to the base and begin programming him," the Asian said grinning sadistically.

"Yes, Locke Dabnerba," Dr. Tanya Kent said then flipped to another picture. "This is Xylon Riyet, one of the Black Hand assassins from Russia. He is a formidable opponent with a knife and is an expert on hand-to-hand combat. In fact he just recently assassinated the Vice President of Russia Democracy. He is about five feet ten inches and looks a lot like one of the Gundam pilots' children Tarrant Maxwell, son of Duo Maxwell the pilot of the Deathscythe Hell. He is about fifteen years old," she explained.

"Hmm, good we can use someone like him. Just remember, my clone-daughter is already been inputted with information and your son needs some adjustments," Locke said leaning forward in her leather chair.

"I know," Kent said bowing her head slightly. She flipped to another picture, "This is the last person and probably the most dangerous. She is Cerelia Winner."

"Winner!" Locke hissed rising slightly out of her seat, "as in Quatre Winner, former pilot of the Sandrock Kai?"

"Yes, Cerelia or "Neo" known to people is very special. She carries very strong empathic abilities that seem to border with the Zero System and is very efficient with a gun. She takes slightly after her father and mother in appearance, and is Arabic origin. Currently she is stationed on Earth in the Maganac Corps training ground. She is about five feet nine inches and has sandy blonde hair with cerulean blue eyes and is fifteen years old. My guess is that her empathic abilities come from her father Quatre when you captured him about twenty-five years ago and experimented on his empathic abilities," Kent explained and Locke looked carefully at the young teenager whose picture showed a sunny smile.

"Hmm have her closely watched, but don't recruit her," Locke said as she fingered a strand of her jet-black hair. She suddenly sat up as she got another idea, "Better yet, send in your son. There is a celebration for the Eve Wars at the Nairobi Base and I bet she will attend it along with her father. I want Jordan to eliminate Quatre Winner and Relena Peacecraft."

"My son!?" Kent questioned with surprise. She didn't want Jordan to get hurt or anything like that. "But you must be joking Miss Dabnerba, I mean my son…" Kent started then trailed off.

"Jordan achieved second highest marks the field so he'd be the perfect candidate for this first assault and the knowing of the Omicron Empire's return," Locke said giving the scientist a sideways glance, "do you want me to convince you otherwise?"

Tanya Kent gulped nervously as she noted Locke's gaze had traveled to her neck and her hands were tapping impatiently on the resting handle of her chair. She unconsciously rubbed her neck and said in a hoarse voice, "No ma'am. As you wish."

"Good," Locke said simply then turned her gaze towards the smiling picture of Neo, "my plan is just getting warmed up."

***

Cerelia Winner closed one of her eyes as she sighted up looking through her sniper rifle. She knew that she was on the thin line of having her father disown her but she didn't care. She gently squeezed the trigger and was satisfied with the single bullet impacting a target about fifteen meters away.

"Very good Neo, you're getting better," her Uncle Rashid spoke up behind her and Neo turned around with surprise.

"Uncle Rashid! When did you get here?" Neo asked, wiping some sweat from her brow as the Arabic sun poured its hot heat on them. Here, was at the Maganac base deep in the heart of the desert.

"About a few minutes ago. I have specific instructions from your father to take you to Nairobi Base for the Eve celebration," Rashid said grimly and Neo frowned. She hated parties especially ones in which she had to wear dresses. She was like a tomboy of her own style and dressed a lot like a cross between her mother and her father.

"Do I have to?" Neo whined like a three-year-old. Suddenly she noticed something silvery coming fast at her and she reached up her right hand and caught a knife that was thrown straight at her forehead. The tip was almost touching her forehead as she held the knife steady in her grip. "Abdul! You have to do better than that!" she yelled to another Maganac who looked slightly crestfallen.

"Abdul you fool! You could have killed Master Quatre's daughter!" Rashid said angrily and was about to pound the second in command of the Maganac Corp into oblivion when Neo rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Uncle, I had a lot of practice," Neo said evenly and she threw the knife near a target that was a few feet away from her. Rashid winced a bit as the knife nearly missed hitting Auda before impacting the target.

"Neo, you have to go, your father's orders," Rashid said as he started to breathe again. He shook his head slightly and wondered whose blood did Neo had because she was almost careless yet sometimes had a sweet personality. He noted Neo's frown deepen and sighed. She was a very stubborn girl like her father, Master Quatre.

***

Adler Barton looked sullenly at the water, reflecting his image back at him. His long legs dangled from the side of a small dock and he threw a small pebble angrily into the water, shattering his image. He hated his mother for abandoning him when he needed her. His father seemed to be the only one that cared for him.

"Hey, sport, what's wrong?" a voice said behind him and he turned his head slightly to see his Aunt Catherine taking a seat beside him. He could imagine her beautiful before, but that beauty was shattered when she had an accident with one of her knife throwing tricks. It had cut a deep line into the left side of her face, scarring her forever. Now, when she performed for the circus, she wore a half mask, much like the one he saw in the pictures when his father was young.

Adler drew up his knees to his chest and hugged himself, shivering a bit when a cold wind blew by. "Nothing," the seventeen-year-old murmured. _Ah dammit, I'm almost an adult and here I sit, looking like a ten-year-old_, he thought to himself, and glared out into the blue ocean with his jade green eyes.

"It's your mom again, isn't it?" Catherine asked, rubbing a hand over his back as she drew him near her.

"Yeah. Aunt Cathy, why does she always leave me? I know that they're divorced, but every time she sees me, I get the feeling that she thinks I'm an abomination," Adler said glancing up at her.

"Listen to me young man. Your mother might not think so highly of you, but remember, you father and I are here to support you," Catherine replied firmly as she hugged Adler. She released him and took a once over of him and sighed, "You have Trowa's looks, and his hair."

"Yeah, dad's hair. I actually kind of like it," Adler said, fingering strands of dark brown hair that covered one of his eyes. He glanced at the Nairobi sun that was still flaring brightly not at all dipping down into the endless stretch of ocean.

"Adler you plan on going to the Eve celebration tonight?" Catherine asked him changing the subject.

"Maybe," Adler replied withdrawing to his sullen and doleful mood again.

Catherine sighed in contempt. He was very quiet and yet slightly stubborn like his father but also she knew that he had a slight killer's instinct that he had inherited from his mother. _Azure, you just had to seduce Trowa to get your ways then leave Adler only four-years-old on the doorsteps of the circus. Adler only thinks that you were married to Trowa, but you had an unaccountable birth. You are such a bitch_, Catherine thought fiercely as she curled her fingers in a fist.

"Is this a quiet moment in which someone needs to make a racket?" a deep voice said from behind them and Adler turned around to see his father, Trowa Barton a Captain of the Space Force, walking towards them decked out in his deep blue uniform.

"Yeah, please make all the noise you want Trowa," Catherine said smiling as Trowa sat down between them, letting his legs dangle off the dock like his son's.

"Oh there will be a lot of noise during the celebration. Adler I want to you attend, there is a few people I like you to meet," Trowa said glancing at his son.

"Oh really? Who?" Adler said sarcastically, not really caring what his father was saying.

"Don't give me that tone young man," Trowa said quietly and Adler realized that he had acted like his mother hurting a part of his father.

"Sorry," Adler whispered then tossed a rock into the water, "seriously, I want to know whom do you want me to meet."

"Some very dear friends of mine, you'll see," Trowa replied cryptically and Adler turned his puzzled gaze on him.

"Uh sure," Adler replied not too sure what his father was saying.

***

Vailo Yuy wiped sweat off his brow as he creased his eyebrows in concentration. His short brown hair was damp with sweat and his bangs were plastered to his face.

"Again Val. This time be stronger with your kick," his mentor commanded and held out a target half the size of him in front of him.

"Yes Master Wufei," Val said as he gritted his teeth and ran towards the target. At the last moment he jumped into the air and spun around extending his left leg as he landed. His leg impacted the soft foamy target and he landed in a battle stance. He glanced up to his Master Wufei Chaing one of the legendary Gundam pilots now a mobile suit and martial arts instructor.

"Very good, much better. Go take a break now, we'll work on your piloting skills in about twenty minutes. You're father wants to see you," Chaing said and Val nodded. He walked over to a bench that was on the basketball court and grabbed the towel that was hanging from the bench. Val wiped his face and grabbed a water bottle that was sitting next to the towel and poured the water over his face. The cool water refreshed him and he felt better.

"Val! Val!" a young excited voice said from afar and he turned around to see a young girl with an oval face that was tanned. She had bright blue eyes and short but very dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. She was dressed in an outfit that made her look like a miniature version of their mother.

"What are you doing here Setsuna?" Val asked his little sister who was nine years shy of him. He really didn't like his sister because she was very pesky and a little spoiled, mostly by their mother.

"Daddy wanted to see you! He says that you have to come…. Oh you in big trouble Val! Hee hee!" Setsuna taunted in a high voice and Val grabbed his towel and gripped it in a chokehold in an effort not to slap his sister in the face.

"Go away, go play with Nina for all I care," Val growled and stalked off away from her.

"Well fine! Be that way Val!" he heard Setsuna huff as he walked farther away from her. He walked into Nairobi Base's office/military complex and rode an elevator to his father's office. He exited the elevator and knocked on the door to his father's office.

"Come in," a muffled voice said and Val entered. He glanced around at the spacious office, decorated only with a couple of lights and picture frames of some mobile suits. A wooden oak desk sat on one side of the room near a large window and on the desk there were numerous papers. A body that was dressed in a dark green military suit of a Preventer Ground Forces was hunched over the desk, and the person's fingers was holding a pen writing furiously.

"Hey dad," Val said interrupting the writing and brought up the head of Heero Yuy.

"Val," Heero greeted as he set the pen down and leaned back against his black leather chair. Val noted that the green uniform held a few bars of different color that indicated Heero's rank of Commander and some medals dangled below the rank bar.

"Wufei said that you wanted to see me?" Val said, careful as to not to mention his pesky sister. He knew that if he made any negative comment about his sister then he would be in for it from his father and mother.

"Yeah, as you know, there's a celebration tonight for the Eve Wars and many dignitaries are attending. I want you to be at the celebration," Heero said and held up a hand to forestall Val's comment. "I know that you don't like parties and hate dressing up, but your mom wants you to and basically I can't go against her, cause she's ordered me to go with her," Heero said giving him a faint grin.

"Oh great," Val muttered then turned around as the door to his father's office opened again and Relena Peacecraft-Yuy stepped in along with Setsuna. Val felt his stomach drop as he saw his annoying sister enter with a smug look on her face.

"Well, Heero, did you tell Val about tonight?" Relena asked as she held some papers in her hand.

"Mom," Val complained, "do I have to go?"

Relena gave Val a stern look, "Yes you do. Your cousin is going to be there so is your Uncle Milliardo and Aunt Lucrezia."

"Yeah!" Setsuna piped up and Val gave her a death glare. He muttered something under his breath to her. "Hey! Don't talk to me like that! Mom'll kill you!" Setsuna declared and Val narrowed his blue eyes at her.

"What did you say, Vailo," Relena demanded in a quiet deadly voice and out of the corner of his eye, Val saw his father shake his head slightly.

"Nothing," Val growled, "nothing at all. I guess I'll be going back to train." He walked quickly out of the room and stalked off to find Wufei so they could continue his training session.

"That went well," Setsuna commented giving Heero and Relena and angelic smile.

"Suna, go play with Nina, there's something your father and I have to discuss," Relena said gently and the little eight-year-old scampered out of the room.

"Relena, can't you see that you're basically torturing him?" Heero said as soon as their daughter closed the door.

"I know, but this is the time in which he can meet a few people. He has too much of you," Relena said, as Heero put an arm around her waist, drawing her close to him.

"Yeah, but I think he has Peacecraft blood in him," Heero whispered in her ear. Relena laughed lightly at the comment and handed him a packet of papers, "These are the list of guests that are coming. Looks like the Gundam boys are back together."

***

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Chapter 2- Arrival of the Enemy

Tarrant Maxwell stared quietly at a cube puzzle that seemed to elude his mind. He was trying to match up the correct colors with each side, but that seemed impossible. He winced slightly as the grating sound of metal being sheered or the hard tapping of hammers seemed to echo throughout the large hanger bay of the Paris Base in which the Sweepers Group had taken residence.

"Hey bro! A little help here?" a voice called out and Tarrant looked up from his cube-puzzle to see his sister wave him over.

"Coming Reyna, coming," Tarrant said as he set the cube down and jumped down from his comfortable perch on a leg of a dismantled Leo mobile suit. He walked over to his twin sister and sighed as he saw her legs dangling from where she had the top half of her body stuck in a Taurus mobile suit's chest. "Reyna you plan on coming out of the prairie dog hole you created?" he asked her, folding his arms across his chest.

He was of a small build short than his twin sister even though he was older. He took after his mother and had her purple hair that was very short and close cropped to his head. But his sister took after their father in both looks and interests. Reyna was a very good mechanic and had long brown hair that was tied into a braid. Both shared a quality like their father in their eyes. Both had deep-set cobalt blue eyes that seemed to peer into people and reveal their darkest secrets.

"I need you to hand me a hammer. There is this fat ass hell of a stubborn bolt here that won't go!" Reyna called from the interior of the mobile suit, her voice muffled by the suit's plating.

"Sure thing Spitfire," Tarrant said as he walked over to her toolbox and picked out a decent looking hammer. Spitfire was a nickname that everyone practically gave her because of her temper that usually flared up when she was working on a mobile suit. He placed the hammer in her outstretched hand and stepped back. A moment later there was the sound of hammering then something sizzled.

"OW!" Reyna yelped and Tarrant was surprise to see her get thrown back from the mobile suit as a giant spark of electricity cracked where she was working.

"Reyna! You okay?" Tarrant asked his twin as he helped her up.

"Yeah just peachy," Reyna said in a sarcastic voice as she brushed dirt and lint off of her mechanic outfit. Tarrant raised an eyebrow as he heard her curse a blue streak.

"Hey you guys, you know, no mouthing off while I'm around!" a voice said from behind them and both turned around to see Duo Maxwell walking towards them grinning.

"Aw, but dad," Reyna complained and glared at the mobile suit that was still spewing out electric currents.

"Just kidding, just don't let your mother hear what you're saying Spitfire, or else she'll have my head!" Duo kidded, ruffling Tarrant's hair as he gave a knowing look to Reyna.

"So what's up dad, besides the sky," Tarrant asked as he ducked under his father's hand.

"There's a celebration for the Eve Wars in Nairobi, and you guys are going with your mom and I," Duo said then held up a hand to stop what ever comment Reyna was going to make, "Reyna honey, you're gonna have to wear a dress and Tarrant you're gonna have to dress up."

"Aw this blows," Reyna pouted as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Besides, you'll get to meet some of the people who are legends in the Eve Wars like Zechs Merquise or Relena Peacecraft," Duo added.

"And you," Tarrant inputted making them laugh.

"Yes, and me. The very own God of Death," Duo joked, "so we're leaving in about an hour and half. I want you guys to clean up and be dressed by then."

"Yes, oh mighty God of Death," Reyna said and Duo gave her a grin.

***

Sounds of music fill the air as the Eve Wars Celebration started. Lights were strewn across the giant complex of Nairobi Base and sounds of enjoyment and laughter fill the air, mixing with the upbeat of music. People walked into the base; dressed in fancy clothes and some even held fans like that of the pre-days of the Alliance.

Adler stood uncomfortably in a pressed dark blue uniform of the Space Force and tugged at the collar, which seemed to him, was choking off his air supply. He tugged slightly on the collar, trying to loosen the tie. He glanced around, evaluating the guests and a few children that were running around. He noted that a few of them were teenagers and two young ladies seemed to be hanging out near the refreshment table, both looking very bored and decidedly uncomfortable in their dresses. Adler noticed that one of the two girls had a striking resemblance to a Gundam pilot named Duo Maxwell, whom his father had introduced earlier to him.

The girl had long brown hair that was put up in a bun and brown strands of hair curled around her face, accenting her high cheekbones and oval face. Her cobalt blue eyes seemed bore into everything but Adler could tell that her eyes were showing an urge to go somewhere other than here. He glanced at the other girl and noted that she resembled a lot like Arabic, but had pale skin. Adler knew that she was the eldest daughter of the Winners, one of his dad's good friends.

She had striking blue eyes like the deep oceans of Australia and they seemed to hold an incredible amount of power in them. Her sandy blonde hair was tied up in a mass of braids ending with a single braid draping down the back of her head. He decided that that gave her a quality that was very unique since the braid showed a lot of her slim face.

"Adler," Trowa's voice said tearing his gaze from the young ladies and back to his father.

"Yeah?" Adler asked, hoping that his father would not have to introduce him to anyone else. His hand was already shook for about who knows how long. _Anymore, and my hand's gonna fall off_, he thought sarcastically. He glanced up and saw a man dressed in a dark green uniform that was the Preventer Ground Forces. Bars of command decorated one side of the uniform along with some medals that hung below the bars. Adler noticed the bar name of the person read as "Yuy" and he drew in a sharp quick breath as he realized this was the legendary Gundam pilot of Wing Zero, Heero Yuy.

A young man with hair that was dark brown and straight walked slightly behind the Commander and Alder noted that the young man's posture and gaze betrayed his emotion that he did not want to meet anyone and he did not want to even be here. _You and me the same_, he thought to himself.

"Adler, I like you to meet Commander Heero Yuy and his son Vailo," Trowa said, brining Adler's attention back to the introductions. He shook hands with the commander and with his son. He glanced into Vailo's eyes and saw that he had an extreme killer's instinct and he was combat hardened.

"Pleased to meet you," Adler said in a neutral tone. He was going to have to watch the younger Yuy very carefully.

***

Reyna glanced at the younger girl standing next to her in her light blue evening gown that showed the right curves of her without making her look like a pimp. She had learned that she was Quatre Winner's eldest daughter and her name was Cerelia, but most people called her Neo.

"Just a general question since we're stuck here in la-la-ball. Why are you named Neo? I mean it means "new" or "first" in Latin," Reyna asked, resting her arms on the fluffy part of her light purple dress. She hated the dress that her mother had picked out for her and didn't like the fluffy part because it hindered her movements. All she wanted to do was to look at Nairobi Base's storage of mobile suits and wanted to repair one.

"Eh, I guess it's because I'm the first girl born to my family that isn't a test tube baby. But my father thinks that what I do is pretty hazardous. He's pretty pissed off at me," Neo replied and Reyna looked at her curiously.

"Care to share with me?" she asked.

"Well, most people see me as sweet person who is the perfect example of the Winner's pacifism. But I'm really close, only like about a hairsbreadth of having my father disown me. It's because I'm not a real pacifist like my father wants me to be. I train as a soldier and act like a soldier. Heck, I'm a sharpshooter with guns and knives. My father sees that as a violation of all his morals and principles," Neo replied and Reyna nodded gravely in understanding.

"Well, looks like you're not alone," she muttered under her breath as they continued to watch people whirl around the dance floor to the music. She noticed her father waving her over; next to him stood a young man with brown hair and blue eyes. She sighed. "Dad's calling me, I'll check with you later," Reyna huffed and left Neo.

***

Seventeen-year-old Jordan Kent watched the celebration from afar. He lowered his binoculars and surveyed the scene from his view above the dome of the Nairobi Base. Raising the binoculars to his face again, he searched the ballroom for his targets and found Relena Peacecraft-Yuy engaged in a conversation between Hildre Maxwell and President Mariemaia Kushrenada.

"She's unarmed and Heero Yuy is not near her, good. This makes my job easier," Jordan whispered to himself as he scanned the room again for his second target.

He spotted Quatre Raberba Winner near the refreshment table and door to the library. _Damn_, he silently cursed as he saw that he was very close by to Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy both very accurate sharpshooters and formidable foes if they found him.

"Guess I'll have to do it the hard way," he muttered to himself then turned on a comlink, "this is Kumoblade, I'll need assistance standing by."

***

Quatre looked around for his daughter and found her standing by herself away from the celebration. He sighed and shook his head in contempt, _Neo, why are you like this? I thought I raised a young woman who is polite and very well mannered, but I guess your training took over_. A felt a pair of slender hands rest on his shoulders and turned his head slightly to acknowledge his wife Ione. She was the niece of Rashid, the leader of his loyal soldiers the Maganacs, and it was about twenty-four years ago that he had first met her.

"What's the matter Quatre?" Ione asked her voice full of concern.

Quatre gestured to their daughter who was gazing around, boredom in her eyes. "Just look at her, she doesn't even interact with the people. I thought she would make friends by now," he said.

"Come on, you're being too harsh on her. After all, she's more like you then you know," Ione said softly as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"But, she's training as a sharpshooter and throws knives with great accuracy and even knows how to pilot a mobile suit! That's not what I want in a daughter of mine," Quatre spluttered but was cut off by Ione.

"You'll see Quatre, she is a lot like you," Ione said but stop short when all power to the base was cut off.

"What the hell?" he heard Heero curse as screams of panic filled the air and people began to run around wildly. Quatre was jolted around until he felt something cold and metal dig into the side of his neck.

"You move, and I'll shoot," a soft voice he had never heard whispered into his ear and Quatre narrowed his eyes. He clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration as dim lights came back on. He saw Ione a few feet away her face full of fear as she saw him held at gunpoint.

"Anyone, who moves a bit, the Vice Foreign Minister and Winner, gets it," Jordan spoke out loud to the crowd of people who were frozen with shock.

***

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Chapter 3- Gunpoint Kumoblade

Adler was glad that he was shoved over to the way back to where the library door was half-open. He glanced at a young man with purple hair who was next to him his expression neutral, but Adler could see some fire burning in those blue eyes. He knew the boy's name was Tarrant Maxwell and his sister Reyna was the one next to the Winner girl before she was called over by her father.

Adler nudged the younger teen with his elbow and nodded his head in the direction of the library. Tarrant nodded slightly and Adler knew that he got the message. They had to get rid of the terrorists or else the Vice Foreign Minister and the head of the Winner Corporations would be dead. He quietly slipped through the door without moving it and glanced behind him to see Tarrant follow.

"Close that door! We can't have any of our guests running away now could we?" he heard Jordan Kent say and he ducked behind a bookcase in the darkened library, dragging Tarrant with him.

"Stay down and don't make a move unless you want Jordan's men to find out," he hissed to the sixteen-year-old. Adler saw the door close, cutting off all light and the lock click into place.

"How do you know who that person is?" Tarrant asked him as they crept away then ran down the long halls of the base. Tarrant didn't know where they were headed, but he sure hoped that it was something they could help the hostages.

"Jordan was a rival of mine when I attended the Space Martial Academy. He didn't care for anything or anybody; all he wanted to do was to suppress the 'enemy'. I was the 'enemy'. He wanted to beat me in all the scores the points we were training in. Basically, he's as ruthless is as ruthless comes," Adler murmured as they walked quietly, but quickly towards what looked to be an armory in the base.

Tarrant shrugged as he followed the older teen in and he blinked his eyes in wonderment. "Damn, I didn't know that Preventer keeps all these weapons! Didn't the ban on armament abolished all these?" he asked as he gaze upon racks and racks of assorted guns, grenades, cannons, missile launchers, hand held mines, bazookas, laser guns, machine guns, and silencer guns.

"Dad told me once and showed me in here when I was young. These are the things Preventer and Space Force confiscated from the smugglers and rebels who were trying to get weapons in. Take the silencer and two packs of bullets. Also grab that .57 mm handgun. You'll need it as a back up. I assume you can shoot?" Adler asked Tarrant who nodded as he grabbed two guns and bullet packs from one of the endless racks.

"Yeah I could shoot, though Reyna's a better shot than me," Tarrant replied as he zipped up a bulletproof jacket and stuck the handgun in the inside of his coat pocket. "What the hell? You're taking that?!" Tarrant asked, giving a sideways glance at Adler.

"Machine-sniper gun, it'll help pin down Jordan's men. Besides I'm also taking a .357 mm handgun. We'll need to distract the Jordan's men so that the others can escape. We can't communicate with the other Preventer Bases cause I know Jordan will have put a communication blackout and if we try, he'll be able to find us and we'll be dead before we could help them," Adler replied and gave a hard stare at the younger teen. "You in Maxwell?"

"Do I have a choice?" Tarrant replied glancing at the silencer gun that was in his right hand, it's shiny metal casing glittered like soft jewels.

***

Cavan Merquise stood rooted to where he was. He didn't like the fact that this lone gunman and his goons came bursting in and made hell out of the whole celebration. _These people, they just don't know the right of courtesy._ _What a bunch of dumb-asses_, he thought to himself as he shook his head slightly, his shoulder length blonde hair tossed a bit around his shoulders. He narrowed his dark blue, almost black eyes as he surveyed the scene. He glanced over to his cousin who was a few feet away from him his eyes were hardened and he looked very pissed off. Cavan noticed that he held a gun in his hand, hidden from the person who was holding Winner hostage and his men.

"Cavan, go protect your mother," a soft deep voice whispered in his ear and through the corner of his eyes he saw his father Zechs Merquise raising a gun slightly. Cavan nodded slightly and slowly stepped back next to his mother, Lucrezia Noin.

He glanced over to where his aunt Relena stood, held at gunpoint. He admired her strength and even the defiance etched in her face. She didn't even blink an eye at the gun barrel that was pointed directly in her face.

"If you want to kill me then do it. I was ready a long time ago," Relena said and Cavan strained his hearing to hear her.

"Oh, I don't know maybe we should…eh," Jordan started as he held the gun underneath the jaw of Quatre Winner. He suddenly took the gun and pointed it at Noin and Cavan saw the safety was off. He reacted without thinking and pushed his mother out of the way. Pain flared up on his right arm as he felt something impact it. He grabbed his upper right arm and it felt slick. Taking his left hand away he saw blood on his hand.

"Aw dammit, I missed," he heard Jordan cursed and Cavan glared at the younger teen through hate filled eyes.

Suddenly there was the sound of a person dying in the background and all eyes reverted to one of Jordan's men falling to the ground, a large puncture hole on his back. Blood spilled from the wound and pooled around the fallen person. "Who's there!" Jordan demanded and pointed his gun around the upper floors of the room. He motioned to some of his men to go up the stairs and look around.

Cavan hugged his right arm towards his chest and slipped out Jordan's view without him noticing. He glanced up to the second floor of the ballroom and saw a small light that was flashing in random order. _That's the Preventer blink code_, he realized as he saw that the message spelled [**Barton here, prepare for two-prong attack on my mark**]. He hoped that Jordan could not read the Preventer's blink-code or else they would be in deep hell.

***

Val saw the blink code and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Captain Barton's son was pretty smart and good at hiding and sniping people. He reached into the back of his dress pants and pulled out a handgun that he had always carried with him. He knew that his mother did not approved, but his father said it was okay and basically, Val usually listened to his father more than his mother.

He move slowly through the crowd of people, using them to hide his movement from the terrorist as he made his way towards his father who was standing near Quatre Winner who was still held hostage. He suddenly felt someone bump into him and saw the Maxwell girl, Reyna, picking herself off the floor.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him softly as they were hidden from Jordan's view among the sea of people.

He silently raised his gun a bit and saw her eyes widened with understanding. "Adler just blink-coded. Get to somewhere safe," he said as a bit of his Master Wufei's training came through. He didn't really like women or girls, but he sensed that Reyna had something special about her, something he couldn't place.

"No way in hell flyboy," Reyna said giving him a grin and disappeared into the crowd. Moments later he heard a yell and he mentally slapped himself. _The girl's gonna get herself killed_, he thought as he took the momentary distraction to reach his father's side then slip over to where Jordan stood his eyes narrowed. He hid behind a person standing next to Jordan and fingered his gun.

He glanced at his father from his position and saw him point to his eyes then upwards then held up two fingers indicating ten seconds before something drastic was going to happen. Val nodded curtly as he glanced back at Jordan who was yelling at some of his men. He saw two of them follow Reyna from where she ran out of the room and noted that Jordan's forces had diminished from eleven people to five people.

***

Neo was very pissed off. She didn't like anyone who held her father hostage and then threatened to kill him in public. She slowly edged over to the one of Jordan's men, the one who was sniped and crouched down slowly, all the while her eyes were on the gun in Jordan's hand. Her slender hand groped for the discarded gun and finally she felt the metal piece. She picked up the gun and slowly rose up, tucking the piece on the large bow on the back of her dress. She was grateful that she wore her sneakers underneath the long dress that dragged onto the floor.

She had seen something blinking on the second floor of the ballroom, but didn't know what it was. She hoped it was something that could help them all. _Reyna you baka, why did you have to create a racket you're a dumb-ass_, she thought to herself as she saw some hand motions, slightly hidden from her view. She slid back into the crowd and suddenly noticed Wufei Chaing the legendary pilot of the Gundam Altron, and Duo Maxwell, Reyna's dad and the former pilot of the Deathscythe Hell. She slipped between people and stopped a bit behind the two pilots. She noted that their expressions were one between pissed off, and being very pissed off. _Oh well, they're the same expression_, she thought.

Suddenly she noticed something shiny and metal poking from Duo's dress pants pocket. It was another gun and Neo thought up of an idea. She tentatively reached her hand over and grabbed the butt of the gun. She started to pull it out and noted that Duo had shifted a bit. Her hand wavered a bit as she hesitated and looked up at his braided hair. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Wufei shift a bit in his stance and covered her view on Jordan. She realized that he was covering her so that she could proceed with her small task. _Thanks Wufei_, she thought as she quickly pulled the gun out of Duo's pocket and tucked it next to her other one; she slipped back into the crowd. She glanced back and saw him look around a bit as he felt his pocket for his gun. _Good_, she smiled as she positioned herself.

"Now, I know all of you peoples are just scared silly of me. Whom is he going to kill first I bet all of you are thinking well, good question!" Jordan shouted then glanced up as a body of one of his men came flying down, blood splattering all over the place as a knives were embedded in the person's forehead, heart, and stomach. "What the hell!" Jordan exclaimed and glanced up towards one of the darkened hallways of the second floor.

Neo took the opportunity of the distraction and aimed one of her guns at the Jordan's hand. "Yo! Person holding my father! Eat this, you piece of shit!" Neo yelled at Jordan as she stepped in front of a few people, exposing herself in the full empty middle of the ballroom. She fired and grinned with satisfaction as the lone bullet collided with Jordan's gun and sent it flying. Moving swiftly, she aimed again and shot the gun out of another one of his men's hands.

Suddenly something slammed into her as she felt the air of bullets whiz past her. Her right leg flared up with pain as she felt one of the bullets impacted her thigh. She skidded behind an overturned table and glanced at Duo who was the one that pushed her away from the deadly bullets. She noted that he was bleeding from a couple spots where the bullets had grazed him but had not impacted him.

"Gun please, Neo," he asked and Neo handed over his gun with a sigh. "Thank you, Neo," Duo replied and then poked his head up and fired his gun. He suddenly ducked back down and Neo heard the whump of a bullet impacting the over turned table.

"My turn," Neo said and knelt on one knee as she looked up from her hiding place. She saw the most of the people had taken shelter either behind the pillars of the ballroom or behind overturned tables. She also noticed that some bodies were strewn across the ballroom, blood pouring out from their various wounds. She narrowed her eyes at a two of Jordan's men who were concentrating their fire around where her father, Commander Yuy, the Vice Foreign Minister, and the retired Colonel Merquise were.

She was about to fire when a creaking sound adverted her eyes to above. She noticed that the wooden bars that were on the second floor were swaying. Suddenly they snapped and Neo covered her head as shards of wood and nails fell around her. She felt something hard slam onto her then roll off. Neo uncovered her head and looked over to her left to see a young man who was dressed in a blue Space Force uniform. Blood caked one side of his face and he looked unconscious. Neo saw that a sniper-machine gun laid near him and she picked it up.

She took the gun and rested it on the top edge of the table. She looked through the viewing scope of the sniper gun and lined up on one of Jordan's men. She remembered that a few hours ago she was hitting targets like this and smiled faintly. She squeezed the trigger gently and saw the man fall over, wounded. She quickly re-cocked the gun and squeezed off another round before the second gunman got his gun on her sights. Suddenly she felt herself being dragged down behind the table and a few bullets whizzed by her head.

"You want to get yourself killed miss?" the young man in the Space Force uniform hissed at her, glaring at her through his single visible jade green eye.

"Sorry," Neo replied glaring back at him.

"All right! Everyone freeze!" the familiar voice of Colonel Lady Une shouted; Their back-up from Paris Base had arrived…

***

Tarrant stopped shooting as he saw a legion of Alliance soldiers pile into the ballroom, their guns drawn and ready to shoot anything.

"All right, hands up!" a voice said behind him and Tarrant turned around to see one of the Alliance's men.

"Hey! I'm a part of Sweepers you morons!" Tarrant shouted at the person and saw him look sheepish.

"Uh, sorry I'm just…" the soldier started and Tarrant shook his head as he walked out of his hiding place. He stopped suddenly as he saw Jordan back away, towards the giant open spaced window that overlooked the cliff of Nairobi Base.

"Hah! Adler you are such a…you may have won this one, but she's back. She's back for her revenge," Jordan was saying as he kept backing away. Tarrant saw him toss something at Commander Yuy then jumped out of the window.

"He's gonna kill himself," Tarrant whispered then heard a distinct noise that sounded like a bunch of bees. He saw a spray of water going out towards the sea and realized that Jordan had a get-away transport.

"Tarrant!" the joyful voice of his twin, Reyna shouted and Tarrant felt 120 lbs. of hyper-ness crash into him, grabbing him in a big hug.

"Ow! Reyna! I'm wounded…" Tarrant gasped as he felt pain shoot up his left arm and his left shoulder. He felt his sister release her hold on him and turned him around to face her.

"Don't tell me all those shooting lessons that I try to teach you failed," she said sternly and Tarrant looked at her sheepishly.

"Well, if I'm dead, that means your training failed," he said giving her a rueful smile.

"Tarrant! Reyna!" Hildre's voice said from below and both looked down to see their mother looking at them; some cuts were visible on her face.

"Hey mom! The party was a blast!" Reyna shouted giving her a grin, but faltered as she looked at them sternly.

"Tarrant, hand over the gun right now, and we need to get you to a hospital right now to get those injuries checked," Hildre said frowning at them as they made their way down to the ground level of the ballroom, careful not to step on any of the dead bodies.

"Yes, mother," Tarrant said, handing over the silencer gun and the .57 mm gun to his mother. He sighed in contempt and raised his head up to look around. He was surprised at the scene that greeted him. Chunks of rubble had fallen all over the ballroom, some crushing parts of the ballroom, and Tarrant noticed that a few limbs were hanging from the bottom part of the slabs. He turned his gaze elsewhere, not wanting to see the splattered blood and guts that were hanging or pasted onto the nearby walls. He saw the same exact thing and his head started to feel very light. He felt as if he was floating on light wings and the last thing he saw before passing out was the ground rushing up to him.

***

__

Chapter 4- A New Threat, New Weapons

Adler glanced around at the briefing room where some of the guests he had seen in the disaster at the celebration. Most of the guests had to transported to the near by hospitals and some where pronounced dead at the scene. He noted that the original Gundam pilots were all okay, save for some cuts and bruises that were visible on them.

"Adler, you seem to know something about the terrorist. Care to share with us? I mean, he did refer to your name," Colonel Lady Une said giving him a piercing glance through her rimmed glasses.

Adler smiled grimly as he leaned against a large computer propped up on a wall. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at them. He saw that they were expecting an answer and he sighed. "His name is Jordan Kent, former Space Martial Academy graduate. There were two top graduates instead of one during his time at the Academy, and he was one of them. His mom is a scientist, one of the few research assistants of the Gundam scientists and his father was a former technician for Duke Dermail, and he died a few years ago. He is considered a top sharpshooter, and very good with knives," Adler said and he noted that Quatre Winner had stiffened a bit when he mentioned sharpshooter and knives.

"And let me guess, you were that other top graduate in his class," Duo said dryly and received an elbow nudge from Hildre.

"Yeah in fact, I was," Adler said giving a glare at Duo then abruptly walked out of the briefing room.

"Great going Duo," Hildre said sarcastically and Duo looked from where Adler walked out to Trowa. He opened his mouth to apologize but shut it when Trowa shook his head.

"It's all right, Adler's sometimes like this. He resents Jordan a lot," Trowa explained, then glanced at what Heero was fiddling in his hand, "what did he toss you before he made his escape?"

"She's back," Heero said his voice a monotone. Trowa recognized the change in his personality; Heero, in his mind, was reliving events about twenty five years ago. He threw the object at the table in which they were all crowded around and the object spun around and around till it came to rest on its side.

"It's just a lock, an open lock," Duo commented, giving a sideways glance at Heero whom seemed impassive. Realization suddenly hit him, as Duo's expression became very troubled.

"I thought you killed the last of her, didn't you Heero?" Quatre spoke up quiet all the time since they started the meeting.

"I thought so too," Heero replied. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the lock that was in the middle of the table. "Locke Dabnerba," he whispered, clenching a fist.

***

Val hated babysitting his little sister. He watched Setsuna bounce a ball up and down in the middle of a gymnasium as he sat on the bleachers keeping an eye her. He wanted to go and train more with his Master, but Wufei was called to a meeting along with his father and mother. There was a sudden thump as someone sat down next to him on the bleachers. Val turned his head slightly and recognized the young man sitting next to him as Captain Trowa Barton's son Adler.

"You know what they're talking about?" Val spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

"About the terrorist, Jordan Kent," Adler replied propping his head up with his hands as he leaned forward looking at Setsuna. "Who's she?" Adler asked.

"My sister, Setsuna, big annoyance," Val replied closing his eyes for a moment then opening them again.

"Val what you doing up there? Come on down, play with me!" Setsuna's high voice said and Val hung his head downwards.

"Leave me alone," Val said, "go find someone else to play with."

"Meanie," Setsuna replied, sticking a tongue out then ran out of the gymnasium, "hah! Catch me if you can Val! Mommy won't be happy if I'm lost!"

"Dammit! You little brat! Get back here!" Val shouted as he leaped from his seat and down towards the bottom of the bleachers. He turned around and saw Adler flip high in the air about three times then landed gracefully next to him.

"She always like this?" Adler commented raising an eyebrow at Val.

"Yeah," Val said and both young men took off in pursuit of Setsuna.

***

Neo huffed a bit, blowing some strands of blonde hair out of her eyes as she sat down in between Reyna and her twin brother Tarrant. Across from her was a young man with light blonde hair, almost white and very deep blue almost black eyes.

"And you're?" Reyna prompted the older teen.

"Cavan Merquise. I already know who you guys are," Cavan said and Neo nodded. She fiddled with a sharp looking knife in her left hand as she sighed again.

"I heard that you collapsed at the sight of blood all over the ballroom," Neo said, giving a grin at Tarrant whom blushed slightly.

"Eh, I just don't like blood or gore, I guess it comes being a vegetarian all your life," Tarrant replied as his gaze kept wandering over to the sharp knife in Neo's hands.

Neo noticed that everyone at the table's gaze was on the knife in her hands. She raised and eyebrow, puzzled, "What? It's a knife."

"Yeah, but aren't you afraid to cut yourself with that?" Cavan pointed out watching her fiddle with the sharp end with casual ease.

"Nah, I'm a pro knife thrower, always hit my mark," Neo said and raised the knife up, "see?" She threw the knife with lightning speed, and it hit the frame of the main door to one of the cafeteria areas in the base, barley missing two young men who were walking through it.

"We're we supposed to be your mark?" one of the two young men said and Neo saw various expression appear over the people sitting at the table. Reyna had one that of a joyful look, while Tarrant only had a neutral expression. Neo was surprised at Cavan's expression; he had the look that could burn through steel and gundanium.

"Adler, Val, good to see you two up and well," Tarrant said giving them a curt nod as he pulled up two chairs for them around the table.

"Likewise," Adler replied taking the empty seat between Tarrant and Neo, while Val opted to stand instead of taking the seat next to Cavan.

"Val? You wanna sit down?" Reyna asked, puzzled as Val shook his head slightly.

"He's just too good for his own," Cavan said snidely and glared at Val.

"You're too good for yourself, _cousin_," Val said, empathizing the word cousin as he glared back at Cavan.

"You wanna start! Huh? Come on, I could take you anytime," Cavan retorted, his anger rising as he rose out of his seat.

"I don't have time for the likes of you," Val said dismissively.

"All right, you too, obviously you guys can't get along, so if anyone fights, then I'll have to stop it and you don't want to see me pissed," Neo interjected, placing herself in front of both feuding relatives.

"Mommy? Mommy? What's wrong with daddy?" a muffled high voice said from the outside of the cafeteria and Neo noticed that Val had hung his head in exasperation. She looked up to see three women enter the cafeteria, one of them her mother, Ione. The other two, she recognized as the Vice Foreign Minister and former Commander, now retired, Lucrezia Noin.

"Nothing's wrong with daddy, he's just a bit preoccupied with something, that's all," Relena replied then looked up at the crowd of six kids looking at them.

"Val, Cavan, Neo, Reyna, Adler, Tarrant…your fathers would like to see you about something and a decision that you have to make which is vital," Noin said, looking at them grimly.

Neo noticed a few hints of tears in Relena's and her mom's eyes and was very confused. _Is this a life or death decision? Something that will make my mom very sad_, she wondered as she walked towards them. A slight jolt of pain reminded her of the bullet that had impacted her thigh during the disaster at the celebration_. I have to keep the pain out_, she thought to herself as she used a special empathic ability she had to block her pain receptors to her injured leg.

"What is it? What is the stuff our dad's want to show?" Reyna asked as they walked towards the briefing room.

"Something that will bring the Unified Earth and Colonies back to war," Relena replied in a hard voice.

***

Heero watched Quatre's expression very carefully. He knew that the pacifist and their leader would object strongly to what he was about to say. "Are you sure Howard has the first one completed?" Heero asked Duo who nodded slightly.

"The first one is just about complete. All it needs is a pilot and some adjustments for the pilot's cockpit and that's all. The second one is in a seventy-five percent completed stage, while the third one is fifty percent and the fourth, fifth, and sixth are just only ten percent. There's a seventh one, but that's only in the drawing board," Duo replied, "good luck convincing Quatre about this one."

"Hn," Heero nodded slightly then turned to face the other pilots, "Duo tells me that the Gundams are being rebuilt as we speak."

"What! Why?" Quatre demanded and Heero raised an eyebrow at Quatre's outburst.

"It seems that Locke's started attacking bases before she sent Jordan to disrupt the ball, so Howard thought that the Gundams were gonna have to be built again," Duo interjected.

"But I thought the plans were destroyed when we sent our Gundams towards the sun," Zechs countered frowning a bit.

"Howard told me that he found plans that were on the Lunar Colony that were for a whole new set of Gundams if ours failed in Operation Meteor. They were written by Jordan's father, Igrosky," Duo replied and noticed that Wufei and Trowa were very quiet at the moment.

"But…who's going to pilot them?" Quatre asked giving Duo and Heero an even look, almost daring them to answer his question.

Heero was about to answer when the door to the briefing room hissed open and all six Gundam pilots heads turned towards the teens walking in. Following behind them was Relena, Noin, and Ione. Heero noted that they had grim looks on their faces.

"Oh no…Heero your not going to suggest…"Quatre started then trailed off as his face closed to an angry frown, "Did you go along with this Ione?"

"Not really, but let them decide if they have to," Ione replied not looking at Quatre's icy glare.

"Uh…not to disrupt anything, but what the hell is going on?" Reyna piped up, bring Heero's attention back towards the group of teenagers three of them standing military straight, while the others were standing casually.

"At ease," Heero commanded Adler, Val, and Cavan and they relaxed. He walked towards a holographic monitor and activated the screen. The lights to the room dimmed down for a bit as schematics and pictures came up. Heero touched a button and a half size hologram of Locke came up. "This is Locke Dabnerba, leader of the Omicron Empire. She is a hive-minded cyborg clone, one of the few ever created. She started attacking the Unified Earth and Colonies, the Alliance back then, around AC 199. Right now, she's the one that sent Jordan Kent to disrupt the celebration and she is responsible for numerous small hit-and-run sorties over these past few days," Heero explained.

"Question," Tarrant said, interrupting Heero's explanation, "If she's a clone, then how come we've never heard of her since we were born and only now?"

"It looks like Heero old buddy here didn't finish his mission…well, at least we all thought she was gone until now, she rears her ugly head again," Duo said hastily after receiving a glare from Heero.

"Uh huh, so just what were you gonna ask us about?" Cavan asked, a tad bit impatient.

"Ah…well…we're getting to be old folks," Duo started then held up his hands in a gesture of surrender as he received dark looks from the adults in the room, "hey! Don't kill me, it's the truth. Anyway, Howard, one of the creators of the original Gundams, found some plans and he currently rebuilding them."

"And you want us to pilot them against Locke's forces," Val finished for Duo, leaning against a cabinet file, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It's your choice, we're not forcing the issue," Trowa spoke up from his position in the back of the room.

"I'm in," Adler said looking around, "Jordan needs a lesson learned."

Val nodded, "It's a mission, why not?"

"Dad? Mind that I become the Goddess of Death?" Reyna piped up bring some laughter to the room.

Duo shrugged, "Fine by me. Besides, I'm the God of Death." He looked at Hildre and saw that she was nodding slightly, but he could tell that she didn't wholly agree on their daughter's decision. "Tarrant?" Duo asked his son.

"Someone's gotta keep her out of trouble, might as well be me," Tarrant replied and backed slightly away as Reyna raised a fist, "hey, hey! Spitfire, not on me!"

"Do you need to know my answer?" Cavan said bluntly.

Neo opened her mouth to answer but stopped suddenly as she saw the look her father was giving her. She closed her mouth for a second and reconsidered her decision. _My father does not want me to fight…yet I feel a calling, a calling that I have to defend my family and their dreams_, she thought. Her eyes hardened as she made up her mind.

"I'm in," she declared and noted that her father had a look of disappointment that stabbed right through to the core of her heart, making her hurt with pain. She turned her gaze slightly to see her mom, look a bit sad, yet slightly proud. She shrank back behind the lean, tall body of Adler, not wanting to see her father's gaze.

"Good, I'll give you a run down on what to expect and then later tonight we're headed for the resource satilight MO VII to see your Gundams," Heero said. He looked at each of them seriously, "Remember, this is something that is vital to the Unified Earth and Colonies, it's not a game," he warned them.

***

Tanya waited in fear as she watched her only son walk up to Locke, his expression neutral. She feared for him, feared for his life. She reached a hand out towards him and whispered, "my son…why?"

"At attention, Jordan," Locke's sharp voice cracked like a whip throughout the room she was in.

Tanya raised her head sharply as Locke's icy tone sent shivers down her spine. She saw Locke rise up from her seat and slowly circle around Jordan, who stood very still. His eyes were drilled forward, unmoving, not looking.

"You failed your mission, you did not complete your objectives, you had your comrades killed in the line of fire, and you failed to observe Neo," Locke started then glanced sharply at Tanya who made a move to stop her. "Dr. Kent what are you doing?" Locke asked, her icy glare rested on Tanya's eyes.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Miss Dabnerba," Tanya started then backed away.

"Do not interfer _mother_," Jordan said rudely at her. He glanced back at Locke; "Will you eliminate me now?"

"Oh no, not now, you did wonderful. I wanted them to be warned, and I'm sure that you sent the little present I gave them," Locke said giving him a smile full of teeth.

"Yes I did," Jordan replied, bowed, and left her presence.

"Dr. Kent!" Locke barked sharply.

"Yes, Miss Dabnerba?" Tanya asked meekly, as she stepped forward fearfully.

"Has my daughter-clone infiltrated the base?" Locke asked, glancing at a few monitors.

"Yes she has, and rest assured, her cover is perfect," Tanya replied.

***

__

Chapter 5- Chosen for Zero

Reyna sat back on the shuttle as it cruised towards space. They had split into two shuttles, her family, Commander Yuy's, and Wufei Chaing on one; the other shuttle housed, the Winners, Adler and his father, and the Merquise family.

"You sure that you want to pilot a Gundam? I mean they're really tough to control," Duo asked, as she stared out of the window, looking down at the blue Earth.

"Yeah, be good to continue the family tradition," Reyna said, not really paying attention.

"Reyna, look at me," Duo said sternly and Reyna turned to face her father, "this isn't a game, your mom and I were only fighting because of the peace of the colonies. We didn't have to fight if we didn't want to, I fought because I had to help, I had to stop Romefeller's tyranny."

"Yeah, but…" Reyna started then shut up as she frowned. "Oh I get it," she said and Duo gave her a sideways glance.

"Huh? Get what?" he asked, puzzled.

"You don't want me to fight, cause I might get hurt and also, no girl has ever piloted a Gundam successfully," Reyna said pouting, "I read the history files."

"No, that's not it…" Duo said trailing off for a second as he composed his thoughts, "It's just that, sure a female has never successfully piloted a Gundam, but its I don't want you getting hurt or damaged in anyway, mentally and physically."

"I know dad, but you don't have to worry about me," Reyna said, giving him a sunny smile, then turned back to watch the Earth grow smaller as they made their way towards the asteroid MO-VII.

***

Adler was slightly uncomfortable sitting next Neo. It wasn't because of the small shuttle that barely fit nine passengers, it was because he kind of liked her, as in loved her. He was very shy and didn't know how to talk to the young Winner. Adler glanced down, then back up, staring at his hands. "Um…ah…" Adler started then clamed up.

"What? What did you say Adler?" Neo asked, giving him a weird look as she saw that he was wringing his hands on his lap.

"Just wanted to thank you for breaking my fall during that shoot out," Adler finally managed to get out then shut his eyes abruptly as he leaned back on the shuttle's chair.

"Uh…okay," Neo said, puzzled at Adler's behavior, "hey, you sure you're not getting sick or anything? Space travel making you sick?"

"No," Adler replied in a monotone. He glanced at her; "I'm fine."

"Okay," Neo replied then turned her gaze back towards space.

Adler suddenly felt a slight tapping on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and looked to see Quatre mouthing a few words to him. Adler understood what Quatre was saying and got up from his seat. He floated a bit towards the empty seat Quatre had abandoned and sat next to his father. Adler glanced at his father and noticed that he seemed to be sleeping. _Oh well, might as well take a nap too_, Adler thought to himself.

"She's very pretty, isn't she?" his father suddenly spoke up, startling Adler.

"Uh…yeah, I guess," Adler said, not knowing what the heck Trowa was saying. He had an inkling that he was talking about Neo, but he wasn't too sure.

"I meant Neo," Trowa replied, confirming Adler's unspoken thought. "You seem to like her," he continued and Adler noticed a faint hint of a smile on his father's face.

"Eh, well, yeah I guess," Adler hesitated a bit as he looked at Quatre and Neo, who seemed to be in deep conversation.

"Don't worry, you'll learn how to express your feelings," Trowa said, and Adler gave him a doubtful look.

***

Neo was surprised as she turned from her gaze at the window to see her father sitting next to her, instead of Adler. "Uh, hi dad," Neo stuttered as she felt in the pit of her stomach that she was in a lot of trouble.

"Neo, there's something I want to talk to you about," Quatre started and Neo turned away suddenly.

"If it's about my practicing with Uncle Rashid and the other Maganacs, then forget it. If it's about my decision about the Gundams, then forget that one too," Neo replied curtly, not turning around to face Quatre. From the reflection of the window, she saw some of her tears fall down her face, while beyond that, she saw her father, his face full of sadness.

"Its not that, well, partially not that. It's…I want to thank you for saving my life," Quatre started and Neo turned around to face him, tear streaks marked over her face.

"You want to disown me, because of all the things I did, all the things I disobeyed you and did. I raced cars, I learned to become an expert sharpshooter, I know how to throw knives, I know how to kill efficiently," Neo whispered and Quatre shook his head.

"No, no, I've only resented those things, I wouldn't have disown you, you're too much like me, too much that you know it," Quatre said, and gave her a small hug.

"I am?" Neo started, surprised at her father's statement.

"You won't kill if you don't have to, I saw that during the shootout. You shot the men's hands, knocking the gun out and you didn't fire another shot to kill them," Quatre explained and Neo nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I did that unconsciously," she said, then a slightly jolt told them that they had arrived at their destination.

"Neo, if you feel the slightest uncomfortable about piloting the Gundam, then don't do it," Quatre said, before rising out of his seat and floating towards the entrance.

"Yes sir," Neo whispered as she stared at his retreating form before snapping herself out of her trance. She got up and followed her mother out towards the bay of MO-VII.

***

Val descended the shuttle and looked around, his dark-blue eyed gaze taking in the surrounding scenery of workers, repairmen, and what looked to be pieces of the Gundams. There was something dark, in the shadows of the farthest end of the hanger bay, and Val squinted his eyes, trying to make out the shadow.

"Oh…big hanger," Setsuna's annoying voice said as glanced back to see his younger sister emerge from the shuttle, holding his mother's hand as she bounced down the ramp, her hair flying all over the place because of the low gravity. Val hid a smile as he found it slightly funny. His sister looked like a porcupine with quills stuck out, as her short hair stuck out in different directions.

"Don't laugh, your hair looks almost like hers," Heero's voice said behind him and Val spun around to face his father.

"…Whatever," Val said dismissivly waving a hand in the air.

"What the hell!?" Duo's voice echoed throughout the hanger bay, bouncing back and forth. "You rebuilt Wing Zero! You crazy…Howard! How could you bring that piece of shit back!"

Val glanced around and saw expressions of shock written on all of the original Gundam pilots and their wives. He had heard of the hideously destructive, yet legendary Gundam Wing Zero. It had a powerful Zero System that enabled a pilot to combat fearlessly in the mist of battle without his/her consideration for his/her life. _Well, a female has never successfully controlled the system_, Val thought as he looked at Duo conversing with Howard, his arms waving around furiously.

"Fine, we'll decide if both of their minds could handle it," Duo huffed in a loud voice and Val saw that the rest were following an old man with shocking white hair sticking out from the sides of his head. He wore dark sunglasses, and had a bright yellow Hawaiian print tee shirt that overlapped gray burgundy shorts. The brightness of the yellow tee almost made him squint his eyes from the reflective glare, but his training prevailed. Wufei had drilled him not to even blink an eye at any sight, bright or dark.

"Let's go," Heero said and Val followed his father behind the small entourage.

***

Tarrant looked up and around, awed at the machinery and people milling around, some scuttling like the crabs he saw back at the Nairobi base. There were six shadows in the background as they walked along. He took a glance and saw that he was following way behind the main group. He took a look down and saw an endless pool of blackness. _I think I feel sick_, Tarrant thought as he hurried along. He was grateful for the metal guardrail that prevented him from falling into the black abyss. Suddenly something bump into him and he fell to the ground.

"Aw dammit, that hurt," a young girl's voice said, and Tarrant scratched the back of his head as he got up from the ground. He looked over to his right and saw that he had knocked down a young Asian girl. She had long flowing black hair with a hint of purple in them, and a round oval face. Her cheeks were stained with oil and grease and a smear was plastered over her nose. Her eyes were intriguing; they had deep purple irises with flecks of gold and bronze in them.

Suddenly he realized that the girl was talking to him and he shook out of his stupor. "Uh, sorry for knocking you over, can I help you with your things?" Tarrant asked, extending a hand out to help her up. He was surprised at her strong grip as he lifted her up onto her feet.

"It's okay, I was just on my way to report to Howard," the girl said, giving him a smile. Tarrant found her attractive, but yet something in the back of his mind told him that she had to be watched carefully. He ignored that part as he gave her a smile back. "Oh, uh…I'm Tarrant Maxwell, what's your name?" he hastily introduced himself, giving her a sheepish grin.

"I'm Lealya Hillard, chief engineer for the Falcon Zero and Wing Zero," she said, and Tarrant had a puzzled look.

"Falcon Zero? You mean to say that they're two Gundams with the Zero System?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh," Lealya started, then pursed her lips, "Howard was supposed to tell you that."

"Oh my god, Howard…shit, I'm late," Tarrant hissed as he realized that the group had gone way ahead of him.

"Well then, come on!" Lealya said, and both ran towards the large briefing room that the old man was taking the rest towards.

***

Val waited in the back of the large circular room, his eyes looking around, taking in the surroundings. In the middle of the room was a giant machine that looked like a holo projector. Suddenly the lights dimmed and the projector came to life.

"Okay peoples, this is basically what we have completed so far. Only one of the Gundams are operational, all we need in a pilot to mold the seat around and have the pilot customize the Gundam," Howard started then suddenly there was an opening and slamming of the door to the room and Val could dimly make out the two figures, one which stood near Howard while the other stood near Reyna. Howard murmured something to the figure and Val noted that the figure nodded.

"All right, I've just got word that three of the six Gundams are completed. Now, we'll start with our already completed one," Howard said and Val saw a shimmering image of a Gundam come to life on the projector.

The Gundam had a basic body of the mobile suit, but its arms and hands were almost human-like. The hands held wicked sharp claws and had bat-like wings attached to its back. Its legs and feet were half the width of regular mobile suit legs and the most interesting features of the demon-like Gundam was its face. "It's a face only a mother could love," Val heard Reyna comment. He nodded his head slightly in silent agreement. The face and head of the Gundam had sharp angular edges, and very sunken in eyes that seemed to hold an air of death around it. _Looks a lot like Diablos_, Val thought remembering something in one of his books that he read when he was young.

"This is the Gundam Hellfire, it was supposed to be a replacement for the Deathscythe if it was destroyed. The Hellfire is armed with a double bladed scythe, gattling guns, shield/wing vulcans, and dagger blast," Howard said as the demon Gundam holo spun around slowly, showing various parts of the Gundam.

"Uh, question, what's a dagger blast?" Val heard Tarrant ask.

"Oh, its four high powered daggers, almost like the beam sabers but smaller that shoot out of Hellfire's left arm. Sometimes, they can be configured to have explosives in them instead of small beams," Howard answered and Val saw him look around. Suddenly the lights flickered on and some shielded their eyes.

Val saw that the person who was standing next to Howard was a young lady dressed in a technician outfit. He narrowed his eyes as he found something very familiar about her but couldn't place it. He didn't like her at all; he was suspicious of her.

"Okay, this is chief technician, Lealya Hillard, who oversaw the building of Gundams Wing Zero and Falcon Zero. We don't have holos of the two Gundams so we'll show you the real things. I'll also show the other three Gundams that are not completed yet," Howard started then paused for a minute, "Oh, um, I don't know how you guys are gonna choose your Gundams, but I need two people who think their minds are strong enough to handle the Zero System."

"Oh, so now you tell us that not only you've rebuilt Wing Zero, you have another Gundam with the Zero System," Duo started then was cut off as Tarrant interrupted.

"I can handle Zero, I'll try," Tarrant spoke up in a loud, yet determined voice and Val raised an eyebrow at his comment.

"What!? You crazy?" Duo shouted at Tarrant, and Val felt slightly sorry for the younger of the twins who shrank back in fear.

"Tarrant do you know what the Zero System does to you?" Wufei asked, and Val noted concern in his Master's voice.

"Takes your mind and destroys it," Quatre muttered none too loudly.

"So? Just let me try and we'll see what happens," Tarrant said defending himself.

"Come on dad, let him…if he goes psycho in it, I can stop him with Hellfire," Reyna piped up.

"You sure? You sure that one Gundam is enough to handle a Zero System Gundam?" Zechs spoke up from the edge of the group.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Reyna asked innocently and Val shook his head slightly. _You don't know what Zero could do to you. Reyna, your brother might be in grave danger_, Val thought silently then lifted his head up.

"Howard, is there a way to not put a full Zero System in Wing or Falcon?" Hildre asked, and received a dark look from Duo.

Howard scratched his head, "Uh, I guess so."

"Good, then stick Wing Zero with half powered Zero System, I think I won't go crazy with that," Tarrant agreed then suddenly left the room.

"Tarrant…" Duo started then followed after his son.

"That went well," Neo commented out loud.

Howard shook his head slightly, "If you guys don't want any Zero Systems, I guess we could take out the Black Wing plans and build that instead."

"No," Heero and Relena stated flatly and Val tilted his head slightly in understanding.

"Uh, ah, okay then…lets go see the Hellfire and begin your training Reyna," Howard stuttered then went out of the briefing room followed by Lealya.

Val detached himself from leaning against the back of the circular room and walked over to his father. "Dad, I would like to try out Falcon Zero," he whispered to him.

"No, Val I don't want to lose you like I lost Akane," Relena said pleadingly coming over to them with Setsuna holding on to her hand.

"Its too dangerous, even I couldn't control Zero that well," Heero stated, and Val saw an age-old rise of concern in his father's eyes. That was the same concerned eyes that he saw in pictures of old newspaper clippings when his mother had an assassination attempt on her.

"I won't fail, I can handle it…trust me," Val said, giving an even look at both his father and mother, "I won't die."

***

__

Chapter 6- Blasting Zone

Duo looked around the massive hanger bay, and found his son standing a next to the left leg of the almost completed Wing Zero. He looked up at the massive Gundam, memories of its destructive power rushing back to him from the past. _That thing was not needed in space, it was not needed for the human race_, he thought darkly as he walked over towards Tarrant.

"I know that you don't approve of my decision, you want me to pilot something else," Tarrant spoke up, turning his head away from Duo as he stood next to him.

"You don't know what Zero could do to you," Duo said, glancing at him. He sighed, "You're just as stubborn as your mother, always taking risks just to achieve your goal.

"All right how about this, half Zero System with Reyna in the Hellfire after she's mastered it. If I show ever the remote signs of going insane then you can have Reyna or you guys de-plug the Zero System by remote," Tarrant said, and Duo raised an eyebrow at his comment.

"Since when did you learn to bargain?" he asked his son.

"From you, dad," Tarrant replied, giving him a good natured slap on the back, "you always bargain in the Sweepers."

"Your father's right, you shouldn't pilot Wing Zero," Hildre interrupted the conversation between the two.

"But mom," Tarrant whined, "come on, I can handle its warping effects."

"Can you? You have combat experience? Do you have a strong mind that could resist probes? Do you have a mind that can remain blank for over an hour?" Hildre asked, and Tarrant flinched as her words hit home.

"I don't have combat experience, but I do have simming experience," Tarrant started then shut up as Duo held a hand up.

"Simming isn't good enough. Simming is just a crutch for the real thing," Duo said in a hard voice, "Tarrant, we've allowed you to pilot a Gundam because we thought you could make a good decision; but choosing Wing Zero…that's out of the question."

Tarrant huffed as he punched the side leg of Wing Zero in frustration, "Well isn't there some sort of test I could try before going into Wing Zero?"

"Yes," Zechs' deep voice cut through them and all three turned to face the former Colonel. "Val is planning to pilot the Falcon Zero, so Heero remembered the Zero System simulation they had before the original Wing Zero was destroyed. We can test your mind to see if you are strong enough."

"Fine by me," Tarrant replied.

"Hildre?" Duo glanced at his wife, his eyes asking her if she was all right with their son's decision.

"He's going to be a Gundam pilot like you, he's stubborn…let him and we'll see," Hildre replied, and Tarrant nodded grimly.

***

Cavan walked behind his mother, as they took a look at the new Gundams. His father was somewhere and he glanced down towards the leg of Wing Zero. He saw Duo, Tarrant, Hildre, and his father conversing with each other. _Duo don't look too happy, neither does Hildre_, he thought to himself as he looked up at the head of Wing Zero. Wing Zero was painted not in its traditional white, but a black color.

"Wing Zero's paint scheme was changed because we've added stealth sensors to the Gundam so when in bird-mode, the Gundam cannot be detected by radar. All Gundams with the exception of Sandstorm, Taliesin, and Scorpion are coated with sensor blankets," Howard explained as they walked along.

"If they are coated, then how come Falcon Zero is white?" Wufei asked.

"That's because we've found a clear coating for the sensor blankets. When you get your Gundams, you could changed the scheme and add clear sensor blankets if you want," Lealya took over. Cavan had a funny feeling about that head technician…she was way too friendly, especially towards Tarrant. He didn't even trust her one bit. "Wing Zero is armed with twin buster cannon, double beam saber, gattling guns, and white wing vulcans. It's mostly like the original with the exception of the saber," Lealya explained then floated a bit towards a white immense figure.

"This is the Falcon Zero, armed with Ragnarok, beam saber, and shield/wing vulcans," Lealya started and Cavan admired the Gundam. It had a body like the regular Gundams, but white angelic wings with tips of brown hung on the Gundam's back. On the crown of his head, there was a golden curve and Cavan noted that in bird-mode the Gundam was supposed to look like a falcon.

"Creative design," his mother whispered to him.

"It has the Zero System," Cavan replied back to her. He hated the Zero System because when he was young, someone had played a deadly game with him. They had taken him hostage and stuck him into a Zero System cockpit. The warping effects had left his mind slightly scarred from the experience.

"You still not over from that aren't you," Noin asked, and Cavan nodded his head slightly. "Its okay Cavan, I'm just glad that you aren't choosing any of the Zeros."

"Okay, the other three we haven't completed are the Sandstorm, Taliesin, and Scorpion. I've been told that they will be complete around two days, so in two days all of you will be training under Commander Yuy, Captain Barton, and Major Chaing," Howard said then paused as he thought of something. "Reyna? Can you come with me, we'll start your molding of your cockpit then in a few hours report back to here and we'll start testing and bringing up your skills."

"Yes sir!" Reyna saluted and Cavan shook his head slightly. He had a funny feeling that something big was going to happen and very soon.

***

Adler walked around a bit, after being dismissed from the presentation of the three new Gundams. He saw a small figure, lean against the metal guardrail, and approached the figure. When he was in close range, he realized that the figure was Neo, who was looking up at an incomplete head, arms, and body of a Gundam that had an Arabic look to it. He didn't know how to approach her, since he mostly kept to himself and didn't really talk to others. He stood a bit away from her and looked downwards, towards the endless black pool that showed nothing, not even light. _That's space for you on a plexi-glass_, he thought wiry.

"Amazing isn't it?" Neo asked, and Adler looked at her, one of his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Hn," Adler commented, "What's amazing?"

"The Gundams…the black pool you are looking at," Neo replied, and Adler looked at her as if she was going crazy.

He saw her give him a sunny smile. "Don't worry, I'm not insane. You we're however staring at the stars, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Adler started then shrank back slightly as Neo float over to him and grabbed his wrist.

"Come on, I'm not going to bite. I just want to show you a place where you could see a whole hell lot of stars," Neo said, and Adler reluctantly agreed, letting her lead him.

"How do you know of this place only after we've been in it for what, less than three hours?" Adler asked as they floated down corridors and turns.

"Eh, dad took me to here when I was young, before the Sweepers brought the satilight as for their salvaging operations," Neo replied opening one of two double doors to reveal a large dome shaped room. All around the dome, was space and nothing else.

"Whoa, what is this place?" Adler asked, amazed at the sight of so many stars. He floated towards one of the many windows that showed the huge Earth, the sun eclipsed behind it.

"Most people call it the mediation room, but it was used by astronomers back when we owned the asteroid. Reyna told me now its just a room with no use," Neo explained then looked to where Adler's gaze was, "I'll just leave you here since you find it really quiet. Don't forget, Reyna's gonna start her practice in about two hours so if you want to watch its on the bridge."

"Um, ah, I guess…wait, since you know the place really well, mind showing me around before I get lost?" Adler asked, turning his gaze away from the Earth and back to Neo whose face hid half in the shadows of the dimly lit room.

"Sure, got nothing to do," Neo replied and gave him another sunny smile.

***

Quatre glared into the mug of his hot tea, his reflection in the tea betrayed his age. He was graying slightly in the temples, and more stress lines wrinkled his forehead due to his company frustrations_. I'm already looking like my father, yet why do I feel older than I should be?_ He wondered as he set the mug down and glanced at the person sitting across from him. The café area of the asteroid also served as an exercise room, and Quatre could hear the sound of Wufei telling Cavan to train harder. There was a sharp rapping of sticks as both men spared with each other.

"You seem quiet…not usual for you, Quatre," Trowa observed as he was fiddling with some kind of device.

"I'm just worried about the two Zero System Gundams…I mean why did Heero go along with it?" Quatre asked, tapping a fist on the table.

"If you noticed, he didn't. He wasn't even too happy with his son trying for Falcon Zero. Nobody's happy, but if these are the plans that were dug up from Lunar Base, then I think they were going to be used during desperate times. If Locke is truly back, then she's going to be back with a vengeance," Trowa replied, narrowing his eyes at the device.

Quatre sighed in frustration, "I'm just glad that Neo didn't even go for the Zero Gundams…its hard enough for me to even tell her to pilot. I didn't want her to grow up in a battlefield like we did, but I guess there's life for you, a monkey wrench."

Trowa laughed lightly, "A monkey wrench? You've been spending too much time with Duo."

Quatre grinned sheepishly then looked at the device that was in Trowa's hands, "What's that?"

"Orders from Space Force, Preventer Corps, and the Alliance. Space Force wants me to return so that they could evaluate a possible strike attack at Locke. Preventer says for Heero and Wufei to return as soon as possible because of the shootout investigation. The Alliance; they're all over Relena for going to space without their consent," Trowa said, showing Quatre the screen that had highlighted blue letters.

"Good thing the media doesn't know anything about this, or else we'll be in big trouble," Quatre said taking a sip of his tea.

"Agreed, but once the battles start, you can be sure that the media will be on to you, Relena, Heero and possibly me since we're all active in the government. It'll be hard on Relena and Heero because of their high positions. You on the other hand, might be hit hard with the media because of your pacifist ideals," Trowa said, placing the device down on the table before pushing it slightly away.

"They don't have to know it's my daughter who's piloting a Gundam," Quatre reasoned.

"But what about your other two? Jade and Dumas? They might be shunned at school, and the media will ask about Neo since she's an active car racer in the Colonies," Trowa countered and Quatre sat back, suddenly quiet.

He felt two hands on his shoulders and turned his head slightly upwards to see Ione's concerned face. "Hey, what's wrong you two?"

"Nothing that much…just some scenarios," Quatre replied, and gave a look to Trowa to tell him that they'll have to continue the conversation later so not to worry any of the women.

"Oh…okay. Um, Heero's asked me to get you two since they're going to start testing the Zero System on Val and Tarrant, also to watch Reyna start her training in Hellfire," Ione said, then looked away from them to see Wufei and Cavan sparring. "Wufei, Cavan, they're testing!" she called out to them.

"Let's go," Quatre said, rising out of his seat, abandoning his tea which was now cold.

***

Val breathed in and out, trying to calm down his jittery nerves. _I'm trained, I shouldn't be like this_, he told himself firmly as he approached a bullet shaped simulator. He had been in many of these when he was training with mobile suits, but this one was special. This one was equipped with the Zero System. He climbed up the side of the simulator with a rung ladder and lowered himself in, his head dragging in a bunch of wires along with it. The wires were designed to record his brain waves, and what his mind's activities were when he was testing out the Zero System.

"Ready to commence test?" his Uncle Zechs' voice filtered through the comm system in the simulator.

"Standing by," Val replied, resting his hands on two horizontal joysticks, four buttons for his four fingers and one thumb button that decorated each joystick. He breathed in and out again, trying to calm his nerves.

"Start program. We'll use the Orion data, then if we have to, the mobile dolls data," Zechs' voice filtered over, but Val heard it in an oddly distance. _Must be Zero_, he thought to himself as his fingers pressed the small buttons on the joysticks with lightning speed. Quickly, he eliminated all targets on the first level. As soon as they were gone, new little red blips replaced them and Val stared at the screen, not even thinking what he was doing as his fingers pressed various buttons.

__

This is normal for me, but when is Zero going to engage in? Val wondered as another set of reds came up. He felt something in the back of his mind, clawing at him, trying to get to his inner mind where all his feelings and combat abilities were. The thing rammed his first mind defense, breaking it, and Val hissed in pain as the defense broke. "Damn," he cursed in a soft voice. _This is Falcon's Zero System_, he reminded himself, telling his mind that Falcon Zero's system wasn't ordinary, it was for a very strong mind.

"Val, what's wrong?" Zechs' voice came over, a tad concerned.

Val hesitated before answering, "Nothing…continue with the test." He couldn't let the Zero System win over his mind; he had to conquer it in order to defeat his father's enemy, Locke Dabnerba. He had to conquer the Zero System for peace to survive. Val narrowed his eyes, determined to see what Zero could do.

***

Heero looked at the monitors that showed his son's progression with the simulation. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Relena with a worried expression on her face. _I shouldn't have let Val into Zero System, its going to destroy Relena if he fails at it_, he thought to himself as he looked back to the monitors. Suddenly there was a beeping sound and all eyes reverted to one of the monitors that showed Val's brain wave activity.

"Holy shit!" the technician sitting in front of the monitor cursed, "he's defeat all the mobile doll program and the Orion program and look, his brain waves are still fluctuating like crazy!"

"He's in Zero's world," Wufei commented softly and Heero looked at the simulator which was deathly quiet. He hoped his son could make it through without destroying himself in the process.

"Uh, sirs, what do I do?" the technician asked, fear lacing his voice.

"Load in the Romefeller program," Zechs replied and Heero grabbed a headset that connected into the simulator.

"He's going to need some help, and I'm the one that can help him," Heero said, giving a look at Zechs who nodded slightly. Heero clipped on the headset and spoke into it tentivaly, "Val? Listen to me…"

***

Val felt as if his mind was being ripped out then stretched, his nerves still inputted into his brain. His body ached all over, and he had a pounding headache. "Zero, is this your full power?" he whispered as he bent over, the pain coursing through him. [_No, young one, you have only felt half of it._] He heard Zero reply to him in his mind. Suddenly there was another wave of pain followed by an extreme rush to his senses. He felt as if he needed to defeat all, whether they'd be his allies or his enemies. "Who…who are the ones I'm supposed…to…destroy?" Val whispered, his eyes glowing a haunting yellow.

"Val? Listen to me…" he distantly heard the voice of his father, and reached a hand out towards the image of his father which hovered on the combat screen that was now glowing a bright blue.

"Father? No…my enemy?" Val whispered confused as to the image, which kept melting into an image of an Asian woman with long flowing jet-black hair and sharp green eyes. "Argh! What the hell is wrong with me!" Val suddenly yelled, grabbing his head in an effort to control his senses. Suddenly he opened his eyes wide, and they shined a pure white. "Combat levels at maximum, Zero System…full capacity," he said in a monotone voice. He took the wires that were attached to his head and ripped them off.

"Val, don't let Zero control you, you have to think of an image that you want to preserve, think of battling without Zero," his father's faraway voice came over, and Val doubled over in another wave of pain that slashed at his mind.

"Zero…you have this curse…you help yet you destroy," Val said through clenched teeth as he glared at the changing image. [_Precisely, young one. I am the All Creator of battles._] He heard Zero say in his mind.

"Zero…" Val whispered before collapsing into the control board. As the world faded away, he felt the Zero System withdraw the power and it said [_You have done well young one, I will help you._]

***

"Brain waves…normal, Zero System, full capacity yet it seems to be responding to his mind. Sir, I think he conquered it," the technician said and Heero breathed a sigh of relief softly. He was afraid that his second son would end up like his older one, insane and dead. He took off the headset and placed it on an empty control board.

"Ah…just a second…" the technician interrupted, and Heero glanced back at the technician, "it seems that he's collapsed in the process, though Zero is still at full capacity link with him. Oh…hold on, looks like Zero's control over Vailo's mind is decreasing."

"Is he injured in any way?" Relena asked worried.

"No, not that the monitors show," the technician replied.

"It's almost like as if Zero System is alive in some way," Trowa observed, one hand resting on his chin.

"That's because it is," a groggy voice said from within the simulator and Val climbed out. Heero noticed that he looked very beat and tired. He saw Val lean heavily against one side of the simulator, sweat dripping down his shoulders and forehead.

"Val, are you okay?" Relena asked, coming over to him and wiped his forehead with a cloth. Heero saw Val wave his hand away from her, then suddenly doubled over. He heard Val cough into the cloth then looked at it.

Heero's eyes reverted to Relena as she gasped in surprise, "Val! That's…you coughed out blood…"

"I'm fine," Val said in a hoarse voice as he slowly straightened up. Heero looked at Val and saw that his eyes still had a residue glow from Zero.

"Val, you are not fine! You're coming with me and we're going to get you healed," Relena said in a firm voice and took Val's limp hand.

"I am fine, mother," Val said, glaring at Relena, his voice even with slightly contained anger.

"Val," Heero interrupted the two of them, "go with your mother." He held up a hand to forestall any comments coming from the seventeen-year-old, "Go, you aren't in any shape or condition to be watching the training."

"Fine…" Val said curtly and left the room, Relena following behind him.

"That went well," Duo commented and got ribbed by Hildre.

"All right, set up the simulator for the Zero System of Wing Zero," Zechs ordered but was cut off by Heero who shook his head.

"No, no Zero for now…I don't want Tarrant to go yet. Tell Reyna to get suit up, she's going for her training now," Heero said, and quickly left the room headed towards the bridge. Lealya followed behind him, carrying the disks of Falcon Zero's Zero System.

***

Reyna slipped on the gloves to her flightsuit, locking them tight so no air leaked through. The soft rubbery material was designed to have her hands grip better on the joysticks. She sat back in the cockpit chair of her Gundam Hellfire, and automatic restraining belts latched on to her, strapping her firmly to the seat. Her helmet floated around the cockpit and Reyna made a grab for it. She reached it and caught it in her hands…then suddenly was thrust back as the restraining belts' elastic pulled her back into her seat. "Aw dammit…stupid restraining belts. Shit," she cursed to herself as she slipped the helmet on and latched the buttons tight. She heard her own breathing loud and even in her ears.

Reyna reached a button that was above her and pressed it. The hatch to the cockpit of her Gundam slowly closed, and three wide beam screens came to life, glowing with blue fuzziness. She saw the outside world through the screens, as they showed a human view of slightly more than 180 degrees. A small screen bleeped up on her left side screen and Reyna glanced at it to see Captain Barton's face.

"Reyna, head out to Point A to start the test," Trowa said, and Reyna nodded.

"Roger that, Control," she said, and glanced at all the buttons in the cockpit. _Well, this is what you've always wanted Reyna, lets go girl_, she told herself as she started the jet power of her Hellfire. She stepped out from her repair rack and crouched in the middle of the launch ramp way. Reyna opened her black wings and throttled her Gundam. She was pressed back in her seat as the Gundam shot out of the asteroid, and towards Point A.

When she got there, she saw multiple white barrels and recognized them as mock-explosives, designed to go at her, yet when they hit, they packed a punch. "Okay, I'm here, now what?" Reyna asked.

"These are space explosives, designed to attack you with speed that us Gundam pilots are usually facing. We'll start with the speed your father told us you could handle, then progress to faster ones. Remember, use every aspect of the Gundam," Trowa's voice came over and Reyna grinned slightly.

"Roger Control, Hellfire ready to begin," Reyna said in a confident voice. She narrowed her eyes as the first of the space explosives shot at her. Reyna powered up her double scythe and smiled grimly. "I'll show you what the Goddess of Death can do!" she whispered as she slashed at one of the explosives. Reyna was surprised at the speed and swiftness of her Hellfire. A sudden bleep alerted her to the rest of the explosives converging on her back. She turned around and brought her double scythe to bear and grunted at she slashed at three explosives, turning them into bright yellow balls of light that faded away.

Suddenly she was slammed forward then backward into her seat as two explosives impacted her. "Ahh," Reyna gasped in pain from the restraining belt that choked her momentarily. She narrowed her blue eyes as she glared at two incoming explosives. Reyna lowered her black wings to protect herself as she shot forward. Surprisingly, they shot at her, but her wings absorbed the damage and Reyna flew past them, moving her scythe a little. She turned around and saw them explode to a million pieces.

"This is Hellfire, cleared out the first of the explosives. What's next?" she asked, but received no reply. Reyna was about to scratch her head, but realized that her helmet was on, "Uh, Control…" Suddenly there was a bleeping and she spun around and saw four explosives coming towards her lightning speed. "Shit," Reyna cursed and raised her left hand. She shot off the four dagger blasts at each of the explosives. Reyna shielded her eyes from the giant explosion and when it died down, she saw that her dagger blasts were flying towards her left hand, which was still raised.

"Way cool…daggers that return to you," she commented, smiling a bit. Suddenly there was a garbled noise and Reyna glanced at the comm system, worried about Control. "Control! Control! What's going on?" Reyna almost shouted into the system.

Reyna was confused as Trowa's voice came back, slightly distressed, "Reyna, can you handle about twenty Orions?"

"Uh, escucha me…what the hell is going on?" Reyna asked, using a mix of Spanish and English.

"Omicron's on to us…I think they know that we've got the Gundams," her father's voice came back and Reyna sat back in horror. She was going to enter her first real combat and she didn't even master her Gundam yet.

Reyna sighed and knew what her answer was going to be "All right, I'll try to hold them off so you can call up Preventer and get some help on the way."

"We're not asking you to do it," Trowa's voice replaced her father's, "We can go out and fight if you do not feel inclined."

"No, I have to get combat experience if I'm going to defeat Omicron Empire. By the way, what's their ETA?" Reyna asked.

"A minute till they reach you, and be careful," Trowa's voice replied and Reyna nodded. She sat back, gripping the joysticks of her Gundam. "Shinigami's first battle, this is Reyna Maxwell, ready for combat," she whispered as she watched the first of the red enemy blips appear on her sensors.

***

"Status check, can we get to Space Force on MO-XII?" Trowa asked as technicians rushed around frantically, trying to get information on the Omicron's small task force. He glanced up from a monitor to see Adler and Neo walk in among the chaos. "Adler, Neo, guys get to somewhere safe. I don't want you here when the battle starts," Trowa ordered.

"But dad, I can help, there's some old Serpents and Tauruses lying around the base. I could use one of them to help Reyna," Adler protested, but shut his mouth up when he received a look from his father.

"No, I don't want you to go into battle before hand…now go," Trowa said, frustrated then turned his attention back to the monitors. Adler left the room in a huff, and Neo looked from Trowa back to Adler and followed him out.

Trowa looked back to where his son had left and shook his head slightly. He was being too harsh to his son; he was the only one that supported him. _Damn you Azure_, he cursed silently as he turned back.

"Sir! Space Force can't be reached, neither can Preventer. Looks like they've got a jamming system going on," one of the officers in the room said, and Trowa turned around to see the door burst open, showing both Wufei and Heero walking in, their expressions grim.

"Can Space Force be reached?" Heero asked, and Trowa shook his head no.

"Neither can Preventer. Locke's getting smarter," Trowa said, and Heero nodded grimly.

"All right, we'll try to hold them off," Heero started but was cut off as a panicky officer cried from his station.

"Sir! There's activity down on the Gundams' bay. Looks like Falcon Zero is moving," the officer cried, and Heero cursed silently.

"Damn, get me a line to the pilot," he said_. Val, why are you doing this to yourself?_ He wondered as he stared at the battle Hellfire was starting with the Orions.

***

Val waited until his mother left his side before going down the opposite direction his mother didn't want him to go on. He passed a sign that said, Hanger Bay, and turned left headed towards the Gundams' hanger bay. Val winced slightly, his throat hurt from coughing up acid and blood. Val stopped in front of a door, and went in, looking at the locker room which was deathly quiet. He noticed a few things hanging from one of the lockers and noted that they were Reyna's. _Girl's sure messy_, he noted as he moved on. He heard some rustling and looked into one of rows of lockers and saw Adler, zipping up a flightsuit.

"Adler?" Val asked, curious as to what Captain Barton's son was doing.

"Defying father's orders," Adler replied in a monotone voice.

"Defying my whole family's orders, _and_ Captain Barton's orders," a girl's voice said from another side of lockers and Neo stepped from her side to face both men.

Val stared at them silently, then opened up a locker and took out a flightsuit. "I'm taking Falcon Zero, you two, back me up with…whatever mobile suit is stationed here."

"Roger," Neo said nodding. She then walked out of the locker room, headed towards the old mobile suit bay with Adler following behind her.

Val quickly changed into his flightsuit, and carried his helmet tucked underneath his arm. He floated out of the room and out towards the giant hanger bay. Val looked up to Falcon Zero and saw Lealya near it, inputting something in the Gundam.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and she turned around startled.

"Oh, Val, sorry. I'm just reinstalling the Zero System. Might I ask, why are you in a flight suit?" Lealya asked, looking him up and down.

"None of your business," Val replied curtly, not trusting the head technician.

"Fine, I'll just go now," Lealya replied nastily back and Val narrowed his eyes as she floated away. He sighed in frustration as he entered Falcon Zero. He seated himself in the cockpit and automatic restraining belts latched onto him. He felt slightly uncomfortable as he sat in the cockpit. _No worry, I don't need it molded for my comfort_, he thought as he closed the hatch to his Gundam. It was dark on the inside, but Val pressed a few buttons that activated the Gundam and he slipped his helmet on.

Val grabbed the joysticks and pushed them slightly forward. He stepped onto the ramp that led to space and crouched slightly. Val was about to throttle his Gundam when a sudden burst of static alerted him to the comm system.

"Val, what are you doing," his father's angry voice came over and Val looked away from the comm system.

Val hesitated slightly as his index finger hovered over the off button to the system. _If I go out, I might get killed, but if I just stay, I would be doing nothing_, he thought as he looked at the system. Val pushed the off button and returned his attention back towards space. "Can't stay here and do nothing," he muttered as he throttled forward with swift speed. As he flew out of the hanger bay, two mobile suits, a Serpent and a Taurus flanked him.

"We'll divert some of the out forces. Val, go and help Spitfire," Adler ordered and Val nodded.

"Roger," he replied in a monotone voice. He glanced at his view-screen and saw the Serpent, painted a dark green color fly away in one direction, while the Taurus, still painted the white of the former Sank Kingdom Royal Guard, fly off in another direction. Val narrowed his eyes as he shot forward, the red blips appearing on the top of his sensors. He glanced down for a second and saw one blue blip, the Hellfire. Numerous red blips were encircling her, all of them enemies.

***

__

Chapter 7- Circle of Infinity

Tarrant ran down a hall, siding left and right as he dodged technicians, officers and surprisingly, some civilians. He suddenly felt the air rushed out of him as he crashed into someone.

"Aw, damn Tarrant! That's the second time today…" Lealya's voice said and Tarrant felt his cheeks warm up with embarrassment.

"Uh, sorry Lealya," Tarrant apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he gave the head technician a small grin.

"It's okay, you know that you're not to blame," Lealya replied, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a small shake. "Its that kid of Commander Yuy's. He's the one causing all this havoc," Lealya said in a slightly angry voice as she whispered it in Tarrant's ear.

Tarrant felt slightly uncomfortable with Lealya this close to him. He quickly nodded, and was slightly confused as he leaned against a wall_. What does she have against Val? Well, I mean Val is a bit antisocial and cold_, he reasoned to himself as he looked down at his shoes. He suddenly glanced up and grabbed Lealya's arm and pulled her to the side as a burly technician breezed by where she was.

"Whoa, close call," Lealya said, putting a hand to her chest as she breathed in and out, slightly scared. She glanced up at Tarrant who looked impassive. "Hey, thanks," she said and raised an eyebrow as she saw a hint of pink erupt on his face.

"Oh, uh, no problems. Hey, where you headed?" Tarrant asked suddenly, changing the subject.

"To my office, then to the café to get some coffee," Lealya replied. She suddenly thought up of something, "Hey, why don't you come with me to get some caf, or are you doing something else?"

"Uh, no…caf's fine by me. Besides, my sister's probably having a ball out there training in Hellfire, plus my father and Commander Yuy said that no Zero training till she's done. So I guess I'm free till the training's over," Tarrant spoke in a hurry then paused as he raised his eyebrows in confusion. _Wait, why am I suddenly making plans on spur of the moment_, he wondered then snapped out of his daze as he realized Lealya was saying something to him. "Uh, what did you say?" he asked.

"I asked, why are you having that look on your face," Lealya replied.

"Not to worry, let's go," Tarrant said and Lealya gave him a once over before walking down the hall. Tarrant followed her, slightly confused at his decision.

***

Cavan looked at the battle monitors that were stationed all around the control room, all shining green and red. He sniffed distainly as he saw a blue blip that was identified as Falcon Zero. He didn't want to battle, because he didn't really feel like it. _It serves Val right that he gets himself injured in Zero simulation then goes out to help Maxwell. He's always that way, not even caring or self preserving_, Cavan thought darkly as he looked at his father who was barking out orders along with Commander Yuy, even though his father was not part of Preventer or Space Force anymore. He knew that some people would call his attitude, spoiled and very inconsiderate, but Cavan knew that this was the society he was brought up in.

"Sir, more units have arrived, about two of them. Twenty Orions each," an officer shouted from one of the stations.

"That gives, us…fifty Orions," Cavan heard his father mutter.

He looked at one of the green monitors. _My father and mother were all active in Preventer when I was young, living in the former Sank Kingdom. I never got to see them much and was taken care by servants and nannies_, he thought to himself as he saw two more blue blips appear on the screen.

"Sir! A Serpent and Taurus suit have arrived on the battleground, and they seem to be attacking the outside, while Hellfire and Falcon Zero are attacking on the inside," the same officer yelled and Cavan noticed that Captain Barton's eyes narrowed.

"Adler, what the hell are you doing," Trowa said in a deadly quiet voice as he linked on to the Serpent unit.

"Disobeying your orders, _Captain_, and following my own conscience," Adler replied and Cavan heard a slight hesitation in the teen's voice, "Neo's along here too."

"No worry, Captain, I've got everything covered. This is like the training I had with the Maganacs," Neo's voice interrupted the frequency, "Neo out until further notice."

"It's their loss," Cavan muttered as he continued to watch the green screen.

***

Reyna glanced at her sensors and stuck her tongue out one side of her mouth as she slashed at an Orion mobile suit. Her double scythe left two marks on the suit as it floated apart. The sudden force of the explosion sent Reyna flying. "Argh," she muttered as she stabilized herself. She fired some bullets from her shoulder gattling guns and they pierced the armor of an Orion suit. Suddenly there was an explosion behind her, and Reyna spun around and saw a dark figure outlined from the explosions. When they died down Reyna saw Falcon Zero, holding a beam saber out in front of him.

"Adler and Neo are cutting the outside. We have to eliminate them from the inside," Val said without preamble and Reyna nodded to his comm image.

"Got that," Reyna agreed, and slashed at an Orion who was trying to sneak up on her. "No one, sneaks up on the Goddess of Death and gets away with it," she muttered as she brought her double scythe up in a wide horizontal arc, cutting four Orions across their middle. She throttled her Gundam and shot headfirst into a group of six Orions who were training their guns on her.

"Get the hell out of my way!" she yelled at them as she slashed straight into their faces, decapitating their heads. She turned slightly and shot her four dagger blasts to two Orions, two each impacted the navel and stomach of the suit. Her eyes blazed with rage as she opened her wings, the edge of them glistened in the sunlight, sharp and ready. "I am very pissed, and you guys just seem to add to that fire, do ya? Well, not for long asses, cause in the words of my ancestors, up yours!" Reyna yelled as she plowed into two Orions, she rammed the stomach of one with her scythe and pressed a button that turned off the blade of the weapon.

Reyna used the scythe as a staff, hitting the Orions on the heads and chest. She punched one in the gut and pressed a button that activated the double scythe. Reyna grinned with satisfaction as the Orion staggered back, then exploded, taking out a few of its buddies who were near it.

***

Neo fired without hesitating as she went by her natural instinct of targeting and shooting the Orions. She had spent time in the Maganac Training Grounds honing on her instinct skills and she was glad that they paid off.

"Adler, watch it! Two from behind," Neo warned the older teen then shot in a loop to counter an Orion who was shooting at her. She pulled off two shots then throttled her Taurus suit to the right, avoiding a sweeping of a beam saber that was supposed to cut through her ancient Taurus suit.

"Got them," Adler replied and Neo grinned. She glanced at her monitors for any sign of Hellfire or Falcon Zero when suddenly she was shoved forward then backwards as an Orion mobile suit shot at her.

Neo stifled a cry as a shard of metal flew up from the control panel and slashed a deep cut to her right arm. "Damn," she cursed softly as she spun around and brought her gun up to bear. Suddenly the Orion exploded without warning and Neo glanced back to see Adler holding the double gattling gun of his Serpent in an offensive gesture.

"You all right?" Adler's worried voice came over and Neo smiled at his small image that popped up on the lower left corner of her main screen.

"Just fine, thanks for shooting him off," Neo said, and winced slightly.

"Neo, what's wrong," Adler asked, concern written all over his face.

"Just caught a shard of metal, that's all, nothing serious…though it hurts like hell bit off of it," Neo said jokingly.

"Better get it checked when we get back," Adler replied then his image disappeared.

Neo grinned to herself as she shot off rounds of bullets into the Orion suits. Suddenly a small bleep alerted her to a small screen that popped up on the left-center side of her Taurus suit. She saw a young Asian woman with long flowing jet-black hair and very sharp and piercing green eyes. Neo could immediately identify her without a second thought. _Locke Dabnerba, father hated her so much because she knows about his empathic abilities, and tortured him_, she thought darkly.

"My name is Locke Dabnerba, for those of you who don't know who I am. I will be your new leader in this coming age, After Colony 224. I will defeat the Gundam pilots, and then you will bow down to me. Wing Zero, if you are hearing this, you're time has come, along with your family. Quatre Raberba Winner, your daughter, will be mine to control. She will be my tool," Locke said and shut off the transmission. Neo narrowed her blue eyes.

"Who the hell does this psycho think she is?" Neo muttered. Suddenly she glanced up to see the Orions shoot off from the battlefield and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh, what the freak is going on?" Neo asked, to no one in particular.

"This is Commander Yuy, all mobile suits return to base," Heero's voice came over and Neo could hear some anger in it.

***

Locke smiled cruelly as she shut off the transmission and leaned back in her black leather chair. She snapped her fingers and a person came up, holding a datapad. She glanced at the information and nodded. "Get these to Severn, tell him that we'll be starting the media takeover," Locke ordered and waved the aide away.

She stood up from her chair and looked at the two young men standing at attention in front of her. "Jordan Kent, Xylon Riyet, you each have your missions. Do you know what to do?" she asked them, eyeing each one.

"Yes ma'am!" they replied in a loud voice.

"Jordan you are to take control of the Lunar Base and begin small attack forces on the Colonies. Remember, just eliminate the head of the Lunar Base and the foundation of the Lunar Colony will crumble." Locke ordered and Jordan nodded, bowed, and left the spacious room aboard the space battleship _Firestorm_.

Locke returned her attention back to a young man with bright purple eyes and black hair. He had rakishly good looks, and a smile that seemed to charm women. Xylon also had a deadly weapon in him. He was an empath, a rare one. He had a sharp mind attack that seemed to be an empathic dagger when he used it. He was also very good at unarmed combat. Locke remembered Dr. Kent telling her that Xylon looked a lot like Maxwell's son and she could see that he did indeed look a lot like him, with the exception of his hair and eye color.

"Xylon Riyet…you know what you mission is?" Locke asked the young Russian.

"To subjugate Colony 04 and control Winner's daughter, Cerelia," Xylon replied his mellow voice vibrated over the spacious room. He bowed slightly then glanced up at her, his dark hair casting a shadow over his eyes, making them glitter like amethyst in a rock.

"Good. Position yourself at Colony 04 and wait. The media already knows about this and Winner will return to his colony with his daughter to clear up things. Find the right time to strike and we will be in control of one of the powerful Gundam pilots," Locke ordered and Xylon bowed again.

"Yes ma'am," he said and walked out of the room, his heels clicking away on the sharp tiled floor. Locke reached into a pocket and took out a small device.

"With this control, I can activate all the explosives in the major cities around the world. The Earth will surrender to my demands, or else they will die," she whispered as she sat back at her desk and waited for Preventer and Space Forces' replies to her threat.

***

Adler stood, frozen, his eyes staring at a blank spot on the wall to the control room. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Val doing the same, but Neo, Adler mentally shook his head. Neo was another story. She was almost trembling with half fear, half rage as his father and Commander Yuy walked in front of them, around them, and even a few inches away from their faces.

"You had specific orders not to go, so why? Why did you disobey?" Heero said in a quiet voice. Adler hated when people spoke to him in that kind of tone, it reminded him of his mother.

"It…was because we had-" Neo started.

"I did not tell you to speak Miss Cerelia," Heero snapped at her and Adler saw the young girl visibly flinch but did not cry or do anything else. Adler admired her for that quality trait she had. Most other girls he had attended at the Space Academy were in his own opinion, a bunch of sissy wimps. He had overheard a conversation between some of the girls in their reason of attending was to look for "hot, cute guys".

"Val, you had a reason for staying, you were injured. Adler, I didn't want you getting hurt before you even fought against Omicron. Neo, your father doesn't even want you piloting a mobile suit. All these reasons were for your safety. You don't know what Locke can do…we do," Trowa took over, staring at each one of them in the eyes. "We know Locke's procedures…she's cold, calculating and very good at coming up with strategies to get rid of us."

"What's us being here good for if we don't even face Locke's forces," Adler said bluntly, "we needed the experience. Waiting for the Gundams would just delay the more time we could have by evaluating her when were out there battling."

"You could have been killed," Quatre's voice came from the door and Heero and Trowa's heads came up, slightly startled. "Always when facing something you don't know is to first judge from the actions your enemy takes, determine their weak points and their strong points. Also determine what kinds of things or moves they like to use a lot when battling others. This will help you when you first fight that enemy," Quatre explained, spreading his hands out in a gesture.

"Rushing blindly into a battle without experience, like you guys did is usually a fatal mistake," Trowa added on, and Adler narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Then what of those simming we did? Val had experience with battling the Orions when he was testing in the Zero System. I simmed against Orions back at the Space Academy. Neo…" Adler started, but trailed off. He realized that he didn't know much about the young Winner.

"Simming's not the point. Simming is just a crutch," Trowa started then held up a hand to stop Adler from speaking. "I know, you're going to say so why did you let us go help Reyna. The reason speaking is that you haven't faced the horrors of war like we did. You've never fought a single battle in your lives."

Adler noticed that Val had a quiet look on his face and he was puzzled. _Is there something I haven't noticed in this pilot? Did he fight when he was young?_ Adler wondered as he turned his attention back to the blank spot on a wall above his father and Commander Yuy's heads.

"Now I will be frank with you. Your punishment is house arrest until your Gundams are completed. You will be only taken out to train, and we will start training you harder than what they've got at the academy, Wufei's training, and the Maganacs training. We will train you in all areas that are important and vital in defeating Locke and her forces," Heero started, pacing around them, "sometimes during your house arrest, you will be given tasks to do, menial tasks."

"We want you to think over what your mistakes were," Trowa added, then bowed his head slightly. Adler noticed that his father's expression seemed to be doleful. "I hope this never happens again," Trowa said gravely and handed them each a small card. "This is your bunks for now. Report to the combat room at twenty hundred," Trowa ordered and looked at them sharply.

"Dismissed," Heero said in a firm voice and Adler walked out, followed by Val and Neo. Adler couldn't stand his father's voice like this; it made him hurt so much on the inside. He walked down a darkened hall towards his bunk on the asteroid.

***

"You know you're wrong too," Quatre said in a quiet voice as he stepped into the small briefing room. Heero looked to see behind him was Duo, Zechs and Wufei. "They need the experience, but at this rate, they benefited out there, 'cause Locke has been moving fast, faster than what she usually does."

Heero made a small noise that sounded like he was agreeing. He glanced at Duo and Zechs who had impassive looks on their faces. "What did you tell Reyna?" Heero asked Duo.

"She's wondering what the hell's going on. I had her calmed down, and Hildre's explaining to her about Locke. Funny thing though, I never saw Tarrant around during all this mess," Duo said, scratching the back of his head.

"Saw him talking with that head technician…what's her name?" Wufei asked, coming over. He was dressed in a dark green outfit of Preventer Corps; his two stars pinned to the cuff of his collar, shining.

"Lealya Hillard. I don't trust her," Zechs answered coming over. Heero noticed that the former Colonel was dressed in an outfit that looked a lot Space Force, but it didn't have any of the pins and rank bars.

"He was talking to her?" Duo asked, surprised at his son's actions. Tarrant was usually a quiet person, mostly kept to himself. He rarely socialized and only talked to people that were patient to him and earned his trust and friendship.

"She seems familiar, way too familiar," Quatre muttered, as there was an awkward silence.

"Wufei," Heero broke the silence, "when they're in the combat room at twenty hundred I want you to run through unarmed combat with them. Quatre, did Neo have any training with fighting unarmed?"

"No, she's only got armed knife combat and gun combat from what Rashid told me," Quatre replied and Heero nodded slightly.

"All right, change of plans. Wufei, I want you to work with Reyna and Neo on their unarmed combat training. Quatre, you, Trowa, and Duo help Adler and Tarrant on the simulations. Assign the Wing Zero to Tarrant and the Taliesin to Adler. They'll start with the Orion program, similar to what happened today. I want the Zero System simulation Tarrant will be taking at half power. Zechs and I will be bringing up Val and Cavan's hand-to-hand combat skills to a higher level," Heero ordered, but Quatre hesitated.

"Heero, I can't help…I can't stay on this asteroid," Quatre started, then flicked on a small television in the briefing room, "the media knows about the Gundams. They've already picked me out from the rest of you because of my visible position. All of you are hidden underneath some levels of security, but I'm not. I have to go back to Colony 04 and explain this to them."

Heero looked at the monitor, showing the recent battle the Hellfire was in. A newscaster was reporting with a harried look on his face. "This is David Anderson reporting from Global News Network. Our space cameras have caught this spectacular battle between what seems to be Orion mobile suits and a Gundam. Yes you heard me folks; some one has been building a Gundam, or even a few of them. Now, as over the past years, the Gundams and mobile suits have been outlawed. What could have happened to this?"

"We also have something that is very suspicious. As we told you, there was a bombing of the Preventer base in Nairobi about a day ago. Could this be related? Also, Quatre Winner, head of the Winner corporations has not been seen since the bombing. Could he be behind the construction of the Gundam and the Orion mobile suits?" the anchorman said point an accusing finger at the camera. "Stay tuned, we'll have full twenty-four hour coverage on this situation."

Heero heard the click of the TV being shut off, and glanced at Quatre, who had a pained look on his face. "You see what's happening? Locke provoked us into attacking, and now, they know that at least one Gundam exists," Quatre said.

"Hnn," Heero muttered under his breath. He hated when the media stuck their noses in everything. "All right, we'll still go with what we have. Quatre, keep in touch. If you find any information on Locke's whereabouts…"

"I know, I'll inform you guys. I'll leave Neo in your hands," he said and left the room, headed towards where Neo was bunked.

"Looks like not only she's back from the dead, she's gotten smarter," Duo commented as Heero lowered his head a fraction, in deep thought. _I'll defeat you Locke, then I'll make sure you don't come back forever_, he thought darkly.

***

__

Chapter 8- The Spark of the Training

Reyna walked around, puzzled. She hadn't seen Val, Adler, or even Neo around ever since they reported to the briefing room. Her mother had explained to her about Locke Dabnerba and Reyna understood her mission. Her parents were getting too old, too old to pilot without risking their own lives.

"Hey Reyna!" the voice of her brother shouted behind her and Reyna turned around to see Tarrant jogging towards her, a bright and cheerful expression on his face.

"So where were you?" Reyna asked as Tarrant stopped next to her.

"Lealya asked me to get some caf with her, so I agreed. Did you have fun on your practice?" Tarrant asked, and Reyna looked at him weirdly.

"Uh, Tarrant, where you sure you didn't drink that much caf?" Reyna asked, very confused, "I was battling Omicron."

"Huh?" Tarrant started, "Omicron? They were here?"

"Duh…how could you not know?" Reyna asked, almost yelling at him. She lowered her voice as she saw him shrink back slightly afraid at her.

"Well, I'm sorry…I never heard an announcement that Omicron was attacking," Tarrant replied indignantly and then scratched his head as he looked miffed, "wait…I don't remember anything since…" "All I remember is spending time with Lealya," he muttered to himself.

"Tarrant? Is something wrong?" Reyna asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Nah, I must have drank too much caf. Oh, dad's asked us to report to the combat room at twenty hundred. Looks like we're gonna get some intensive training soon," Tarrant said changing the subject.

"Oh boy…this'll be fun. Oh, by the way, you know where Adler, Val, and Neo are?" Reyna asked him.

"They're under house arrest for disobeying orders," Tarrant replied and Reyna narrowed her eyes.

"This is almost like a military facility," she mumbled as she took Tarrant's hand, "come on, lets go see where dad is." She walked at a fast pace, almost dragging Tarrant along the corridors.

***

Cavan smiled a bit as he heard his Uncle tell Val, Adler, and the young Winner girl that they were to be put under house arrest until their Gundams are completed. _Serves them right_, he thought to himself as he shrank back into the shadows, barely avoiding the three people walked towards their bunkrooms. He glanced at his father who was the last one to enter the briefing room and shut the door behind him.

"Now's the time to find out what really happened out there," he murmured to himself as he followed Val down a few halls, keeping a safe distance behind him. He waited a few minutes before knocking the door to Val's bunkroom.

"Its open," Val's muffled voice said from the other side of the door and Cavan pressed a button on the side panel to open the door. The door hissed open and Cavan stepped into a darkened room.

"Never expected that you, perfect boy, would be the one to disobey rules," Cavan started, some the light from the moon streamed into the dark room illuminating a part of Val's face. Cavan noted that his cousin was lying on his bed, one arm thrown over his eyes.

"Never expected you would talk," Val replied and Cavan tensed at the remark.

"Hmph," Cavan snorted as he pulled a chair from a small desk in the room, and seated himself across from Val. "So tell me cousin," Cavan started, "why did you go out in Falcon Zero? Was it to help Maxwell? Cause from what I've seen, you never helped anyone."

"It was for combat experience," Val replied in a monotone voice, but Cavan could detect some hints of confusion in his answer.

"You sure, I mean you sure didn't sound too convincing when you spoke with your father. Maybe I should ask Maxwell's girl to see what she thinks," Cavan said, and a hint of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he saw Val rise from his bed, his eyes glittering with uncontained anger.

"You leave Reyna out of it," Val said in an angry voice and Cavan looked at him curiously.

"Oh, so now you're on a first name basis. I'd never thought you would go for a girl this quickly," Cavan stated as his smile bloomed into a grin. He was having so much fun irritating his cousin. "But, as they always say, the older one of the family will win control. I will become leader of this group," Cavan said in a dark voice as he glared at Val.

"Who says, you might just become space dust when you face Omicron Empire's forces," Val retorted and Cavan sighed.

"Val, my dearest cousin," Cavan said, leaning back in the chair, "you're so full of it. You don't even know how to fight. Looks like the Zero System's warped your mind even more than I thought." He got up and walked towards the door and pressed a button that opened it.

"Why don't you try Zero and see what happens," Val said, giving Cavan an even look.

Cavan froze for a second, the events of his childhood rushing up to him, "Don't even tell me to try that abomination. You don't know, and you will never know." He left Val's room in a hurry, and walked swiftly down the hall towards the café.

***

Neo stared up at the ceiling of her bunkroom. The low humming sound of the generators vibrated the walls of her room. She heard some shuffling on the other side of her wall, and noted that Val was moving around his bunkroom, which was next to hers. Her room held a bunk bed and Neo suspected that Reyna was rooming with her due to the lack of space. She heard muffled voices coming from Val's room and suspected that Cavan was talking with Val. She had seen him shadowing them ever since they walked out of the briefing room. There was a slight knocking on her door and Neo sat up from her bed and flicked on the lights to her room. "Come in," she said and a few seconds later the door hissed open to show her father in.

"Hey Neo, you okay in here?" Quatre asked, and Neo nodded, then tilted her head sideways.

"What's the matter father?" she asked as Quatre had a sad look on his face.

"I have to go back to Colony 04, because the media knows about the Gundams. They've targeted me because of my ideals," Quatre replied then glanced down sadly as he pulled up a chair next to Neo's bed.

"But how did they…how did they get the battle clip?" Neo asked, confused.

"Oh, the media, they have numerous cameras everywhere. You should know that since you're a racer," Quatre replied glancing up at her ceiling then back down to her.

"Well, my manager never showed me the clips after the race. He always says you're doing fine, keep driving," Neo replied giggling a bit and Quatre cracked a smile. Neo stopped when she realized something. "Father, are you going to punish me for disobeying your orders?" she asked him.

Quatre sighed and shook his head slightly; "No…I'm not going to punish you. You needed the combat experience, I told Heero that. We just are worried about you kids. We didn't want you growing up in a battlefield of blood and war."

"I know," Neo replied putting a hand on his knee in a comforting gesture, "but the reason I fight, I signed up for this, is because I want to protect you. I don't want to let anyone hurt us. That's why I joined the Maganacs."

"Hmm," Quatre said thoughtfully, "Rashid must be wondering why did you join since you're my daughter. You know, your mother was once like that, bowing to my orders and risking herself to protect me."

Neo laughed lightly, "Yeah, mother told me that. She said that you wouldn't have it, not for one bit. She said that you wanted to be treated equally and fairly." She quieted for a moment then glanced up at Quatre, "Are you going to come to the asteroid after you've calmed down the media?"

"Mostly likely no. If I go anywhere after, they'll just be hounding me again. I will stay in touch with you, but you're going to have to take care of yourself until this fiasco with Locke is over. Your mother has to come also, because of Jade and Dumas. I'll try to hold off the media if they are concerned about you, but just be prepared to make any excuse. I don't want them finding out that you're piloting a mobile suit," Quatre warned her then leaned over the chair and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll keep in touch and remember, don't fight unless you have too," Quatre said getting up and headed for the door.

"Wait, father, don't you want to know what Gundam I'm choosing?" Neo asked him and Quatre turned around, a sad smile on his face.

"I already know…I know which one you'll choose to defeat Locke Dabnerba," Quatre replied and Neo raised an eyebrow as he walked out of her room.

"How could he have know that I'd choose Sandstorm?" Neo asked herself as she sat on the edge of her bed; her chin propped up on her knuckles. _You're too much like me, too much that you know it_, her father's voice echoed in her mind as she thought. She glanced at the clock sitting on a small nightstand. It was reading nineteen thirty and Neo sighed. _Oh well, might as well wait a few more minutes before I go to the combat room._ She glanced at a small duffel bag that rested near a closet door. She walked over to it and pulled a light outfit out.

"Might as well wear something that won't hinder my movements when I train," she muttered mostly to herself as she began to change out of her black-blue flightsuit.

***

Adler stood at attention as his father, Wufei, and Heero walked in. He was surprised to see them not even dressed in their uniforms, but in civilian clothes. Wufei was dressed in a martial arts outfit; his sleeveless dark blue shirt had an imprint of a dragon on it. Heero was dressed in a sleeveless dark green shirt, and loose form fitting white pants. Adler was very surprised to see his father dressed in a dark blue turtleneck shirt and light blue jeans. He had never seen his father dressed in civilian clothes, always in uniform. Behind them were Zechs Merquise and Duo Maxwell. Adler was confused, as he didn't see Neo's father come in with them. He took a glance at Neo out of the corner of his eye and saw that she had an understanding look on her face.

"We will begin training you to your limits and sometimes even beyond that. We are going to train you hard, harder than anything possible and we will not take any crap or protest," Wufei started, looking at each of them hard in the eye and Adler could see that Wufei gave an especially hard look at Reyna and Neo. "If you feel like quitting, then by all means, do so because we will not tolerate slacking or complaining," Wufei added then stepped back to let the others speak.

"For tonight, Adler. You and Tarrant are to start building up your training in your Gundams. The Zero System of your Gundam, Tarrant, is half power. It will stay half power until you show you can handle it, then we will incorporate the full Zero System. Reyna, you and Neo are to go with Wufei and train on your unarmed combat skills. You already know the basics, but we will move you up to a higher level. Val, you and Cavan are to come with Zechs and I. You two will show us what you can do," Heero said and narrowed his eyes, "this isn't a game. This is reality."

Adler stood rigid as Heero's words penetrated the depths of his mind. He looked straight ahead, memories of the Space Academy rushing back to him. "Do I make my self clear?" he heard Heero ask and Adler heard the other five voices join in with him as he said, "Yes sir."

"Good, report to you assigned posts," Heero replied and left the room along with Zechs. Adler saw Val and Cavan follow them and he glanced towards the other door where Neo and Reyna were walking through.

"Come on, lets go," his father's voice interrupted his thoughts and he followed behind Duo and his father as they made their way to the simulator room. "Adler, you will receive the Taliesin," his father announced and Adler nodded curtly. He knew that he would have to master his Gundam in order to wipe out the Omicron Empire.

***

Reyna glanced over to Neo as they stood facing Wufei Chaing. She noticed that he had a contemptuous look on his face and she didn't really like it. Her father told her that Wufei once had something against women and didn't like them in battles. He would always call them weak, but grew out of that as the wars came to an end. _Looks like Wufei still has some of his big ego_, she thought as she shuffled a bit.

"I know that both of you had some form of hand-to-hand combat training, whether it be with knives or other weapons. Reyna, your father told me that you had some combat training in different areas. Show me what you can do with these daggers. You will be fighting me," Wufei said and tossed her two sharp looking daggers.

Reyna glanced at them; their wicked looking handles gleaming in the café's bright lights. She could see her reflection on the blades and she glanced back up at Wufei.

"They are real, real enough to kill," Wufei answered her unspoken question and Reyna gave a curt nod. She stepped towards him and crossed the daggers over her face. She noticed that Wufei wasn't holding any weapon and she was slightly confused. She was about to ask him a question when suddenly without warning, he charged at her, his eyes narrowed to silts. Reyna leaped out of the way…only to be slammed down on to the hard mat as Wufei slammed her in the back with an extendable bo.

"The first thing when fighting, is not to wait, but to be alert at all times," Wufei said in a gruff voice as she got up, rubbing her lower back.

She ducked to avoid the staff again, and jammed one of her daggers upward, meeting hard wood and some steel. Reyna gritted her teeth as she ducked onto the ground and extended her leg out in a swipe. She grinned a bit as Wufei tripped and fell, but her grin faltered as he took the fall in a graceful flip. Reyna got up and charged at him, slashing upwards at him. She feigned right then left, then brought both of her daggers into his face, mere inches away from it, pointed in a 'v'. Reyna panted a bit, slightly exhausted.

"Good," Wufei complimented her not even blinking at the daggers that were centimeters away from his forehead. Reyna stepped back a bit. She swiped her forehead and found that her arm was covered with sweat.

"So what does that rate me?" Reyna asked sarcastically.

"Neo, I hope your listening to what I say, because you're next. Now, Reyna, you fight by trying to overwhelm your opponent, which is good, except you must fight defensively also. The way you take your weapon, now apply it to your hands. Put your hands like daggers and try fighting like that," Wufei instructed and Reyna glanced at him weirdly.

"Uh," Reyna started, then shrugged as she dropped her daggers and kicked them away. She shook her hands loose then placed them in front of her, one near her forehead, the other away from her face. She narrowed her eyes and waited for Wufei to make the first move. The first move wasn't what she had expected. Reyna twisted to her side to avoid Wufei's lightning fast kick then retaliated with her own swipe. She got lost in a whirlwind of hand to hand fighting as she kept blocking for her life. Reyna wished that she had put her long hair up into a bun instead of a braid as it thumped against her back, making it a slight distraction.

"Stand down," Wufei finally said and Reyna nodded wearily. She sat down next to Neo, her breath coming in quick. Reyna closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them and she breathed deeply. Not ever had she fought this hard, with this intensity.

"Neo, show me what you can do with your knife combat," Wufei instructed and Reyna looked through bleary eyes at the young Winner who held a sharp knife in her right hand. She felt her head swim from the lack of oxygen and Reyna tried to keep herself from passing out. _Damn, this has got to be boot camp_, she thought wiry as she looked at Neo, who had a focused and determined edge in her.

***

Tarrant blinked as he felt the Zero System invade his mind. He never felt so much power, and in so little time. "Whoa," he whispered mostly to himself as he gripped the joysticks of the simulator.

"Tarrant? You okay in there?" his father's worried voice penetrated the silence in the simulator.

"Uh, yeah, sure thing dad…it just feels a little weird that's all," Tarrant replied, and swallowed a bit. He shook his head to clear away the sensation and focused on what was happening. "Ready to begin training," Tarrant said in a loud and clear voice.

A few seconds passed, by then the cockpit of his Gundam simulator filled with a blanket of stars and Tarrant glanced at his monitors. There were a few red blips coming towards them and he glanced back to the main screen. He keyed a zoom in and on the top left hand corner of his main screen showed that the enemy was an Orion suit. Tarrant throttled his Gundam and drew out his double beam saber. He gripped the handle with both of his hands and slashed at the incoming Orion suit. Surprisingly the suit ducked underneath his beam and fired some bullets at him. Tarrant staggered back as the bullets peppered his Wing Zero.

"All right, you wanna play tough, so play," Tarrant growled as he focused on the Orion, his mind calculating the exact weak points of the suit. He felt as if his brain was given a boosted power that helped him in the battle. He shut off one end of his beam saber and flipped backwards to catch his twin buster cannon. Tarrant pointed the beam cannon at the Orion who was flying straight towards him and he let the targeting square rest on his eye. The tone went from small blips to a deep tone and the targeting box turned red, indicating a perfect shot. Tarrant squeezed the trigger and a deadly high powered beam sprang from the barrels of the cannon. When the explosion died, Tarrant saw that he had eliminated the pesky Orion.

Suddenly Tarrant felt his hands go numb as something slammed into his back. He glanced behind him and saw that a Serpent unit had poured bullets into him. "Shit," Tarrant cursed underneath his breath as damage readouts began to fill his screen. He mentally kicked himself for not having an open eye on the rest of the battlefield as he was destroying the Orion suit. _Damn, I should have kept my guard up_, Tarrant thought to himself as the simulator went blank and he sat in blackness, save for the occasional wink of a red light. He bowed his head as the simulator's hatch opened from the side and out of the corner of his eye he saw his father's stern look on his face.

Tarrant sighed and unbuckled himself from the simulator and stepped out, wincing a bit as the harsh light of the room drilled into his brain. He huffed a bit as he leaned against the side of his simulator; his head still slightly bowed down.

"You know what mistake you made?" his father's voice asked and Tarrant felt pained to hear such words from his father. He had never tried to make any mistakes in front of him, he always wanted to please him so much and now, he had made a mistake.

"I forgot to watch my back," Tarrant replied in a soft voice.

"Besides that, you also went for the Orion very aggressively. That kind of move can leave you in two positions, both, which are impending disasters. One is that you can be attacked at any given moment since you're so focused on the Orion. Two, you can leave your teammates in grave danger when in-group missions. You go after a single suit without any thought or care to others, you might get them killed in the process," Trowa explained coming around, Adler in tow.

"Both of you have a lot to learn about teamwork and also how to use your Gundam with the full effect on enemies," Duo added, glancing at the two teenagers. He tossed his head a bit, letting his braid settle down his back, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Starting tomorrow, Tarrant, you will train with Wing Zero in space. Adler, Taliesin isn't completed yet, so you will spend time in the simulators. Do I make myself clear?" Trowa asked, giving each an even look.

"Yes sir," Tarrant and Adler replied in unison.

***

Cavan kept an even eye on his opponent in front of him. His opponent was his cousin, Val. His father and Uncle had ordered them to fight each other, to see what skill level they were on. Cavan knew that Master Wufei had been teaching both of them simultaneously and taught them different things, but keeping them at the same level at all time.

"Fight without restrictions, we will exploit some of your weaknesses from the way you fight," his father called out and Cavan nodded curtly.

He glared at his cousin and saw that he waved the palm of his hand, gesturing for him to make the first move. Cavan felt a smile tug at the corner of his lip and he lowered his head for a few seconds. He glanced back up and brought his right leg out, intending on kicking him full in the chest. Cavan was surprised that Val fell for his trick and grabbed on to his outstretched leg. He gave a small grin as he spun to the ground, and as soon as his back hit the mat, Cavan kicked himself up and crouched, swiping his left leg underneath Val's, dumping him to the ground. He proceeded to kick him on the ground, but every time tried to kick, Val would roll away. Cavan crossed his hand in front of his face in an 'x' to protect himself from the flurry of blows Val aimed at his head.

He retaliated by faking a few jabs at Val's chest then kicked him hard in the stomach, making him crash to the floor. "Not so tough, or well trained are you?" Cavan sneered as he watched him get up; a small trickle of blood ran down his mouth.

"I've…only gotten started," Val said in a dangerous voice and Cavan narrowed his dark eyes.

He was about to attack Val again when his father's sharp voice rang out, "That's enough for now. Wufei still has a lot to teach you."

Cavan dropped his stance and glanced at his father. He knew that Wufei had told him that he wasn't good enough, he still lacked in some areas, but Cavan had ignored him. _Now father thinks that Wufei's not teaching enough_, Cavan thought and smiled a bit at the thought. He would get a real mentor, someone that would praise him for his efforts. Every time Cavan sparred with Master Wufei, he seemed to criticize every move that he made.

"Val, you lack focus sometimes when you battle. You let some of your anger fuel your fighting. This can ultimately lead you to defeat. Also, your fighting is a bit choppy at some places. There are times where I saw you hacking instead of smoothing out your battle formation," Zechs explained and Cavan saw his cousin give a curt nod. He was about to smile when his father's voice broke in again.

"Cavan, your technique is very predictable. This can lead to your defeat by an opponent, who can easily predict your moves. You have to vary around, try different tactics, keep your opponent guessing," his father said to him and Cavan raised one eyebrow. Had he guessed wrong? Was his father telling him that he was a disappointment? _No, I won't have it, I'm better than he says, I can defeat my opponent without his advice_, he thought angrily.

"Starting tomorrow, we will work with each of you, bringing up your flaws during the training. If both of you ever encounter Locke Dabnerba face to face, you must be ready to draw upon everything you learned. Hopefully, you will never meet her," Heero instructed and Cavan nodded.

"Dismissed to your bunks until 0430 hundred tomorrow," Zechs ordered and Cavan left, walking quickly away from Val as he could. He hated being shown up by him.

***

__

Chapter 9- Strike Attack

Lealya glanced at her watch, tapping her foot impatiently. She hated waiting for Tarrant. He had promised to meet her around 2200 and it was already 2230. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around.

"Sorry that I'm late and scared ya," Tarrant apologized and Lealya grinned at him.

"So what happened?" she asked, as he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. Lealya put a hand to her cheek where he had kissed her and was surprised.

"Eh, my dad and Captain Barton were running us through with sims. They sucked," Tarrant replied, scratching the back of his head.

Lealya smiled a bit and one of her hands yanked on a strand of hair that seemed to fall in between his eyes. "Well, you look like you need some good rest and relaxation after what you've been though," she said in a playful voice and Tarrant gave her a look.

"I need some sleep, that's what I need," he replied, and covered his mouth as he yawned.

"Not the answer I was looking for," she replied, giving him a mischevious look and Tarrant raised one of his eyebrows.

"You want me to…you know," Tarrant spluttered and started to turn red from embarrassment.

"Only when you feel like it," Lealya replied and Tarrant breathed a sigh of relief. Lealya hid a small smile; she loved embarrassing him. She placed a kiss on his lips, then looked at him with worry.

"Did the Zero System affect you in anyway?" she asked, worry laced over her voice.

"No, not really. All I felt was a rush of power, something I've never felt before. It actually helped me battle," Tarrant replied, his gaze wistful and Lealya looked at him curiously.

"I'll install it in your Wing Zero first thing in the morning, okay Tarrant?" Lealya asked, and received a slightly distracted nod from him. "Tarrant, what's wrong?" Lealya asked.

"I don't know, I mean I've only met you yesterday, and yet I feel so in love with you. This has never happened to me before, not this quick, or fast. And my parents sure don't even know about it," Tarrant replied and Lealya glanced down, a tear fell from her face.

"Do you want to look for another girl? I'll understand if you don't want to be with me anymore," Lealya said in a soft voice. She turned away from him, not wanting him to see the hurt in her eyes. Lealya felt herself being turned back and she stared into his deep cobalt blue eyes. They seemed to penetrate her soul, digging deep into her thoughts.

"I don't want to look for any other girl…I…I love you, Lealya," Tarrant started shakily and Lealya nodded.

"I love you too," Lealya replied and before each of them knew it, Lealya found her mouth covering him, their arms wrapped around each other for comfort. Lealya felt lightheaded, as all her blood rushed up to her head and she felt electricity crackle, soaring up and down her arms and head. When they parted, Lealya was breathing deeply, slightly out of air.

"Whoa…" Tarrant commented randomly.

Lealya tried to slow down her quickened breathing and glanced at her watch. "Tarrant, you have to get some rest. It's about 2300, and you need your rest so you can train harder tomorrow," she whispered and Tarrant nodded numbly.

"Uh, yeah…okay," Tarrant replied and Lealya ruffed his hair.

"Get some sleep, you baka. I'll meet you bright and early at about 0430 by the café, okay?" Lealya asked.

"Sure thing…" Tarrant replied and Lealya gave him a small kiss then left, walking towards the simulator room to pick up Tarrant's Zero System.

***

Neo twisted and turned in her bed sheets. She was slightly glad that she slept on the bottom bunk instead of the top where Reyna was, sleeping soundly. She snapped her eyes open, unable to clear the image of her father, dying in the most grotesque way. Neo bumped her head slightly and cursed softly, rubbing her head. She got out of bed and slipped over to the small desk with a computer on it. She flipped on a switch that turned on a small desk lamp, dim enough as to not to wake the other girl, but bright enough for her to see.

Neo shivered a bit from the effects of the dream. Dreams tended to stay with her, because of her empathic powers, and afterwards, they sometimes haunted her. Neo could usually make herself forget the dream, but this time, she didn't want to. She closed her eyes slightly as she tried to remember all that happened in her dream.

__

Explosions littered space, as she stood in front of her home Colony. They had come, interrupting everything. They had attacked without warning and she was her Colony's only line of defense. Everyone she knew was dead with the exception of her father. Her mother had died fighting with the Maganacs. Her Uncle Rashid perished along with her mother as a powerful beam coming from an angular spaceship destroyed the Maganac Corp. Her little brother and sister were destroyed after a shot from the same angular spaceship that had penetrated the Colony. Adler, the boy that she had grown to love, was dead. Killed by a mysterious person with bright purple eyes and black hair. She had been a witness to his death, and her steel composure had fallen after she saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, his eyes lifeless and staring into nothing. Reyna, and her twin brother, Tarrant, were killed in their Gundams, killed by someone who looked a lot like the head technician, Lealya Hillard. Val, the Commander's son, had died fighting Locke Dabnerba, and his father followed soon after that. Neo had seen Locke kill off the Vice Foreign Minister and rip the head off of Val's little sister, Setsuna. She had seen Wufei put up a good fight, but he had missed a step and perished, falling down a steep cliff. Then Locke had killed the Merquises, since they were indirect line to Val's family. Adler's father was missing in action, so was Reyna and Tarrant's parents. She faced the Omicron Empire with only her Gundam, the last defense of Earth and the Colonies. Neo knew that she was outnumbered but she had to fight, she had to carry on the memories of her friends. She had fought valiantly, but Locke had made her way to Colony 04 and taken her father hostage. She then killed him, slitting his throat and then stabbed him in the heart. Neo felt her throat get raw as she screamed her torment and sadness out of her.

Neo suddenly sat up as the dream ended, and she realized that she had fallen asleep again, the dream repeating in her mind_. Is this the future? Is this what's going to happen?_ She wondered as she switched off the light and glanced at the digital clock. It read 0230, and she realized that she had only about two hours left of sleep to go. A slight aching in her right arm alerted her to her first combat training with Wufei and her first battle by the Omicron Empire. Some how, Wufei had managed to bruise her in the same place she received the deep cut from a piece of shrapnel.

"Neo…what's going on?" Reyna's sleepy voice came from the top bunk.

"Nothing, Spitfire. Go back to sleep," Neo replied and crawled into her own bed. She pulled the covers over her and huddled in them, shivering slightly. The dream…it scared her so much. Neo closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but all she saw was the dying image of her father.

***

Adler woke up to an annoying beeping sound. He reached over from underneath his covers, his hand groping to shut off the dammed alarm clock. Adler reached the clock and glanced at the time…it read 0415. _Oh shit_, Adler cursed in his mind as he realized he had only fifteen minutes to get ready and report to the combat room. He threw the covers off of him and sat up, wincing a bit as his head came in contact with the ceiling of the top bunk. Adler rubbed the top of his head and got up. He looked at the top bunk and was surprised to see Cavan, his roommate, not there. _Great, thanks Cavan for waking me up_, Adler thought darkly as he grabbed a comfortable tan flight suit and went into the refresher station. He emerged a few minutes later, drying his hair. Adler looked over to Cavan's side of the room and saw that the older teen was very organized.

"Heh, looks like he can clean up spotless," Adler muttered to himself as he slipped on his ankle-high black boots and grabbed an energy bar from the table in their bunkroom. Adler knew that when he was under house arrest, his food, dinner and all, was to be served to him in his room. He wasn't allowed to wander anywhere.

Adler walked quickly out of his bunkroom, finishing up the energy bar as he walked along the long corridors that littered the asteroid. He entered the combat room and found that everyone except Cavan and Tarrant was there. He noticed that Reyna was in the black-blue flight suit, her helmet tucked underneath her arm.

"Space training, I take it," Adler stated to Reyna and she nodded.

"I seriously hope it's not a repeat of what happened yesterday," Reyna added and Adler nodded.

"With Locke out there, who knows," Val said from his position against one of the walls of the combat room.

"Hnn," Adler murmured then glanced at Neo. He was slightly surprised to see her withdrawn and sullen. She seemed almost scared stiff of something and she kept shivering occasionally.

"What's with Winner? Got the cold?" Cavan's arrogant voice filled the room and Adler sighed. _You just had to make a grand entrance didn't you_, he thought to himself as he watched Cavan give Neo a once over. "Nice outfit, looks good on you," Cavan said in a flirtatious voice and Adler suddenly felt a wave of anger course over him.

Adler glanced at Neo who didn't even seem to hear Cavan. "Would you shut up, Cavan?" Adler said in an angry voice and held an even gaze with the older teen. "You've never stopped bragging since you bunked down," Adler said and saw his eyes flash with anger.

"So what your trying to tell me is that-" Cavan started when a sudden banging of the doors to the combat room, stopped all talking and every single pair of eyes rested on Zechs Merquise who was walking in.

Adler saw the former Colonel take a cursory look around then a frown appeared on his face, "Where's Tarrant?"

"Here, sorry sir that I'm late," Tarrant spoke up behind Zechs and slipped in, dressed in a blue-black flight suit, his helmet tucked underneath his arm.

"All of you know what you're supposed to do…get to it," Zechs ordered and Adler filed out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cavan give him a dark look.

***

Val entered the sparring room he was in last night and saw his father, hefting a couple of wooden staffs. He reached up a hand as his father threw one of them and caught it.

"Staff training," Heero said and Val nodded. He waited until his father's back was turned and he ran quickly, bringing one of the wooden ends down on to him. His teeth shook from the force of the block, as his father stared at him with even eyes; both their staffs were crossed in an 'x' between them.

Val quickly rolled to his left, ducking underneath a swipe that would have knocked him senseless. He never thought that his father, after all these years, would have so much power behind his still sinewy form. Val gritted his teeth as he sprang into a flip and landed lightly. He parried his staff against his father, then spun around, whipping the staff behind him. One of the ends of his staff slammed on to the mat, making a loud muffled banging noise. Val waved his hand motioning his father to make the first move. He swung his staff to defend himself, then used the other end to launch himself high over his father's head.

Val landed behind him, and jabbed his staff at his father's legs, trying to knock him down, but he found a resistance there as Heero blocked the jab. Val tried to move his staff, but found that it was stuck in a position that enabled his father to have an advantage. He flipped backwards, letting go of the staff, just in time as his staff flew high in the air. If he had still held the staff, then he would have been thrown in the air too.

"Good, your learning," his father said, and Val nodded, a bit wary of him. He knew that he would have to keep his guard up, cause with his father sparring with him, he never knew when he would attack.

Val suddenly charged at him, and launched a flurry of blows. He ducked underneath his father's staff then shouldered him in the gut, sending him flying. Val smiled grimly as he saw his father pick himself off from the floor. "How's that for unexpected attacks?" Val asked wiry.

He saw his father smile a bit and his eyes blazed with something Val had never seen in them. They spoke of revenge, a deadly revenge. Val was suddenly scared, but he kept his composure. He remembered his mother saying to him that his father had a slightly suicidal, wild look in his eyes, but as time passed, the look died down. Val had ignored what she said before, but he realized now, that same look was back. Val blocked his father's fast blows, all the while backing up. He felt his back hit a wall, and moved his head a bit to avoid a sharp hand jab that was meant to choke his air supply off.

"All right, that's enough for now," Heero said and Val could see the wild look in his father's eyes die down.

Val breathed a slight sigh of relief as Heero stepped away from him. "You almost had me there," Val commented lightly as he grabbed his water bottle and drenched his face in it. He picked up a small towel and rubbed his sweat-covered face.

"You've learned well with Wufei. For a second there, I thought you were Locke," Heero replied and Val glanced at him curiously.

"Does she fight like that?" Val asked, and he saw his father bow his head for a moment, then looked at him. Val saw his eyes had darkened with anger.

"She fights unexpectedly, dangerously, and uses every single thing she has to her advantage," Heero replied and Val nodded uneasily. "Yesterday Zechs told you, that you had some weak points. We're going to exploit them and work on them," Heero stated then dropped into a fighting stance.

Val narrowed his eyes as he prepared to fight again. He knew that his father would push him hard, testing his limits.

***

Quatre narrowed his blue eyes as he stepped off of the shuttle. There were crowds of reporters, holo journalists, photographers, newspaper journalists, and every single thing of the media waiting for him on the bottom of the ramp, ready to swamp him with their questions. The sight of them almost made him duck back into the plane and tell the pilot to take off, but he knew that he'd had to be the first one to face them, for the sake of his friends. Quatre took a deep breath and descended the small stairs that led up to the shuttle.

"Mr. Winner, how do you justify all these questions? What is your comment on the Gundams being built?" one shouted at him.

"Are you building the Gundams, for taking over the Colonies?" 

"Can you explain the reason why you're building the Gundams?"

"What can you say for the recent attacks? Are they affecting your company?"

"There were certain rumors concerning your daughter, is she one of the pilots?"

Quatre ignored all the questions until one microphone was shoved into his face and the person behind it spoke up. "Your pacifist nature, your devotion to the Colonies…did you throw all this out for war? Is your eldest daughter, Cerelia, one of the top junior drivers, doing something illegal, something that you have never told us? Is that why the Gundams are back, back to oppress people?"

Quatre froze in his tracks and turned slowly to face the reporter. He noticed that the reporter was young, very young, yet he seemed to hold an air of power and command. Quatre saw that the young reporter had very deep purple eyes and black hair that crowned his rakishly good looks. "My pacifist nature has nothing to do with this. I don't even know about the Gundams that were created, I only heard that they've been seen in space. Regardless of my former profession as a Gundam pilot, I would have never built one of these destructive machines. And the accusations towards my daughter being one of the damned Gundam's pilot, she is just resting on Earth, preparing herself for her next race which I assume is coming up on Colony 04 in about a couple of days," Quatre replied evenly and saw that everyone was silent as he spoke, recording all of his words. He noticed that some of their expressions changed from concern to pure surprise when he said that he was a Gundam pilot.

He had finally told them, told them one of his deepest secrets that he had been keeping for so long. Now they knew, but he didn't care. It was in the past, and there was nothing they could do about it. Most of them knew about the horrors of the wars that had plagued them until the year AC 200. Now they knew that he was one of them who saved them and prevented them from dying even further.

"Now I'll answer the rest of your questions at the press conference tonight, but now I must see to my corporation. If you'll excuse me," Quatre started, then pushed his way through. He took Ione by the hand and pulled her through the crowd of reporters, and went on a turbolift that took him to the main headquarters of his corporation.

***

Neo shivered slightly, the dream still scared her. She had never felt anything this powerful, or this long. Usually her shivers would be gone by the time she woke up, but this time they lasted a long time. Neo knew that this dream was special, it was a warning of things to come. _But is this real or not? Will it happen to us_, she wondered as she glanced up at Wufei, who took out two daggers and threw one of them at Neo.

Neo's hand went up instinctively and she grabbed the handle of the knife just before the point touched her forehead. Neo tried to put the dream in the back of her mind as she concentrated. She walked over to the mats and faced Wufei, her knife held in front of her eyes. One of her hands was held in back of her, ready for a defensive combat. Neo blinked once then attacked Wufei, spinning in the air with a kick. She brought her knife down in a slash as she landed, but found that Wufei had moved. Neo turned around, her shoulder length hair whipping around her face. She ducked left and right as Wufei trained his deadly slashes on her, forcing her to step back. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer. She opened her mind up fully to her empathic powers and channeled it through her arms and legs. She moved with a blur, flipping over Wufei and slicing at him. She then kicked him in the legs, and brought the blunt end of her knife down on his neck.

Neo leapt out of the way as Wufei retaliated. She did multiple handsprings as she kept dodging Wufei's attacks. Neo sensed through her enhanced mind that there was a wall, about three feet away from her back and she flipped onto the wall. Her hands came in contact with the metal of the wall and she pushed herself off and caught Wufei in the stomach, her legs plowed both of them into the mats. She picked herself up and stepped away from Wufei, her stance defensive as he stood up. She realized that her breath was coming in quick and she was exhausted.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Wufei asked, standing up and brushing the dirt off of him. Neo noticed that he was bruised in a few places, and blood was seeping out of a deep cut that ran along his cheek.

"I have…something to tell…" Neo started, glancing down then back up. She let her mind close up on her empathic powers since they drained her very much each time she used it to fuel her emotions and feel what her opponent's emotions were. That helped her in her sparring all the time.

Suddenly the alarms blared loud and clear and Neo glanced at them before returning her gaze on Wufei who looked a bit angry. "She's back," Neo stated.

"Control room, now," Wufei ordered and Neo followed the Chinese warrior.

***

Reyna decided that the Omicron Empire was a pest, a major bug that she needed to squash. They were like mosquitoes that came back after sucking some of your blood. "You peoples, why are you are you so damn annoying?" Reyna cursed out loud as she prepared her Hellfire again to do battle. She was in the middle of the practice run, when her father had told both of them that Omicron was launching another task force.

"Because they're designed to do this," her brother's sarcastic reply came over and Reyna sighed.

"All right, lets go greet them…by kicking their asses!" she yelled the last part as she sped off, her black wings spread out behind her.

"Right behind you sis!" Tarrant replied and Reyna glanced at one of her side screens to see Wing Zero, flying besides her, his double beam saber held out and ready. Reyna activated her own scythe, and swiped at an oncoming Taurus suit.

"What's this, old stuff now?" she asked as more Tauruses came at her. Reyna narrowed her eyes as she fired her gattling guns, the bullets piercing the metal of the suits and they exploded in a spectacular fashion.

"Looks like it. I mean Lealya told me that some of the old mobile suits were missing from the Mars Base," Tarrant's voice came over and Reyna could detect a hint of wistfulness when her brother spoke about the young head technician.

"Oh," Reyna replied. She knew that she had to talk about the technician with her brother when they got back to the base. She focused her senses on the battle once more and swung her scythe in an arc, decapitating some of the heads of Taurus suits. Reyna held her blade out and wrapped her black leather-like wings around her. Shots were fired at her, but her wings absorbed the beams and she pressed a few buttons that channeled the absorbed energy to her scythe, making it glow even brighter. "Watch out! The goddess of death and angel are here to plague you," Reyna shouted as she fired her wing vulcans, giving her extra speed. She flew with faster speed and moved her scythe a bit as she flew through a cluster of Tauruses.

"Mission accomplished," she whispered as the blasts of plasma and hot metal eclipsed her Gundam, making her eyes glow in the distance. She glanced at Tarrant who seemed to have fared well with his little batch of pesky Tauruses.

"Let's head back to the barn," Tarrant said and Reyna nodded.

"Sure thing," she replied and turned around. She throttled her Gundam and sped off towards a small winking light, the asteroid MO-VII.

***

"All right! That's it! Would someone just tell me, just tell me in plain simple words, why the hell is she going on like this? She doesn't usually do this kind of tactic! What the hell is wrong with this picture," Duo shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"She's testing us, testing our resources. The only thing good to know is that she doesn't know we still have three more Gundams. Right now, all she knows is that there are three Gundams, Falcon Zero, Wing Zero, and Hellfire," Trowa explained in a quiet voice and Duo looked at him weirdly.

"You sure? I mean…" Duo started then shut up as Heero gave him a look.

"The next attack she'll make will be one that the asteroid cannot withstand, even with the Gundams already completed. I'm ordering Cavan, Neo, and Adler to finish their own Gundams by tonight. She will attack tomorrow, and we don't have any choice," Heero said in a grim voice and Duo glanced at Hildre, who was quiet.

"We're also going to revoke their house arrest. They need to start training and keeping them in their rooms isn't going to do any good," Wufei explained and Duo had a distinct feeling that they had all discussed this without him knowing about it.

"Why do I have a feeling something's gonna happen?" Duo muttered to himself as he looked around at the four remaining pilots. "Okay what's going on that you're not telling me?" Duo asked, crossing his arms over his chest, angry at them.

"They've targeted us. Quatre spoke to the press and some how they connected that you guys were the other Gundam pilots and now, the Unified Earth and Colonies is about go up in arms over this," Relena spoke up and Duo looked shocked.

"Damn, I knew this will happen," he muttered darkly. "So what happens? I mean when Locke attacks you guys won't be here," he asked.

"You're in charge along with Zechs," Noin spoke up and Duo looked at her, surprise written all over his face.

"I'm…what?" Duo spluttered.

"We'll be in touch, but it'll be hard to get the media off our backs," Wufei said and Duo nodded gravely.

"All right," he agreed reluctantly, "but just don't leave me hanging out here." He gave them a grim look as a small floating image of Locke spun around the holo projector in the middle of the briefing room.

***

__

Chapter 10- Fated Circle

Tarrant sat down on the locker room bench, resting his head in his hands. His purple-black bangs spilled over his fingers. God did he hate piloting a mobile suit. He was almost killed had it not been for the Zero System. He was glad that his sister was out with him, she knew how a mobile suit worked better than he did.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Lealya's soft voice asked and he felt her delicate hand rub his flight suit back.

"I don't like piloting Wing Zero, but lucky for its Zero System. That thing saved my butt out there," Tarrant replied, and he felt Lealya rest her head on his shoulder. He drew her in close, her soft hair rubbing against his cheek.

"Do you want me to upgrade your Zero System so you have a better performance next time Omicron Empire attacks?" Lealya asked, and Tarrant shrugged.

"Its fine by me. You can do anything with my mobile suit," he replied smiling at her.

"Good, I'll get to it first thing right now," Lealya replied then got up. She looked down at Tarrant and her hand found his. She squeezed it for comfort and smiled a bit. "Don't you go into depression, I won't like that," she teased him.

Tarrant gave her a grin, "Don't worry, I won't." He watch her leave and out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister, peeking from one of the locker rows down, her expression one of anger and disappointment. Tarrant ignored his sister's expression and opened his locker. He took out a regular gray flight suit and began to change, his mood lightened.

***

Val stared at a computer screen, the information scrolling down faster than any eye could see. In a way, he was glad that his father had revoked their punishment, but yet he felt empty. _It's because your father's gone back to earth and you don't have his support_, a small voice inside his head told him and Val frowned. He didn't like that the media was hounding over his father and mother. They had found out that his father was a Gundam pilot and some how blamed him for all these recent attacks. He didn't worry that much about his mother, since he didn't really listen to her that much. His sister Setsuna had gone with them and when she boarded the shuttle, he had almost wanted to jump for joy, but his cool composed nature didn't allow him to.

"There's the information," he muttered to himself as he typed in a command to bring up Locke Dabnerba's files. He was puzzled to see that Preventer had coded and locked up all information concerning Dabnerba and had to do a little hacking into their system. Before doing that, he looked at his cousin's simulator record on a Gundam test and found that he had never piloted any mobile suit in his life, but he scored very well.

"He's a damn good pilot, but an annoying one to say the least," Adler's soft voice spoke up from behind him and Val grunted to acknowledge the teen. "While you're hunting down Dabnerba's information, cross reference to Lealya Hillard. I don't know, but I have a hunch that she's no good," Adler added on and Val nodded curtly.

"Locke Dabnerba, hive minded cyborg. Date of creation, AC 180. Date of death, AC 199 and 200. Cause of death, spacing. There are many reports of her appearing over certain times, but all are unconfirmed rumors. She is considered to be a deadly assassin and very good at her job. Her kind are made to carry out the destruction of their programmed target. When one of them are eliminated, the memory of the dead one is transferred to another body and their mission is not completed until the target is eliminated. Occasionally they will also kill the family members of the target, therefore erasing all traces of a family name," Val stated and glanced at Adler who looked thoughtful.

"So she's after you also," Adler commented and Val snorted.

"Like hell," he said and typed in a cross-reference check to Lealya Hillard. "Lealya Hillard, technician and creator of Falcon and Wing Zero. She came to MO-VII around a year ago, and established herself as a whiz on building mobile suits. She also created variations of the Zero System. Past information…not known."

"An enigma," Adler said then looked closely at the screen where it showed a full picture of Lealya in a flight suit. "Hold on, get a picture of Locke Dabnerba up," Adler ordered and Val typed a few buttons. A picture of Locke came up next to Lealya and Adler frowned.

"Reference check on both shows that they have a ninety percent chance of a match," Val stated then gave an even look at Adler. "You think she's one of Locke's hive minded cyborgs? An extension of her?"

"Probably, though I think she has her own personality. If she is part cyborg then she is a deadly enemy. Plus look at all the transmissions that she logged on…looks like she didn't keep them hidden underneath all those codes. They were made in the night and sent out towards some place in space, not on Earth. Looks like we have a spy in our mist," Adler replied and stepped back from the computer. "We'll have to warn everyone, but no one must provoke her or expose her from her cover. We have to know how much as she sent to Locke before making our move," Adler explained and Val nodded.

"Hnn," he murmured then glanced at Adler, "You go warn the other pilots, I have to warn Reyna. Tarrant might be in trouble."

"Sure thing, I'll see you later," Adler replied and left the room. Val glanced once more at the two photographs, their similarities hauntingly familiar.

***

Reyna slammed her locker close as she saw Tarrant walk out of the locker room, a contented look on his face. She wasn't jealous of him, she had a slight crush on someone, but she was worried about him. He seemed to be too close to the technician, and Reyna had a suspicious feeling about her. She didn't know where that suspicion came from, but her guts were telling her that Lealya Hillard was trouble with a capital T.

She gathered her long hair up into a braid then went out to the main area of the asteroid. She saw a small sparking coming from the almost completed Sandstorm and knew that Neo was working on her mobile suit. Neo had told her when they had bunked down that she was going to fix her Sandstorm in her own way. Reyna had grinned at the thought and knew that the young Winner didn't like anyone touching her mobile suit.

"Reyna," Val's voice said behind her and Reyna spun around, surprised. She glared at him as her breathing calmed down.

"You little ass…stop scaring me," she swore at him, then noticed his grim expression. "What's wrong, you see a ghost that scared the willies out of you," she said sarcastically.

"Where's your brother, he might be in danger," Val said without preamble and Reyna narrowed her eyes.

"What danger? Is there something you're not telling me, Yuy?" Reyna asked, sizing him up.

"Lealya might be a spy for Omicron Empire," Val explained and Reyna cursed softly.

"Shit, dammit, I knew it! That stupid little ass is a spy!" Reyna cursed as she punched a nearby wall in frustration. "I'm going after her," she said in a quiet deadly voice.

"If you expose her cover now, we won't know the extent of the information she sent to Locke," Val said, freezing Reyna in mid-step.

Reyna turned around and stared at Val with cold cobalt blue eyes. "So stop me. That little rat as been moseying her little ass near my brother. I don't think so," Reyna said giving Val a look.

"Warn your brother, but do not tell Lealya. We aren't ready if she attacks or calls Locke to attack," Val said then spun around and walked down the opposite way of the hall. Reyna looked at his retreating back then thought about what he said. _He is right, in a way_, she thought as she glanced at Neo who was hard at work, trying to complete her Sandstorm. Reyna turned and walked the opposite direction Val went, intent on finding her brother and talking some sense into him.

***

Zechs nodded grimly as Adler made his report on his and Val's findings about the mysterious head technician. "I suspected that she was part of Locke's group," he said in a grim voice.

"So where does that leave us?" Cavan spoke up, his face covered a bit in grime and dirt. Adler knew that the older teen had just completed his Scorpion and was reporting to Maxwell and Zechs.

"We're not to provoke her in any way, we want to find out the extent of what Locke knows from her. Contact the others, and tell them about our situation. We'll formulate a plan to suppress her," Adler ordered and Zechs nodded.

"Wait, who gave you all the power?" Duo asked.

Adler shrugged, "Dunno, but we're going to need all the resources we can get if Locke attacks at full force. Neo's just finishing up her Sandstorm and we should be ready if she attacks anytime soon."

"She will attack without warning so we must keep our guard," Zechs said in a quiet voice as a grim silence descended upon the control room.

***

Severn Cawley moved swiftly inside the Global News Network's building. He had to get the media controlled in order for Locke to make her move against the Gundam pilots. Their spy had told her on MO-VII that all six Gundams were completed and ready for action.

"This will accelerate our plans, do not fail me," Locke had spoken to him.

He ran up a few flights of steps, his feet not even making a sound. He pulled out his gun and loaded a round of bullets into them as he stopped by the back door to the main newsroom.

"Ready and going, Red Riot out," Severn whispered into a comlink to the rest of his team down at the bottom of the building. They were supposed to disable all the cameras and kill the guards. Then they were supposed to keep the building secure.

"Acknowledged Red Riot," one of his team members said and Severn pushed the door open.

"Everyone freeze, or I'll shoot!" Severn shouted at the men and women who were startled by a gun pointing at them. He fired a warning shot, killing one of the anchormen instantly.

"Those of you who want to survive, move, hug the wall of the sports desk if you have to," he warned, glaring at them. He motioned to the cameraman and spoke in an icy voice, "You, my friend, hook up those satalights to focus on the _Firestorm_, which is hanging out at LaGrange Point A-9. Do it…now!" Severn shouted the last word and to emphasize his point, he fired another bullet into a woman, the bullet punctured her forehead and she slumped over, dead. Blood slowly oozed and dripped out of her puncture as the rest of the people moved away from her.

He heard whimpers of fear and laughed a bit. "You guys get to watch Dabnerba's take over," he said in a humorous voice. His laughter started as a faint one then became psychotic as he laughed his mirth out at them. _Those foolish people, they don't know what Omicron can do_, he thought as he gave them a wild glare.

***

Neo wiped her sweaty brow as she stepped away from a control box to one of the legs of her Gundam. She had done it; she had completed her Gundam. Neo knew the cause of this. Her father had told the press that he was a former Gundam pilot then made a valid excuse for her that she was prepping up for an upcoming race on her home Colony. _Thanks father, for filling in for me_, she thought. But the media had twisted some of her father's words, and connected him as a Gundam pilot to Heero, Trowa, and Wufei as all Gundam pilots.

"Well, that's life for ya," she commented wiry as she dropped her wrench in a toolbox and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Neo," Adler's soft voice spoke from behind her and she turned around, grinning at him.

"Hey, heard that you completed Taliesin before me! Lucky duck," she said then quieted as she noticed his grim look. "What's wrong Adler?" Neo asked.

She saw him glance around then came closer to her so that his voice would not echo throughout the hanger bay. "Hillard, she's a spy for Omicron," Adler whispered to her and Neo was shocked. The images of her nightmare rushed to her and she remembered in her dream that someone who looked a lot like Lealya Hillard killed Tarrant and Reyna.

"Oh my god…this isn't true. It can't happen," she whispered as she felt chills run all around her.

"Neo, you okay?" Adler asked, as she shivered uncontrollably.

"Uh yeah…fine…" Neo replied numbly as she leaned against the leg of her Gundam.

"You want to get some caf? I mean you've been shivering since this morning. What's wrong?" Adler asked, trying to pry her of information. He was worried about the young Winner, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She immediately stopped shivering.

"I'm fine," Neo whispered, trying to get the horrifying nightmare out of her head. "Let's go find Tarrant and try to convince him about Lealya," she said and Adler nodded.

"He'll need a lot of convincing, since he's practically in love with that technician," Adler replied. _I can't imagine what that young man has done to himself…he's going to get himself killed by staying with her_, he thought as he took Neo by the hand and led her to the café. He was worried about two things, Tarrant, and Neo who had a scared look in her. He had never seen her scared this badly, she had always put up a tough front, showing her abilities to cope with situations, but this one seemed to put her on the edge.

***

Reyna peeked into the café area of the asteroid and narrowed her eyes. She saw, sitting at a table on the far corner of the bay area, Tarrant talking with Lealya, his face was full of happiness. _I'm sorry brother for destroying your happiness, but you don't know what's going on_, she thought as she made her way to their table.

"Excuse me, Ms. Hillard. Can I speak to my brother for a few minutes?" Reyna asked in a sweet polite voice as she smiled at the technician, one full of teeth.

She saw that Lealya had narrowed her eyes, not wanting to be disturbed. "Is this important?" Lealya asked.

"Yes, very," Reyna replied, adding a dangerous edge to her tone.

"All right," Lealya agreed reluctantly and got up. She moved a few feet away from the table as Reyna sat down.

Reyna glared at Lealya who had an impatient look on her face. "Alone," Reyna said in a fairly loud voice and Lealya huffed at her as she walked away.

"So what's with you? I was having a good time talking to her, why did you have to be so rude to her and kick her out?" Tarrant asked, "this isn't like you Reyna."

"No, your wrong, you're the one that's problematic," Reyna said and took a deep breath, "I've never seen you fall for a girl that quick. In fact, I've never seen you fall for a girl at all since you're quiet and shy."

"So, maybe I really like her, that its love at first sight. I suspect that you have that too, with the Commander's son," Tarrant said waggling his eyebrows at her, and she recoiled, shocked. She felt her cheeks get warm as Tarrant laughed.

"Not true, you baka," Reyna whispered looking down at her feet.

"I betcha it is," Tarrant replied, smiling at her. He then quieted down and looked at her seriously, "So, my reason is, why are you so mean to Lealya, I mean she's never done anything to you."

Reyna composed herself as she looked at Tarrant. "Tarrant," Reyna began, then hesitated. "Tarrant, you shouldn't see her anymore," Reyna blurted out to him.

"Why?" Tarrant asked, puzzled. He started to feel an unlikely rage build within him.

"Because…she's a spy for Omicron," Reyna explained.

Tarrant felt her words hit him like a baseball whacking his head. "No, that's not true…she can't be a spy! She isn't, I know it! She isn't!" he denied with force as he stood up, toppling his chair.

"Tarrant! Calm down! There is good reason, I could show you!" Reyna said, placing her hands on his shoulders. She was surprised as Tarrant violently shrugged her firm grip off of him. She had never seen him like this, so angry. The Tarrant she knew never did that to her. "Tarrant, what's wrong with you? You're never like this," Reyna asked, her voice laced with worry.

"Well, maybe I matured over these days," he replied glaring at her with his cobalt blue eyes blazing with anger.

"Tarrant…why won't you-" Reyna started when a suddenly Tarrant slapped her the loud clapping of hand meeting soft flesh echoed throughout the mostly empty café. She placed a shaking hand over the red part of her left cheek, her eyes wide with surprise, as she shook a little. "Tarrant?" Reyna whispered as Tarrant kept glaring at her, his blue eyes held so much anger, she could see it.

"Leave me alone. Don't come and tell me your petty rumors, they have no meaning at all," Tarrant said in a deadly quiet voice then brushed past her quickly and left the café, quickly passing Adler, Val, Cavan, and Neo who were coming in.

"Reyna?" Neo asked, running over to the still shocked girl. Neo took the hand off of Reyna's face and winced a little. The red mark was a deep crimson red, and left a giant welt on her face.

"He…he never did that," Neo could hear Reyna whisper as she sank back down into her chair. Neo touched the mark and Reyna shied away a bit, hissing in pain.

"Don't worry Reyna, it'll heal in a few days, and the welt won't be permanent," Neo said, grabbing Tarrant's still icy cold drink and dabbed some of the ice on the red part.

"Did you tell him?" Adler asked, and Reyna nodded a yes then a no.

"He wouldn't listen. It seems that he's gotten very aggressive, not like him," she whispered as a single tear fell down her face. _Lealya, I'll get you for this…you messed with the wrong Maxwell_, she thought angrily as another tear fell, but this time, her eyes narrowed into silts.

***

Duo looked at Hildre, his eyes worried for their son. _Why is he like this, he's never like this_, he thought as he paced around the control room of the asteroid. "I've tried talking to him, but he won't listen," Duo said exasperated.

"He doesn't listen, not like him," Hildre added on as both of them faced Heero who was communicating from Paris Base.

"He's probably brainwashed. Don't go near him, or else you'll provoke him into doing something rash. The last thing we need now is for him to go around the asteroid and destroy something, like the Gundams," Heero replied, narrowing his eyes.

"But…" Duo protested, as he stopped his pacing and faced Heero.

"I know you're his father, but we need to keep his distance. Yes, I would start going around and demanding what happened if my son was like that, but you have to know…Tarrant has become dangerous. And keeping him in house arrest will only lead Lealya to suspect that something is wrong," Heero explained and Duo narrowed his eyes.

"So you're saying, that me, Tarrant's father, shouldn't act like a father to him? Huh? You want me to abandon him? That's bullshit!" Duo shouted and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hildre flinch a bit at his choice of words.

"Duo," Heero sighed in frustration, "don't make things worst. Locke's playing all the cards now; we don't know what's going to happen. She's already taken over the Global News Network."

"Again? What's she trying to accomplish?"

"We don't know, but don't provoke your son into doing anything rash. We need him to pilot Wing Zero," Heero said then shut off the transmission.

"Is he right? Is Heero right?" Duo muttered mostly to himself. He felt two comforting hands on his shoulders and Hildre's soft voice spoke into his ear.

"I don't like it as much as you do, but if Tarrant comes through this just fine…" Hildre started.

"Don't say anything about it…Tarrant will come through just fine, he's strong, strong like you," Duo replied, grasping her hands and giving them a small kiss.

***

Tarrant walked around after running from the café. He didn't mean to hit his twin sister, but something made him feel compelled to do so. He walked towards the deep end of the asteroid, near the technicians and mechanics quarters.

"Tarrant?" Lealya's soft voice said from one of the dark passages in the deep part of the asteroid. She stepped out into the dim light and Tarrant sighed in frustration. "Tarrant, what's wrong?" Lealya asked, running a hand over his arm. Tarrant felt electricity crackle within her touch and he shied away.

"Nothing I just don't know why I slapped my sister. I mean, I've never done that to anyone before," Tarrant said, frustration evident in his voice.

"Its okay, sometimes we all need to get away," Lealya whispered in his ear, her breath tickled his ear for a second. Tarrant turned to face her and looked deep into her eyes. His hand reached up and stroked her soft black hair as his mouth found hers. He felt her respond to his kiss and he opened his mouth a little to let his tongue explore hers. His right hand pulled her closer to him as they kissed with passion.

Tarrant felt his head become light and he felt himself backing up. He bumped into something hard and one of his hands reached for the knob to the door. He opened it and both of them, stumbled in, still kissing. Tarrant didn't bother to flick on the lights to her room as she pushed him towards a bed. His shins touched the edge of the bed and he sank down, drawing her on top of him. The door shut automatically, enclosing them in slight darkness, the dim light of the moon shining a bit through a small window as both were wrapped in each other's embrace.

***

__

Chapter 11- Traitor Exposed…Battles to Win

Lealya glanced at the sleeping Tarrant. A quilt covered most of his naked body, leaving his chest in full view. She slipped on her clothes and quietly slipped out of her room, careful not to shut the door so loudly so that the young man would not wake up.

"Going some where, Lealya Dabnerba," Reyna's hard voice asked, and Lealya spun around, surprised. She saw the other Maxwell holding a gun, pointed at her chest, her grip unwavering.

"I have no idea who or what you're talking about. My name's Lealya Hillard," Lealya denied glancing at her, "now if you'll please, can you not point that gun at me?"

"What, afraid that I'll blow you head off into tiny pieces?" Reyna countered sarcastically. "So, just where were you going anyway, might I ask," Reyna said conversationally as she raised an eyebrow at Lealya's outfit.

"Going to get some caf," Lealya replied in a cold voice.

"With only your lab coat on? Pretty far-fetched," Reyna sniffed, then it realized something. "You slept with my brother," she hissed as she cocked the gun, her anger visible on her face.

"So? You're brother's a grown man, he can do whatever he wants," Lealya said acidly, glaring at Reyna.

"You bitch," Reyna spat then walked over to her, the gun pointed at her forehead. "Lealya, I know who you are, I know that you are working for Locke, I know that you are a spy, and I know that you are a little shitting bitch who slept with my brother," Reyna whispered in a dangerous voice.

"Then let me tell you this your brother is devoted to me, he is under my control and he will stay under that, until the day you die," Lealya whispered and Reyna saw her eyes flash computing information.

She suddenly felt the wind knocked out of her as Lealya kicked her in the stomach. She dropped to the ground and winced a bit. "I'll get you for this," she whispered in a hoarse voice as she saw Lealya run off. "Ugh damn," she grunted as she stood, up, rubbing her stomach. She picked up her gun and slipped it into the back of her pants. She glanced at the door Lealya came out in and sighed with sadness. _Tarrant, why do you have to do this?_ She wondered as she made her way to the door. She keyed in a code and the door hissed open, spilling light into the room.

"Oh Tarrant," Reyna whispered as she saw her brother lying on the bed, his arms splayed out. She grabbed his pants and started to dress him. Fond memories of her taking care of her brother when he was young came back as she saw him like this; his innocent face just showed nothing. No sign that he had been controlled. When he was fully dressed, Reyna rescued carried him out towards his bunkroom shared with Val.

***

"Sir! Shuttle taking off in Hanger Bay!" an officer shouted and Duo narrowed his eyes.

"Shuttle, identify yourself, what is your reason for departure?" Zechs spoke over the comm system.

"You can thank Maxwell's daughter for blowing my cover," Lealya's voice came back. "You will all die, and Omicron will live," Lealya hissed then shut the link.

"Train all guns on that shuttle, and blow her out of the sky," Duo ordered.

"Yes sir!" one of the officers said. "Sir, she's disappeared from our scanners," the officer replied after a few minutes.

"What the hell?" Duo wondered out loud.

"Dammit, she's got the stealth detectors on the shuttle," Noin swore as she leaned over a sensor station, and pressed a few buttons. "Nothing, nothing that our sensors can find," Noin said after looking at the green map for a few seconds.

"Go for visual," Duo said but stopped when Zechs held up a hand.

"Visual will do no good for us. By now, she's gone, gone to where I don't know," Zechs explained and Duo sighed.

"All right, get the teens up here, especially Reyna, she needs to talk," Duo said and glanced at Hildre who had a grim expression on her face.

***

Neo was worried about Reyna who seemed to be very angry yet very sad at the same time. She also felt sorry for the girl who was facing her father's angry statements.

"Why did you? Why did you provoke her?" Duo asked and Neo saw the young girl bow her head for a moment then raised it up. Neo saw cold anger glittering in her eyes and was puzzled.

"You think I had a choice? Tarrant sure didn't," Reyna said her voice icy as the Arctic.

"Damn straight I didn't," Tarrant's voice came from behind and all spun to see him holding a gun straight at Reyna. "Glad you're the one to blow Lealya's cover," Tarrant said, and cocked the gun, his grip unwavering, his gaze cold enough to freeze water.

Neo narrowed her eyes as Tarrant stood there, ready to fire a bullet. _This has got to be a nightmare_, she thought; as she knew that in her dream Tarrant didn't even do a thing like this. This was a new twist to her perception of her dream.

***

Reyna looked shocked at the gun pointed straight at her. Was this her brother? Was this her twin that she grew up with? "Tarrant," Reyna started as she cautiously stepped forward, holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Tarrant, put the gun away," she heard her father say.

"Shut up," Tarrant snarled and Reyna narrowed her eyes. She knew that her twin never said anything nasty to their father. He lowered his gaze for a second and Reyna saw Val make his move. Tarrant looked up and set his gun on Val to shoot him, but Val was too quick. With one swift movement, Val kicked the gun away from Tarrant and had him pinned on his back.

"One move Maxwell, and you're good as dead," Reyna heard Val whisper to her brother.

"Val, stop! You're going to hurt him!" Reyna shouted, trying to shove Yuy off of her brother.

"He's changed, he's infected with the Hidden Agent Program in him. I saw a needle mark on him, he's changed into an aggressive person Reyna," Val said, and Reyna glared at him.

"He's still my brother," Reyna stated, then suddenly backed up as Tarrant heaved with so much force that threw Val into a nearby wall. Reyna saw Tarrant make a grab for his gun and she leapt without thinking, kicking him full in the chest. She was horrified at what she done when Tarrant flew back from her kick.

"Very well, Spitfire, you attacked me," Tarrant spoke, and Reyna could detect something different in her brother. She ducked as he kicked her and brought up all the training she received from Wufei as she defended herself, all the while backing up.

"Hey! Stop it Tarrant!" Neo's voice came and Reyna saw the young Winner coming towards them, her face grim and angry.

"No! Neo!" Reyna cried out as Tarrant turned his attention from her to the Winner. She expected the young girl to fall within the first blow, but was surprised to see Neo still standing, and dodging all of Tarrant's attacks. _Damn, she's good_, she thought as she felt something, something mysterious about the young girl.

Suddenly she felt some sort of thought wave run around the area, penetrating every fiber of her, renewing her strength. She glanced at Neo and recoiled. Neo's eyes were glowing a very bright shining white as Reyna realized that Neo had special powers, powers that she could only summon up one word…empath. She heard Tarrant yell out in pain as he grabbed his head. "Tarrant!" Reyna cried out, catching her brother in her arms as he fell to the ground and passed out.

"I had to do it, I had to get those probes to overload," Neo said, swaying a bit. Reyna glanced at her to see her fall, but Adler caught her in his strong arms.

"Is he all right?" Val's voice spoke up besides her and she glanced at him to see a bit of blood running from his lips. Reyna turned her gaze back to her brother and saw his eyes flutter open.

"Reyna…Spitfire What's going on? Was it a nightmare?" Tarrant asked, his breath coming in short.

"Shh, its okay Tarrant, you're fine now," Reyna whispered to him, then saw her mother take Tarrant up by the arms and gave him a brief hug.

"Mom, I'm…I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened," Tarrant whispered into Hildre's ears as hints of tears started to show up in his eyes. He leaned into his mother's embrace, soaking a part of her shirt with his tears.

Suddenly an alarm blared, echoing loudly throughout the base. "What the hell?" Duo cursed as he switched on a comlink to the control room. "What's the situation?"

"Sir! Omicron forces approaching rapidly sir, I think they've brought in the whole fleet."

"Shit!" Duo cursed as he shut off the link and glanced worriedly at Neo and Tarrant. "All right, you guys heard what he said, get to your Gundams, and be careful out there. Tarrant, Neo I want you two to stay since you guys seemed to be knocked for the moment."

"No," Neo whispered struggling up as she leaned against a guardrail, "I'm fine, I can heal quick."

Duo glanced at her, perplexed and scratched the back of his head, "You sure? I mean if you get killed out there, Quatre's gonna have my head on a platter."

"If we all get killed out there, dad you're gonna have all of the others on your backs, so don't worry. I think we've trained enough to show Locke what we're made of," Reyna piped up.

"All right, 2nd G-Team, move out!" Zechs ordered.

"Yes sir!" replied every single kid except for Tarrant.

"Good luck sis," Tarrant whispered as he slowly stood up, supported by his mother. He watched his sister activate her Hellfire, ready for battle_. I'll be strong, I'll defeat Lealya…_

***

Cavan strapped himself in his Gundam, the Scorpion, marveling at its grace and fast performance. This was actually the first time he was in the mobile suit that he had completed, and he nodded a bit. _You sure outdid yourself this time Cavan_, he thought to himself as he heard the whine of his Gundam powering up. His tri-screen flickered to life and he powered his beam saber and heat whip. His Gundam was painted a maroon-black color, just like the scorpions he saw when he went to the Lake Victoria Base when he was young.

"This is Scorpion, ready for battle," Cavan keyed his comlink as he stepped out into the launching ramp. He crouched down a bit then suddenly throttled his Gundam and sped into the endless blackness of space. He glanced behind him as he sped towards where Locke's forces waited, and saw that the young Winner and his cousin followed in his wake.

"This is Adler. Locke's forces are bearing mark two-two-niner and she's split them into groups. Concentrate fire on her main defenses and after you've done some damage, destroy all the Orions. Remember to expect something…we don't know how much has she accumulated over the past years," Cavan heard Barton ordered.

"Who made you leader of the group," Cavan demanded as he prepared his heat whip.

"You wanna lead? So lead, just hope you don't get yourself killed," Adler's reply came over bluntly and Cavan stiffened at his tone.

"Fine, you're the leader for _this_ battle," Cavan replied narrowing his eyes. A sudden bleep alerted him to the red dots that were just appearing on the top of his green monitors.

"We've got incoming!" Neo shouted over the system.

"Prepare for battle."

"Roger. This is Falcon Zero, moving to sector two-four."

"Hellfire here, I'll cover you Falcon Zero. Let's teach Locke what we Gundam pilots can do when we're mad."

Cavan raised an eyebrow at all the comments and he sighed. _These guys just don't get it, oh well, tough for them_, he thought as he powered his Gundam and slashed his heat whip at an Orion suit, cutting the suit apart from naval to groin. Suddenly a beep brought his eyes to his monitor as he saw a large triangular shaped object come into view of the sensors. "What the hell?" Cavan cursed silently.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?" Reyna spoke over the comm system.

"Gundam pilots, your time of end has come…I will rectify your mistakes," Locke's voice came over and Cavan stiffened. It was exactly just like his father and mother had told him. Her voice was soft like a young innocent girl, but there was a deadly edge to it that sent shivers down his back.

"Over my dead body asshole," Reyna bit back, "you and your clone thingy, Lealya will go to hell as I see it!"

Cavan saw the triangular battleship appear on his tri-screen, every single surface feature had a cannon or a battery gun on it. _Damn, this thing is a walking arsenal_, he thought as he narrowed his dark blue eyes.

***

__

Chapter 12- Forced Passage

"Give me a reason why these weapons of war have been rebuilt!" a senator shouted from his seat high on top of the semi circular room.

"We have confirmation that the Omicron Empire's risen from its ashes," Colonel Lady Une started then was cut off.

"Well, even if they have risen, why aren't they crushed yet? Surely they're not that strong," another shouted, this time coming from the military section of the room.

"Commander Takehito you don't know her like I do, she's a ruthless killer, who has a knack for getting resources and supplies in such a short time," a soft melodic voice came from the senator side of the room, and all eyes focused on a young woman who was in her mid-thirties. Her red hair pooled around her shoulders, framing her face and accenting her blue eyes.

"Well, I see President Kushrenada…so, Commander Yuy, why didn't you finish the job, like you're supposed to when you _were a Gundam pilot_? Why did you have to let her come back?" Takehito countered, giving Heero a dark look.

Heero returned the look and opened his mouth to counter Takehito's words when suddenly a full screen transmission erupted behind Lady Une.

"Ma'am! We've calculated about four groups of Orion-type mobile suits headed towards our direction. Each group has about fifteen mobile suits, and they're on an attack vector. Also there is interference in space because of a major mobile suit battle…" a frantic officer yelled, not even trying to keep his panicking voice a minimal. Lady Une saw that the officer suddenly paled. "Uh ma'am?" the officer gulped, "G-G-Gundams…Gundams are…what? Wait a minute, this can't be happening!"

"Lieutenant Hiller, you're not making sense," Lady Une said in a hard, cold voice as she glared at one of her subordinates.

"The Gundams are defending the Earth…they've actually came back to help the Earth!" Hiller said in a joyous voice and Lady Une narrowed her eyes. She was going to have to do something about that man, after all this was over.

"All right," Lady Une said and then shut his image off and faced the almost-panicking senators. "Ladies and gentlemen, this base and room will now be under Preventer's control for this emergency military operation. Please head down to the shelters. All military personnel, get to your stations on this base!" Lady Une commanded.

"Who put you in charge? This should be approved by the President, not you!" Takehito shouted as he stood up.

"I agree with Colonel Une, she will defend this base and keep all of you from being harmed!" Mariemaia Kushrenada said in a stern voice, glaring down the young senator. "There's your authorization from the President, Senator Takehito. Now please, head to the shelters before we are hurt. We cannot have anyone injured in this."

Lady Une watched the senator rush from his seat and joined the rest of the political people in a mass flow towards the various shelters in the city of Paris. _Treize, your legacy of peace is still at war_, she thought.

"Where's the main control room on this Base?" Heero's voice came besides her, startling her.

"On the eight floor, I'll take you there, Commander," one of her subordinates said and Lady Une watched the former Gundam pilot walk away quickly, followed by Relena.

"Vice Foreign Minister," Lady Une called out stopping Relena in her tracks; "you should head for a shelter. Things are gonna get ugly around here."

"Not while my son is out there, out there in space battling Dabnerba," Relena replied and Lady Une saw a fire in her eyes, a fire that had fueled her during the final battle against White Fang so many years ago.

***

"Captain Barton! We've got an incoming message from Preventer's Paris Base!" an officer called out to Trowa who turned to face him.

"Put it through the monitors," Trowa ordered, standing with ease as he clasped his hands behind his back. He suddenly grabbed hold of a guardrail as a stray blast from one of the fighting forces impacted the small space station shaking it like a mini earthquake. "Get repair teams out to check for damages, and move us behind the debris from the destroyed MO-II," Trowa ordered as another blast shook the station. He glanced up and nodded curtly as Heero's face appeared, Wufei's a bit behind his.

"Trowa, you monitoring the battle up in space?" Heero asked.

"Yeah, but stray fire's headed towards us," Trowa replied, then steadied himself as another blast shook the frame of the fragile station. "Status! Show me what's going on with the battle!"

"On it sir!" one of the comm-tech officers yelled.

"Can you relay those visuals to us, we're having a bit problem with a task force of Orions headed towards us," Heero replied and Trowa nodded.

"Sure thing," Trowa agreed then pressed a few buttons on a control pad near him. "The images should be sent to you. You might want to ask Duo for better ones, cause he's the closest to the battlefield."

"Sir! There's a task force consisting of about twenty Orions and Tauruses. They're headed towards us on an attack vector…sir I think she's going to blow us out of space," an officer said gravely and Trowa narrowed his eyes.

"Dammit," he cursed softly and glanced at Heero who had a calculating look on his face. "You sure we've destroyed all of the mobile suits after the war?"

"Positive…though…hmm," Heero thought and Trowa looked at him impatient, "I think Lunar Base and maybe Mars Base might have some."

"All right, I'll see what I can do," Trowa said and shut the link off. _Don't get yourself killed Heero, you might need to lead us again_, he thought. "Get me Mars Base, tell them to bring up any mobile suit they have that is not on guard and send it to here! Tell them to leave about two units of mobile suits on guard, we can't have Locke taking over the Mars Base either," Trowa commanded the comm officer, and glanced at a green monitor that showed red blips coming towards them. His gaze rested on a monitor showing the battle that was going on with the Gundams and Locke's forces. _Adler, be careful out there, you don't know what you'll face…_

***

Quatre stared out into the bright city lights of the darkened Colony. It was a simulation of night on his side of Colony 04. _Neo_, Quatre thought as he stretched his empathic senses and felt her determination.

"Excuse me, Mr. Winner?" a soft old voice came from the door of his spacious office; "you might want to check the news. Its something you have to see."

Quatre raised his eyebrows at the urgent tone of his butler. He went over to his vid tube that was situated across from his desk and flicked it on.

"Concerning the news that happened when we interviewed and tried to get some statements from Quatre Winner, this is the result. The Gundams have arrived and they are attacking. Ruthlessly attack the mobile suits with human beings inside of them. We aren't even sure of their hostility," a young newsman said and Quatre narrowed his eyes.

"This isn't true," he whispered as he saw the young reporter with brown hair and very deep green eyes that seemed almost cat-like. _He looks like a person not even qualified for the job_, Quatre thought as he noticed that the young man was wearing army fatigues and realized that Locke had control over the Global News Network. His eyes widened with surprise as he saw the six completed Gundams, battling the Omicron Forces. "Dear Allah," Quatre whispered as he sank down into a plush couch. His worst nightmares ran through his head as he saw his daughter's Sandstorm take a few hard hits.

"Quatre, I saw the news…" Ione's voice said above him and Quatre glanced at his wife, seeing her eyes full of fire and power, "I'll get the Maganac Corp up."

"No wait," Quatre said and stood up. He rounded the couch and went over to his desk. Quatre punched in a few numbers and waited a bit as Heero's face came to focus. "Heero, what's the status?"

"Locke's dividing her forces and attacking us. Get your Colony with defenses, she might come after you," Heero ordered and shut the link.

"Will do Heero," Quatre whispered mostly to himself. Suddenly the doors to his office slammed open and three people dressed in black stepped in. "What the hell?" Quatre asked as he stood up. He could feel evil intentions radiating off of the three men.

"Mr. Winner, surrender now and you will not be harmed," one of the men said and took his mask off, and Quatre recoiled. It was the face of the person who had asked him the questions when he arrived at Colony 04. Quatre could see his purple eyes that glowed an eerie color of amethyst. They seemed to hold an incredible amount of power in them.

"Who are you! What do you want!"

"Shut up old man," the young teen said and extended a hand towards the butler. Quatre watched astonished to see him fly back towards a wall and hit it with a sickening crack. "As for who I am…Mr. Winner, we've met before, when you just arrived at Colony 04. My name is Xylon Riyet, former Black Hand Assassin, now working for Locke Dabnerba."

Quatre suddenly flinched as he felt a sharp pain stab through him, like a dagger through his mind. Another one pierced him, but he didn't see blood anywhere. _Is he doing this mentally?_ Quatre wondered as he glared at the younger teen and stood up. He erected barriers in his mind and extended some of those barriers to protect his wife.

"Ah, barriers…I knew you were going to do that, but it won't do you good," Xylon laughed lightly and Quatre hissed a bit in pain as one ripped through his mental barriers in his mind.

"What do you want from us?" he asked, bending over a bit. He could feel his barriers weakening.

"Your daughter, Neo…I know that she is not actually an empath, she's an ESPer, more than an empath, right? The second of her kind," Xylon stated and Quatre glared at him.

"You're not getting our daughter, Xylon, over my dead body," he heard Ione say as his eyesight became hazy with pain. More sweeping pain kept attacking him and he couldn't hold his mental barriers anymore.

"Oh, Ione…tsk, too bad. You know, she'll respond when she sees you two…" Xylon started the laughed. He watched the vid seeing the battle going on. "Too bad," he whispered and turned his gaze on them, his purple eyes blazed with power as he attacked them with his mind.

Quatre could feel the world spin as his eyesight became very hazy with pain. _Neo, don't come here, it's a trap_, he tried to tell his daughter as he collapsed next to Ione.

***

Neo winced a bit as she was thrown back into her seat, an explosion fading away from her. _Dammit, these guys just don't know when to quit_, she thought as she slashed at an Orion suit, trying to get a lock on her. The pure red hot metal of her one of her double heat scythe cut through the mobile suit with relative ease, slicing it like soft butter.

"Neo! Two behind you! Move to your left!" she heard Adler order and Neo complied without thinking, moving her Gundam. She saw two blue Orions whiz by where she was before, then they were pelted with bullets and exploded simultaneously.

"Thanks Adler," Neo called out then throttled her Gundam and sped off. She slashed two Orions then hooked her heat scythes on her back and she drew out her shot gun-blaster. "This is taking too long, might as well mow them down," she said and fired off one bullet from her shotgun. She reloaded the gun and pelted another Orion. Each bullet she fired pierced a vital part on the Orion suit, making them explode almost at the same time. Suddenly pain erupted in her head and felt her father's pain overwhelm her senses. "Argh," Neo cried out as another wave of pain cause her to falter for a second. Suddenly she slammed forward into her control boards as Orions shot at her.

"Dammit! Get away from me!" she yelled as she brought her shot gun to bear and fired off, her eyes blazing with fury. _Who in the hell of the right mind would hurt my father_, she thought furiously as she slaughtered the Orions mercilessly. She blindly shot at the Orions, letting her fury control her actions. When she stopped she realized that she was breathing hard, her breath came in short and sweat beaded down her face.

"Neo, you okay?" Adler's concerned voice came over and Neo swallowed a bit, finding her throat raw and dry.

"Yeah, I'm fine…what happened?" Neo replied after a few seconds.

"You demolished half of the remaining Orions without even moving from your position," Adler replied, "and you were screaming something about your empathic powers while you were destroying them."

"I did that?" Neo wondered out loud as she glanced around her.

"Hey who turned up a tornado in space?" Reyna's voice came over and Neo blinked.

"Let's go, Locke's life's gonna end right here, right now," Val's voice interrupted them and Neo nodded.

"Copy that," she replied and throttled her Gundam and shot off, following the others towards a triangular battleship.

***

"Locke Dabnerba, surrender now or you will be destroyed along with the rest of your forces," Val said, giving an even look at Locke who's face appeared on the top right hand side of his main screen.

"Seriously, Falcon Zero, you think that I will surrender? You don't even know my full potential," Locke replied and Val narrowed his eyes, his hands gripping the joysticks, ready to fired his Ragnarok. Howard had told him that the Ragnarok was a special beam cannon, designed to eliminate anything as big as an asteroid.

"Listen lady, we don't need your ass-freaking potential! All we need is some peace and quiet! Can you comprehend that in your feeble mind?" Reyna's voice blared out over the comm system.

"Such a pity Hellfire, such a pity for your brother," Locke said, fake compassion flowing over her voice.

"Why you…you little," Reyna started then cursed words even Val didn't even like to hear. He wouldn't even dare to repeat what Maxwell's daughter was saying.

"My, my, Reyna who taught you to have such a dirty mouth like that?" Lealya's image came on and Val glared at her. "Oh, Vailo Yuy, thank you for finding my cover. I really appreciated what you and Adler Barton have done. Now I must repay you for your efforts," Lealya started in a sweet voice.

"You've got nothing. All you got is just laser cannons and those can be easily destroyed," Cavan's voice spat over.

"But I do, Cavan Merquise, I really do have something for you," Lealya said, then her eyes darkened with anger. "Fire the EMP wave," she ordered to someone off the bridge and Val's eyes widened with surprise as a blue wave was shot out from one of the main cannons of the battleship.

"EMP, get away from it!" Val hissed a warning to them as he tried to move his Falcon Zero. Suddenly he felt the blue wave wash over his Gundam, electrifying everything. Val shielded his eyes as his control boards started to overload and sent dangerous sparks flying. He a few dug into him, and he winced as they burned through his flight suit. Suddenly everything went dark, including the Zero System of his Gundam.

"What the hell?" he heard Neo curse through the still active comm system, "I can't even move a damn thing!"

"Don't even try to, EMPs are designed to shut off everything, including the self-destruct buttons," Val said, glaring at the grinning image of both Lealya and Locke. _Electromagnetic pulses, I should have realized that_, Val thought darkly. "Damn you Dabnerba," he whispered.

"Oh, that's not all, I have another surprise for you…tell me, which one of you would like to die first?"

***

Tarrant slipped on his flightsuit helmet, and strapped himself in. He didn't wait until what Lealya had to say he just had a feeling that his sister was in grave danger.

"Tarrant! Get back here! You're not well!" he heard his mother's voice but Tarrant ignored it as he closed the hatch to his Gundam Wing Zero.

"I'm sorry mother," Tarrant replied then shut off the transmission as his Gundam activated. "Zero, guide me through this. Show me the way to protect my sister, show me the way so I can atone for all my sins," Tarrant whispered and felt Zero's power activate, heightening his senses.

Tarrant throttled out of the hanger base and put his boosters on maximum as he flew towards the battlefield. _Reyna, my sister, I'm coming…hang on…_

***

Reyna folded her arms across her chest and glared at Lealya, "You stupid bitch, who wants to die first! Well, not today sister! I've got a brother to protect, and you're not going to interfere with that."

"You're brother's injured, he won't be able to save you and you won't be able to protect him," Lealya replied and Reyna saw something big, something like a giant cannon move towards her.

"What the…" Reyna started as she saw the cannon position itself in her sights, its end glowing while it was charging.

"I'm sorry Reyna Maxwell, that you'll have to end like this. It's a bit painful and designed to shoot through Gundanium. But don't worry, you'll have a short memory of pain before you're blown up along with your Gundam," Lealya said, her voice sugary sweet.

__

No, it can't end like this…I still have things to do…I still have a revenge to get to, she thought as she saw the cannon's end glow brighter. She moved her joysticks around trying to get them to respond to her command. "Move dammit!" she yelled as she pushed her joysticks, but nothing happened.

"Well then, goodbye Reyna," Lealya said in a simple voice and Reyna could only stare as a pinpoint laser beam shot towards her. _This is the end, I'm sorry brother, I couldn't protect you_, she thought as she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I don't think so!" Tarrant's voice came over and Reyna snapped open her eyes just in time to see the beam shoot through Wing Zero, which was standing in front of her.

"NO! Tarrant!" Reyna cried out as she saw that the beam had hit a very critical part of the Gundam. "Tarrant!"

"I'm glad that I was able to atone for my sins, my sister," Tarrant's image came over and Reyna could see some blood floating in his cockpit as he face her, his Gundam's eyes glowing an eerie green.

"Tarrant! Get out! You'll die with that kind of hit!" Reyna yelled, reaching a hand out towards her brother's image.

She saw him laugh a little then cough, "I'm already dying Reyna, can't you see that? The beam…the beam penetrated my spine, and I'm losing blood."

"No, Tarrant, you can't die," Reyna whispered as Wing Zero started to fly away from her, still facing her though.

"Get me a recharge of that cannon!" she heard Lealya say, but her voice was distant as Reyna continued to stare both at the sparkling Wing Zero and her brother. His face was in so much pain, so much that she could feel it with their twin-link.

"I'm sorry Spitfire, that I wasn't able to do much, but…remember, I'll be here always," Tarrant said, his voice getting weaker and fainter.

"No…no…NO! TARRANT!" Reyna yelled, tears streaming down her face, then floating around the cockpit of her Hellfire. She reached out towards him as he sped away, headed towards the triangular ship. "Tarrant! Come back! What are you doing?"

"I…I have…to self-destruct…that away…I'll be able…to…atone for…my…sins," Tarrant struggled to get out and Reyna could see that he was going fast.

"Tarrant," she whispered as Tarrant smiled a bit.

"Don't worry about me Reyna…watch over him, okay?" Tarrant whispered then blew a kiss towards her, "I love you my sister."

Reyna swiped at her tears as she saw him raise a small cylinder with a red button on one of the ends then pressed it. She saw his cockpit light up like fireworks then there was static. Reyna glanced through her viewport, tears making her vision blurry and she saw Wing Zero blow up, its powerful core wiping out most of the Omicron Fleet and damaging the triangular battleship.

"NO!" Reyna screamed as she saw Wing Zero enveloped in the blast. She suddenly passed out as her brother's pain overwhelmed her senses.

***


	2. Pt. 2

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Chapter 13- Desperate Blood Pain

"NO!" Reyna screamed then snapped open her eyes. _What the hell…_she wondered as she saw a large white pool above her. She looked over to her right and found that a metal bar obscured her vision to a window which sunlight was streaming through. She turned her head slowly to the left and saw monitors, which had been propped up next to her. An IV liquid drip hung above her and she realized that she was in a hospital bed. _But then…where am I? I see trees, plants, flowers, nothing…no space, no blackness_, she thought as she slowly propped herself up, wincing a bit as pain shot all over her.

She heard the door open to her room and she spun her head towards the sound, and almost fell back into oblivion as dizziness spun the room around. "Whoa, take it easy Reyna, you had a bad accident," a kind old voice said and Reyna focused her eyes on a grizzled old man wearing a doctor's outfit. She saw her father and mother crowded behind him worried looks on their faces. _Where's Tarrant? I don't see him_, Reyna wondered as the doctor settled her back into her bed.

"What's…What's going on?" Reyna croaked out, feeling her mouth raw and dry from the lack of use. "How long have I been like this?" she asked.

"Now young lady, don't talk too much, you need your strength," the doctor said and Reyna looked at him confused.

"Wait, but…how long have I been out? What am I doing with plants outside of my window…where the hell are we?" Reyna protested as the doctor peered over her, checking her vital statistics.

"Should I answer her questions, Mr. Maxwell?" Reyna saw the doctor ask her father and she raised an eyebrow at his sad expression.

"Yeah…might as well," Duo replied and Reyna knew something was wrong by the tone of her father's voice.

"Now listen to me young lady. If you don't want me to go on, then tell me, because what I'm telling you will be very painful to hear," the doctor explained and Reyna nodded gravely. "You've been in a coma for about five days now, since your last battle with the Omicron Empire. We've moved everyone from the asteroid MO-VII to Nairobi Base…Reyna…" the doctor started then hesitated.

"Its okay doc, we'll take it from here," Duo interrupted him and the doctor nodded and left the room, leaving her door slightly ajar.

"Reyna honey…do you know what happened during the battle?" Hildre asked her and Reyna squinted her eyes to try to remember the events. She saw a flash of her Hellfire destroying a whole bunch of mobile suits, and then her saying a whole bunch of swears, a blue wave knocking her Gundam out of commission. Finally, Wing Zero exploding in space. Reyna felt tears start to roll down her face.

"Tarrant…" she whispered as buried her face in her hands, letting her long brown hair spill all over her shoulders as she sniffed. She felt her mom draw her in close and rock her back and forth like when she was young.

"I'm sorry mom, I couldn't protect him…like…" Reyna started the hiccuped as more tears began to flow down.

"Reyna, its okay, you just have to let it all out, shh," Hildre whispered into her ear, comforting her.

"Reyna," Duo's voice rumbled and Reyna felt the two comforting bodies of her parents hugging her, "we'll all miss him." Reyna finally couldn't stand it. She let all her tears out and cried into the shoulder of her mother.

A pair of eyes watched from the door to her hospital room. Val turned away from the sight and walked down towards the training room on his home base. He felt sorry for her, but he didn't want to admit it, he knew that she was something special.

"Going somewhere Val?" Cavan's voice said from the shadows and Val stared at his cousin who stepped away from the shadows.

"Yeah, in fact I was…so leave me alone," Val replied curtly and walked away.

***

Adler stood a bit away from the door to the swimming area of the Nairobi Base. He glanced at Neo who was poised to take a dive into the Base's diving pool. She looked healthy again, after four days of recuperating from her initial injuries. There were more injures to her mind than to her body, Adler thought as he fiddled with a datapad in his hand. The information on the datapad told of some bad news. _Heh, every time I talk to her, or meet her I'm always bringing bad news_, he thought wiry as he took a deep breath. He stepped into the pool area, and stayed near the benches as he cautiously made his way to where she would usually get out of the pool after making her dive. The air smelt of chlorine and had a musty feeling.

He heard a thwaning of the diving board being tested and looked up to see Neo take a leap out into mid air. She seemed to hover in the air for a few seconds before falling rapidly, her hands extended out above her head. Adler watched her dive into the pool, barely making a splash as she entered the water. "Uh…Neo?" Adler started tentatively as she climbed out of the pool, her hair-soaking wet.

"Oh, hi Adler, didn't hear you enter," Neo said brightly as she reached for her towel and wrapped it around her one-piece suit. Adler felt himself blush as he realized that he was staring at her body. "What was it that you wanted?" Neo asked, giving him a good-natured smile.

"Oh…uh," Adler started the handed her the datapad, "every time I see you, I'm always the bearer of bad news."

"Oh don't worry about it…" Neo started then her eyes widened with fear, horror, surprise, Adler couldn't tell as she looked at the information on the datapad. "What the…"

"Yeah, I just found out about your father and mother this morning. Heero sent me to find you, he and the others want to talk to you about this," Adler said walking over to her, and placed a comforting hand on her wet shoulder.

"Its okay…I should have known this would happen," Neo replied and Adler raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, I'll go tell them that you're coming now, okay?" Adler asked, glancing at her. He was surprised to see a fire burning in her eyes. That same fire he had seen in her when she was shooting her guns during the celebration about a week ago had reappeared.

"Sure," Neo replied in a monotone voice and Adler watched her walk off. _She's regained her confidence, good_, he thought as he watched her walk, her posture and gait told him that she was burning mad, burning mad for those who had captured her family.

***

Val turned his head towards the door to one of the small briefing rooms on the Nairobi Base as it opened up, showing the last missing member of the meeting besides Reyna Maxwell. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Neo Winner dressed in a black flight suit, ready for combat.

"Good everyone's here," he heard his father say and Val focused on the holo projector in the middle of the room as it activated and all the lights dimmed. "We have three situations right now. First off, Locke's forces are injured heavily so we can go and destroy her once and for all now, but we can't in the conditions your Gundams suffered also of the Space Force Station and our forces. Second, is that the Global News Network has been taken controlled by one of Locke's men, who goes by the name of Severn Cawley. We need a team to infiltrate the Network and render Locke's control over it useless. Third, is that of a personal problem that concerns you, Neo. I take it that Adler gave you the information concerning your parents right?"

"Yeah, and I don't take a bullshit about it," Neo replied acidly.

"Good, then you'll be freeing Colony 04. I'm have Adler accompany you since he knows a lot more about stealth takeovers that you do," Heero replied and Val saw Neo raise an eyebrow.

"But sir, won't you'd be needing him for the Network infiltration?" Neo asked, and Val could detect not a hint of sarcasm, but of worry. _Hmm, so Quatre Winner's daughter likes Adler Barton…why am I not surprised_, Val thought as he returned his gaze to the holo projector.

"Nah, that's where I'm coming in," Duo's voice said from the background and Val saw everyone's gaze turn to the former pilot of the Deathscythe Hell who was walking in. "I'll be heading the team that goes to the Network Base since I've already liberated it once and know the way through, but we'll get to that later."

"Your shuttle will be an unmarked shuttle, and you'll be able to store your Gundam and Adler's in it in case you run into any trouble. When you reach Colony 04, identify yourself with this passcode and password. Proceed to a secret entrance that one of our agents prepared for you. Luckily she was stationed on Colony 04 when it happened," Lady Une explained and Val saw Adler's face darken with suspicion.

"Yes ma'am," Neo replied as she tucked a card with the passcode and password into one of her pockets in her flight suit.

"Launch now," Lady Une ordered and Val saw Neo and Adler salute then leave the room.

"The Network Base Infiltration will commence in a day. Duo Maxwell will lead the team. Cavan, you're second in command, Val you're going to be their backup. You'll leave at 0500, just a half hour before they have their morning program," a voice said from the darkened part of the holo projector and Sally Po stepped out from where she was compiling data.

Val saw the faces of the former Gundam pilot light up as one of the biggest contributors to Preventer was back.

"Hey Sally, long time no see," Duo said, giving her a grim smile.

"Colonel Po has been on underground cover for a long time, getting information for us. She also got data on the _Firestorm_, the battleship Omicron constructed," Lady Une explained, "there are some weaknesses to that ship that will help you guys on your next battle against her." Val saw a blueprint of the ship appear on the holomonitor and he moved a bit closer to pay attention to what Lady Une was explaining.

***

Locke spun around from her swivel chair in the main Control Bridge of the _Firestorm_. "What's the status of our repairs?" she barked at a young man with blonde brown hair and beady green eyes.

"Uh, yes ma'am. Um, the _Firestorm's_ external batteries of firepower and cannons have all been damaged and we're rebuilding them as fast as we can. Also the main cannon's recharge has been slow. The EMP burst is totally demolished, it will take us years to rebuild it, so consider that useless-" Dr. Warren Parker started then gulped in fear as Locke's gaze drilled into him.

"I don't need facts, I need an estimated time before we could attack again," Locke said in a quiet deadly voice and Dr. Parker backed up a bit.

"Uh, yes ma'am. It will take us…about three days before we can be up to battle status," he replied quickly and sighed in relief as Locke smiled a bit.

"Good, then tell the technicians on Lunar Base to hurry it up with the repairs, we must keep this base occupied and be ready for the Gundams," Locke said and walked out from the bridge.

"Ma'am?" Jordan Kent asked, flanking her as they walked down the long halls of the battleship, avoiding technicians who were furiously trying to fix the battleship.

"Where is Lealya? Is she recuperating from the blast from the self-detonated Wing Zero?" Locke asked, keeping her eyes ahead at all time.

"Yes ma'am. She is doing fine; she should be within acceptable parameters in around six hours. Good thing she wasn't destroyed along with the EMP blast since she is the only one of her kind," Jordan replied and Locke raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think she's the only one of her kind? There are more of her, millions of her, and it doesn't take one to figure out where the rest of her clones are," Locke said in an acidly voice and saw surprise written all over Jordan's face.

"Uh, yes ma'am," Jordan replied, unsure what to make out of the present situation.

"You're next mission," Locke started, "you are to head to Nairobi Base, wait there until you find your target which will be Adler Barton. When the opportunity presents itself, I want you to eliminate him, he is the leader of their Gundam group and he needs to be suppressed. If Neo Winner is in the way, dispose of her also because she is the brain of the group. Most likely she won't be there, she'll be here because of her present situation."

"Ah, her parents are captured and Xylon is going to force her to come here for the Hidden Agent program, am I correct? What about my missions to take small strike forces to each other Colony?" Jordan asked giving a sideways look at Locke.

"Those you don't have to worry, if she is under our control, then she will do our work…dismissed," Locke ordered and Jordan saluted before heading down a hallway which held an unmarked shuttle.

***

Neo set the shuttle on autopilot and glanced at their estimated time of arrival. _Hmm, about half and hour_, she thought as she got up from the cockpit chair and floated towards the door.

"Checking your Gundam?" Adler's voice interrupted the silence, and Neo turned back, slightly startled.

"I thought you were asleep," she said, giving him a sideways look.

"Meditation…it helps," Adler said shrugging nonchalantly, "You going to check your Gundam?"

"Yeah, I want to make sure its all repaired to the fullest, just in case we've got to battle," Neo replied, "call me up when we're about ten minutes from Colony 04. I want to get the satisfaction of telling Riyet to shove whatever thing he has up his ass."

"You've been spending too much time around Reyna," Adler commented and Neo gave him a glare.

"No, I just developed this myself," she replied and shut the door behind her. _Why is he like this? I thought he was always quiet, but looks like Tarrant's death hit him hard, actually it hit us all hard_, she thought as she looked at her Sandstorm which was kneeling on one knee its head bowed.

"Sandstorm, you're the child of my father's Sandrock…" Neo whispered as she looked at Sandstorm. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated._ Adler, the boy that she had grown to love, was dead. Killed by a mysterious person with bright purple eyes and black hair. She had been a witness to his death, and her steel composure had fallen after she saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, his eyes lifeless and staring into nothing._ Was she going to see him dead when they reached Colony 04? She had a premonition something was going to happen but what?_ She had fought valiantly, but Locke had made her way to Colony 04 and taken her father hostage. She then killed him, slitting his throat and then stabbed him in the heart._ She snapped her eyes open as parts of her dream faded and she felt something heavy on her and glanced at her shoulders to see a brown flight jacket covering her, keeping her warm. She realized that she was shivering slightly, an after effect of her dreams.

"You okay? I mean I heard you cry out something, then found you here, standing shivering like crazy," Adler's soft voice said from her right and Neo turned slightly away from him. "What's the matter?" he asked and she felt his comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you," Neo replied biting her lower lip as she tried to keep tears from falling from her eyes. She hated this dream that she had, she hated her powers. Parts of the dream already came true, but was there more to come? She hated that she had powers that went beyond her father's, powers of her mind that she didn't even know about.

"Try me," Adler replied in a humorous tone and Neo shook her head slightly. She didn't want anyone to die again, especially him. She frowned a bit, wondering why all of the sudden she especially didn't want him to die. _Is it because…because I'm feeling something I've never felt before?_ She wondered.

Neo sighed shifting her shoulders a bit. "You sure you want to hear this?" she asked.

"Yeah, its not like going to kill me," Adler replied and Neo winced inwardly at the choice of his words.

"You don't know how close to the truth you are," Neo replied and she felt his hand stiffen a bit. She felt confusion radiating from him. "I saw you die, in my dreams," Neo whispered, her gaze looking at her Sandstorm, but they seemed to focus faraway. "I saw all of us die in my dreams. Lealya Dabnerba killed Tarrant and Reyna, Val died at the hands of Locke, and you…you died at the hands of a person with black hair and purple eyes. I held you in my arms as you died, your blood seeping out of you. I saw my father die, at the hands of Locke. I saw everyone I knew die by the Omicron Empire," Neo suddenly spilled, her grip on the guardrail overlooking the two Gundams, were white.

"Uh…I'm sorry," Adler said reaching a hand out to her.

"Don't be," Neo replied whirling around to face him, her eyes blazing with anger. "Its my fault…its my powers that show me this, I hate them. They're like a curse to me, bestowed by my parents' genes. I want to be like them, an empath, but I'm much more. The dreams that I have, they can tell what could happen and if they start coming true, it scares the hell out of me," Neo said in an angry voice. She faltered for a second and squeezed her eyes shut. "God dammit!" she yelled, banging a fist on the guardrail, "why did Allah give me this!"

Adler didn't know what to do at the moment…he didn't know that she was suffering on the inside so badly. It was killing her on the inside. _She always put up a tough front, a steel composure for others, but this…this is killing her more than it should_, Adler thought as he watched her silently. He reached out and took her into his arms, as she shook a bit. He wondered if the shaking was an after effect of her dreams. _If what she said can come true…no I won't let that happen, her dream won't kill her anymore_, he thought with determination as he looked over Neo's head and gave an even look at his Taliesin.

Suddenly there was a bleeping sound and Adler felt Neo stiffened a bit. "Ten minute limit," he whispered.

"I know," Neo replied back, her voice slightly muffled as she leaned against him. Adler cautiously released her from his embrace hoping that she had regained her confidence.

"You still want to wait a bit, give yourself some time alone? I can do the passcode and password, if you don't feel up to it," Adler offered, looking at her blue eyes to see if there was any trace of distress, but he found none. Instead he found a fire in her eyes that told him that she was going to stop whoever planned to destroy them.

"No, I'm fine, let me do it…I'm going to stop whoever's taken my father and the Colony," Neo replied a steel edge in her voice. Adler watched her go back into the cockpit and he smiled a bit.

"Good, she's back to her normal self," he whispered, "just hope she can stay like this 'till this fiasco with Omicron is over."

***

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Chapter 14- Commando Operatives

Cavan dropped his duffel bag at his single occupancy room and flicked on the lights. _Hmm, not bad of a choice, this is just a bit smaller than the rooms at the asteroid. At least I don't have to share with anyone of those mourning idiots_, he thought as he tossed a manila folder onto his desk. They were the orders for his position as second-in-command of the mission to Global News Network Base. Though he felt slightly sorry that Tarrant died, he didn't dwell on it. _This isn't the time to be mourning the dead right now, now is the time to kill Locke Dabnerba so she doesn't have to kill anymore and no more mourning_, he thought as he decided to go out of his bunk room and see what Val's home base had to offer to him.

"Reyna should be up and running, not sitting there like a stump on a log," Cavan whispered to himself as he walked towards the training room on the base. The Lake Victoria Base was nearby, but it wasn't in use anymore since the Unified Earth and Colonies decided to disband all mobile suits and sent them towards the sun. Plus it also gave his mother an odd chill. She had told him that was where she worked as an instructor, training bright young men and women to fight for OZ long ago.

__

Wufei Chaing destroyed a whole lot of the base, yet my mother does not hold a grudge against him, he thought as he entered the training room. He glanced to his right and saw that his Master Wufei was engaging Val in a furious unarmed combat. He wondered if the former Gundam pilot ever regretted his decision on blowing up the Lake Victoria Base. _Probably not, since if he didn't then he wouldn't be here_, Cavan thought as he went over to a corner and started to stretch and warm-up. He needed his mind to focus on something, something other than their mission. _Val's probably jealous that I got second-command position while he's just backup_, he thought wiry as he focused his eyes on one part of a wall, and relaxed himself.

"Cavan," Wufei's voice echoed throughout the mostly empty training room and Cavan glanced at Wufei. "Heero ordered you two to bunk down until 0300. At 0330, you are to report to the briefing room in which we'll give you a run down of the mission and at 0430, you're to head out towards your destination."

"Yes sir, bunking down," Cavan replied and walked out. He was slightly angry that Val's father had to inflict this order upon them. It was only 1800.

"You're not happy, and I can guess why," Val's voice spoke up from behind him and Cavan turned slightly to acknowledge his cousin.

"You seem pleased with the situation, might I ask why?" Cavan asked, giving a dark look at him.

"The mission has been moved up to 2200 tonight…we're going to cut Severn Cawley short of his intended plan. I hope you read about your mission since we're to leave at 2140 and we're supposed to report to the briefing room around 2100," Val replied and Cavan arched an eyebrow at him, as they stopped, facing each other, Cavan a head taller than Val.

"Why did Wufei lie to me then?" Cavan asked, narrowing his eyes at Val who had a hint of a smile on his face.

He saw him shrug and didn't like the smug look that was appearing on his face, "Dunno, maybe because you're such a pain in the ass?"

"What did you say?" Cavan whispered in a deadly voice as he slammed Val up against the hallway wall.

"Let go of me, and I won't have to hurt you," Val replied in an even voice and Cavan glared at him, and gripped him harder.

"What's going on here?" Cavan heard his father's voice ask and he stiffened. He released his grip on Val and turned to face his father who had an angry expression on him.

"I'm sorry father," Cavan replied in a monotone voice as he looked down at the cement floor of the Nairobi Base.

"He was just demonstrating a move, a weird one might I add that involved him shoving me up the wall," Val interjected and Cavan gave him a dark look. He knew that he would have to owe Val one…and he didn't like it. Here he was again, being shown up by his cousin and he couldn't even do a thing. If he told his father that he was about to beat up Val, then he would have probably been revoked his position of second-command of the mission and then Val would get the position, leaving him in the gutter for back-up.

"All right, Cavan you know about the accelerated mission, right?" Zechs asked, and Cavan nodded.

"Understood," Cavan replied and walked quickly away, trying not to loath in what Val had done to save his skin.

***

Reyna huddled herself underneath her covers as she sat in her bunkroom that she shared with Neo. The younger girl had gone off to her mission, freeing her family. _I have a family, but one quarter of that family is gone_, Reyna thought dolefully as she scrunched further under her covers. There was a soft knock to her door and Reyna glanced at it, "Come in."

"Reyna honey, you feel up to seeing what mission the others are going to go on?" her mother came in, the moonlight from the window streamed down on her, giving her a mysterious look.

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do," Reyna shrugged and got out of her bed. She went over to a dresser and picked up a scrunchie. She gathered up her long hair and tied it into a tight bun. If she was in a better mood then she would have put it into her traditional braid, but she had let that down ever since…no she wouldn't think of him, it was too painful, too fresh for her to still sink in the news.

"Reyna, you okay?" Hildre asked, hugging her a bit.

"Yeah, I'm find mom, let's go. I want to see what dad's going to do with Severn Cawley," Reyna replied, glancing at herself in the mirror once more then headed out followed by Hildre.

***

Adler sat back as Xylon and his men accepted their code. He was hoping to whatever gods existed that they would get through this part safely. _Now, all we have to do is meet up with our contact and everything should be planned from there on_, he thought as he glanced at Neo who seemed relaxed.

"I noticed that when Lady Une told us that our contact was going to be there you seemed very angry for a moment. Was there something I missed?" Neo asked, and Adler sighed.

"My parents are divorced, and my mother rarely sees me, but I don't care cause she's never taken care of me. All she does is leave me alone, and occasionally acknowledges me. I actually grew up in the care of my father for most of my life, and my Aunt Catherine. I've only heard about my mother when she sent mail about once every three months. Last time I heard, she was stationed on Colony 04, acting as a link between Preventer and her little group of commandos," Adler replied and glanced at Neo who had a sad expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," Neo replied Adler shook his head.

"No its okay…I just hated her, hated her for abandoning me," Adler replied and then glanced at his monitors. "We're coming up on the secret entrance…you sure the decoy worked?"

"Well, what does the monitor say? All of them are expecting the red blip to reach the docking bay…then they'll find nothing," Neo replied giving him a grin. She focused on the hanger bay that was rapidly filling up their viewport and Adler watched her guide their shuttle in. "We've have arrived at Colony 04, ready to take it back. Please make sure all of your belongings are secure incase we need to make a quick escape. Thank you for flying on Preventer Missions," Neo replied in a serious voice and Adler laughed lightly.

He walked towards the hatch of the shuttle and opened it. It was dark in the hanger bay save for the occasional emergency light and Adler narrowed his green eyes as he stepped off.

"Hands up! Identify yourselves," a gruff voice barked and Adler cautiously raised his arms up as he saw multiple guns drawn around them, the clicks of the safety were off.

"Put your guns down…" a soft drawling voice said from the darkness and Adler stiffened a bit as he faintly recognized the voice. He blinked a bit as the lights to the hanger bay flicked on to life and he saw many men and women, dressed in various articles of clothing, some rags, some in commando outfits. Adler narrowed his eyes as he saw a woman who looked to be in her early forties with blonde hair and icy green eyes that seemed to be chiseled from magma and ice.

"So good to see you again, my son…I didn't know that they would send you along with Winner's daughter for this kind of mission," Azure Williams said tossing her head back a bit. Adler noted that she still looked the same, still not changed a bit in her age and appearance.

"You haven't changed…Hawk," Adler replied neutrally. He noticed that Neo was puzzled when he didn't call his mother, mom or anything else that was maternal, but called her by her codename.

"Who are all these people?" Neo asked, interrupting their staring contest.

"They are the resistance that formed when Colony 04 was taken over. I've grouped them together to form a strike attack when you guys go on your mission. We need to give you the run down and attack swiftly when Xylon cannot sense us," Azure replied and Adler followed Neo as they made their way towards a strategy table that was set up with holograms of the Colony.

"The strike force will head towards the main controls of the Colony, to get control of the Colony. We don't know what Xylon could have done with the Colony, but we'll start evacuations just in case he has the Colony rigged to blow up," Hawk said, pointing out various locations on the blue holographic map of the Colony.

"You serious? You think he's going to blow up Colony 04?" Neo hissed in anger and clenched a fist.

"Xylon was part of the Black Hand Assassins who recently killed the Vice President of the Russia Democracy, that makes him a formidable opponent. Plus I think he would just blow up Colony 04 so that there will be one less pesky Colony standing in the way of Locke. I would know, because I've worked for her before," Hawk replied and Adler recoiled from the shock of the news.

__

My mother worked for Locke Dabnerba…what the hell? Is this some kind of sick joke? Adler wondered as he cautiously evaluated his mother. Was she still a spy for Omicron, or was she actually really part of a link to Preventer. "We're going to have to check your security on that information Hawk," Adler said in an icy voice as he pointed his gun at her.

"I told you this, because I want you guys to know how she acts, how she can predict every move the Gundam pilots made," Hawk replied glaring at Adler.

"The validity of the situation-" Adler started but was cut off as Neo jumped in.

"She's clean, she's not working for Dabnerba anymore, she's the link to Preventer, Adler. I can sense it," Neo explained.

"Hnn," Adler sniffed as he put his gun away. He still didn't like the situation, he never trusted her…she always left him, left him to be alone.

"Okay now to continue, Neo, Adler, and my small group which will consist of four other commandos, we'll move into the headquarters where we're sure they've taken a few important people hostage. We'll free them and hopefully subdue Riyet," Hawk continued as another hologram popped up on the monitor, this time showing a small but heavily fortified building.

"This is the south entrance, which is not so heavily guarded. We'll go in from there and make our way towards the bunker of the building," another voice spoke up and all turned to see a girl about sixteen-years-old with shocking white hair that was like strings of pearls and deep blue eyes.

"This is Adeline Chaser, codename: Shiva. She's our special operations and undercover spy ever since Xylon took over the Colony," Hawk explained and Adler reached out to shake her hand, surprised at the strong grip she had with her lithe form. She was wearing a black bodysuit but had a gun-belt with packs of bullets on it, and she looked tough, almost tough as Neo did. Adler noticed that Neo seemed a bit neutral towards the girl as she shook her hand.

"We'll be heading out in about twenty minutes. The plan is as follows…Hawk and I will distract the guards and hopefully Xylon Riyet himself, while you two, get the prisoners freed. Should any of you encounter Riyet, run like hell was after you. You do not want to tangle with him, or his mind powers. I know because my family paid the price of messing with him," Shiva explained and gave Adler and Neo an even look.

"Boss, what about their codenames? I mean we can't just yell their names out, the civvies might know," a voice spoke up from the crowd of men and women.

"Adler Barton, codename: Eagle," Adler said and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his mother flinch a bit at his choice of his codename. _What's with her, I choose dad's codename so she shouldn't have a problem with it…unless its something else associated with that name_, Adler thought as he glanced at Neo who had a determined look on her face.

"I'm staying with Neo," Neo replied.

"Good, lets move out!" Hawk ordered, and Adler watched as the men and women who were going to create the distraction file out like little lemmings, passing numerous gun racks and picking up semi-automatic rifles, grenades, and mines.

"They look like they're about to blow the Colony instead of retake it," Adler commented to Neo as they watched them file out, leaving them and five others left in the main base.

"I don't like it, her plan seems too perfect, something's bound to go wrong," Neo replied and Adler looked at her puzzled. "I guarantee it that something's going to go wrong," Neo whispered and Adler could see her shaking a bit. He went over and placed both hands on her shoulder.

"I won't let that happen Neo," he said in a soft voice.

"Thanks, Adler…" Neo replied.

***

Val watched the information on their mission scroll down from an overhead projector. Someone had opted to use the ancient piece of junk that had a lightbulb that popped every ten minutes.

"This is the overall plan for your infiltration. Remember, do not injure anyone if you can…we don't want civilian casualties," Sally Po said, "you'll have another back up to join you if things get a bit sticky."

"Can we blow Severn's head to hell and back?" Reyna's sharp voice interrupted Sally and Val saw the younger teenage walk in, dressed in the black commando outfit of Preventer, ready for combat.

"Wait…Reyna's going into combat?" Cavan spluttered and Val knew that he had an equally shocked expression on his face.

"Yeah, got a problem with that? I'm fine, no problems or worries, just wanting to get some action instead of moping around," Reyna replied giving Cavan a dark glare.

"Reyna will be the second back-up unit. The mission is as expected, subdue Severn, get the hostages out and report back to headquarters. You should take only around fifteen minutes for the whole operation," Sally interrupted them.

"Roger that," Duo replied, "don't forget to get us some hot caf when we return, we're gonna need it for the briefing."

__

Things are gonna get tough after this, but can Reyna handle it? Val wondered as he followed Duo out of the room.

***

Neo raised her gun up to her eye level as she positioned the crosshairs on a lone guard. _May all my prayers help in this mission, I will not fail_, she thought to herself as she squeezed the trigger gently on her sniper rifle and the lone guard fell to the ground, barley making a sound.

She raised her hand up, and made a fist, then two fingers. Neo felt the breeze of Adler passing her as he went ahead to clear out any remnants of guards that she had missed. "All clear," she heard Hawk's voice say from one of the ends of the underground passages to the small building where Xylon held her father and mother captive.

"Same here," Adler echoed and Neo got up from her position and shouldered her sniper rifle. She took out her .357 mm handgun, and positioned herself against a wall, her gun raised and ready. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and felt uneasiness radiating from two unknown sources. Neo opened her eyes and looked at Adler and the rest of the group; she raised two fingers and pointed to her gun, signaling that there were two guards. She saw Adler nod and she whipped herself out towards the two unsuspecting guards and fired two bullets at them with deadly accuracy. The two guards fell down as the bullets pierced each of their throats, rendering them dead.

"Move out, Hawk you take your group towards the right, Eagle, Shiva, and I will take the left, remember, Xylon might have hostages situated all over the place, so if you find any, take them with you," Neo ordered.

"Roger that, watch your back Neo…see you on the high side," Hawk replied giving a curt nod at the young girl before heading towards the right passageway.

"We're close, very close," Adeline commented.

"How do you know?" Adler asked, as he glanced at her puzzled.

"I've studied the interior of the map over a hundred times," Shiva replied tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear as she gave a smile towards Adler.

Neo immediately felt her face warm up with jealousy and slight anger at the white-haired girl. _Little flirting…bitch_, Neo thought as she cleared her throat loudly.

"I hate to interrupt this scene, but we've got a mission to get to," Neo said and started to climb up a ladder that lead to the inside of the building. She had a suspicious feeling about that girl, and didn't wholly trust her.

***

"Ah, good you're making your way here. This going according to my plans," Xylon purred as he looked at his hidden security cameras that were situated around the underground levels that showed Neo and two other people climbing up the ladder that lead to the main room of the building he had occupied. "Good, Chaser is with them," he commented softly as he glanced at his hostages.

"Well, now Quatre Winner, you're daughter is coming here to rescue you and your family how nice," Xylon sneered at him and glanced at the rest of the hostages, "all of you are fools, no one, not even one commando can kill me. You've asked for Preventer to help you, but you've just sent them to their death…from me."

"How could you, you, such a young boy could be so cruel? Your mother and father would have been ashamed of you," Colony 04's leader Tami Koinika said, as she shuffled a bit from where she sat down on the hard cement floor, her hands binded together with metal cuffs.

"Mother? Father?" Xylon said in a humorous voice. He gazed at her for a minute before laughing; his maniacal laughter filled the area, "You have got to be joking! Preventer killed my family, left me alone in the darkness. The Black Hand took me in, they were my family. We thrived on carnage, killing, and power."

"Yeah, and you're also gonna be killed right here, right now," a sharp voice said from behind Xylon and he spun around to face three teenagers, all looking very pissed off.

"Ah, Cerelia Winner, or should I say the great Neo, how may I be of service?" Xylon asked, giving a small bow towards the blonde haired girl.

"Service this you asshole," Neo replied and Xylon smiled as she shot a bullet towards his heart.

"Now, now…you know that bullets cannot harm me. In fact they might just kill your good friend Eagle," Xylon replied and directed the bullet with his mind towards Adler, hitting him in the thigh.

"Adler!" Xylon heard Neo cry out and he smiled with satisfaction as Barton went down, stunned from the wound.

"You little asshole!" Shiva cried out and fired multiple bullets at Xylon, but Xylon just smiled as he heard them ping off of his mental-made bulletproof shield.

"Now its my turn," Xylon replied in a deadly voice and he whipped out a gun and shot bullets at Neo, his finger never letting go of the trigger.

***

__

Chapter 15- Surrender For Finality

Neo saw the bullets racing towards her. _Oh my god, this wasn't supposed to happen, I didn't even see this_, she thought frantically as she extended both hands out for no reason she couldn't even comprehend and braced herself for the bullets that were going to impact her, sending her to her death. _I have to see, I have to feel, I have to live_, she thought over and over again and she heard the pinging of bullets. She snapped open her eyes and looked over to where Xylon had an expression of pure surprise and she glanced down and saw that the bullets had fallen all around her, all dented. _What the hell?_ Neo wondered as she lowered her arms.

"You have grown stronger, stronger than I'd predicted," Xylon whispered his harsh voice echoing throughout the building.

"Neo watch out! He's going for the knife!" Shiva warned suddenly and Neo ducked as Xylon rushed at her and slashed at her with his knife. She dug into her own commando outfit for her knife and brought it out just in time to block a blow that was aimed at her head.

"Shiva! Free the prisoners and get Hawk's team up here on the double! We need backup!" Neo yelled as she gritted her teeth with effort trying to stop the knife that was intended for her throat. "Get…the hell off of me!" Neo cried out, and kicked Xylon back as she stood up. "Xylon Riyet, will your surrender to Preventer or will I have to make you?" she asked, as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

"You don't have to make me, I'll be the one making you join Locke Dabnerba's forces," Xylon replied and Neo narrowed her eyes.

"Over my dead body," she spat out and raised her hands, blocking a blow from Xylon. She let herself open fully to her empathic powers and crouched, kicking the legs from Xylon. She back flipped as he regained his balance and launched a flurry of blows towards her. She kept back flipping and sensed a pillar about two feet away from her. She flipped on to the square pillar and spun in mid air as she extended one leg out and kicked Xylon full in the chest, making him drop his knife and stagger back.

"Surrender Xylon Riyet, and you will not be harmed any further," Neo said in a monotone voice.

"Hah! I will never surrender," Xylon replied and Neo suddenly flinched as something pierced her mind like a dagger through her heart. She flinched again and dropped to her knees as multiple psychic daggers pierced her barriers and dug deep into her mind.

__

I have to concentrate; I have to for the sake of my family, Neo thought with determination as she slowly stood up, clutching her head. She focused on her inner strength and found that she had a power like none…a power that was beyond her empathic ones. Neo raised her head and glared at Xylon with icy ocean blue eyes. She felt a fire of rage burning within her and that desire became stronger as remembered Tarrant exploding in Wing Zero, her father's pain, and Adler being shot. "I will…prevail…" Neo whispered in a deadly quiet voice as she still felt the daggers penetrate her mind, but they were a mere distraction.

"Give up? You know you can't win like this," Xylon taunted.

"Neo, concentrate, its your greatest strength," Neo distantly heard her father's voice say.

"My greatest strength," Neo whispered as she formed a dagger full of her hatred and anger. "Die," she whispered as her eyes became a shining white and she sent the mental dagger with deadly accuracy at Xylon, just like what her Maganac training taught her to do. She watched in a simple gaze as Xylon recoiled from the mental dagger she had formed and she watched him clutch his head in pain and drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"You haven't won yet, Neo…I'll be back!" Xylon manage to get out as he ran.

"After him!" Hawk's said in a sharp commanding voice.

"I don't think so," another voice said, this one cold and icy hard. Neo turned to see Adeline Chaser holding her younger sister, Jade hostage; a gun was jammed up between her jaw.

"Jade!" Neo yelled, and made a move towards her sister.

"Stop, Neo Winner if you want your sister to live," Shiva commanded and shoved the gun further up Jade's jaw, making her whimper with fear.

"How could you…Chaser, how could you betray us?" Hawk asked, giving a dark look at Shiva.

"Sorry, Hawk…like you, I'm a turncoat. Xylon wants Neo, Xylon will get Neo," Shiva replied and directed her icy gaze towards Neo, "Come with me Neo and your sister will be free."

"No one's getting my daughters," Quatre intervened and pointed a gun straight at Shiva's head, his grip unwavering.

"Oh, then I'm sorry for that Winner…well, sorry little one, your time's up," Shiva said in a simple voice and Neo closed her eyes, not wanting to see her sister killed. She winced as a single bullet being fired echoed throughout the building. She heard the thump of a body falling and slowly opened her eyes. Neo's eyes widened with surprise as she saw Adeline Chaser fall to the ground, a bullet hole appearing in the middle of her forehead.

"Bad lady, hurting me," Jade spoke up in a small voice and Neo saw her mother pick her up and hug her.

"Good thing you had her distracted," Adler's voice said and Neo turned her head to see him leaning heavily against a square pillar, smiling a bit. Neo noticed that his hand held a gun that was still slightly smoking from the bullet discharge.

"You're hurt, bad," Neo said, going over to him and checked his thigh wound.

"Its not that bad, at least it didn't tear through any of the ligaments or muscles," Adler replied wincing a bit as she applied pressure to his wound.

"Hmm, dad, get him to a hospital he needs this checked. I'll go stop Xylon," Neo said, giving an even look at her father.

"No can do, we need to evacuate the Colony ASAP," Hawk interrupted them and Neo glanced at her puzzled.

"What? What happened?" Quatre demanded as the former captives crowded around them.

"He's got the place rigged up to blow," Hawk replied in a monotone voice.

"Damn," Neo cursed as her gaze met Adler's and he nodded with understanding.

***

Xylon winced a bit as he still felt the residue effects of Neo's empathic dagger. He never knew that she was this powerful, this deadly. He felt her anger and rage pour out all over him when she mentally threw that dagger at him. _Who would have known that Gundam pilots are this powerful? No wonder Locke warned me of them_, Xylon thought as he shoved through crowds of people. He sighed inwardly with relief as he reached the hanger bay where he kept his Titan Columbia-Zero. It wasn't a Gundam, but it was made out of titanium and some adamantium and it was in the design of the Columbia-Zero.

"Now, we will fight in space to see who has the greater advantage Neo Winner, you or me. And if you refuse, well I just have a little surprise in store," Xylon commented softly as he activated his Titan and took some potshots at some civilians who were milling around. He laughed as they exploded into nothing and he shot out of the hanger bay.

"Hold it right there, Xylon Riyet, you're not going anywhere, not if I have anything to say about it," Neo's voice came on and Xylon smiled as he stopped his flight.

"Ah, so that's the infamous Sandstorm, the child of the Sandrock Kai," Xylon said drawing out his heat saber. _I'm not using my crossbeam unless its necessary_, Xylon thought as he positioned himself for battle.

"Yeah the infamous Sandstorm that will kick your ass," Neo replied and Xylon throttled forward, swiping his heat saber at her. The residue crimson red mark matched her heat scythes and both clashed together with great force. Xylon pressed against Neo's scythes and fired his gattling guns into her face, peppering her with bullets. He watched her stagger back, momentarily blinded and he made his move. Xylon quickly brought his heat saber up towards her throat and held it there.

"Don't move Barton, or Neo here gets it," Xylon warned the pilot of the Taliesin who was sneaking up behind him. "Now then…Neo, I have a proposal for you, you come with me and Colony 04 doesn't get blown to bits. If you refuse…well, I have the button that can activate every single C4 explosive on the Colony, creating a giant vacuum that will suck every single thing, living or non-living out of the Colony," Xylon said and held up a small box with a red button in the middle of it.

"Neo, don't listen to him…he's just bluffing," Adler warned and Xylon laughed.

"Do you seriously think that I would joke? The Black Hand Assassins never lie, never bluff," Xylon said in a deadly voice, "what would it be Neo. The Colony for you? Or let the Colony go to hell."

"I…I'll…I'll go," Neo whispered and Xylon grinned.

"No! Neo!" Xylon heard Adler's frantic call as he saw Neo power down her scythes and stick them on her back.

"Adler…listen to me. The next time you see me, I will change. They will be doing things to my mind that will change me. You must kill me the next time you see me, promise me this," Neo said and Xylon shook his head.

"Aww, how sweet, what a wonderful last request," he replied in a mocking voice as he sniffed in a fake way.

"No…Neo don't make me do this," Adler's voice came over and Xylon could detect hints of worry in it.

"Adler, you have to…promise me," Neo replied and Xylon decided that enough was enough.

"Okay, that's enough," Xylon interfered and slaved Neo's Gundam to his. He activated his thrusters and sped away, headed towards the moon base. "So long Barton! I hope you have fun killing her when we meet again!" Xylon called out towards the fading image of Taliesin.

***

__

Chapter 16- Mission Network

Cavan exhaled a breath of cold air as he waited for Duo's signal to enter the Global News Network's building. It was frigid cold here in Seattle, the northern part of the United States of America. _Great place to place a news station, its freezing like hell here_, Cavan thought as he watched the perimeter for signs of any enforcement or any of Severn Cawley's people. He suddenly perked up as he saw Duo's signal and he crept forward and into the lower level door of the building. "What took you so long? It's the Arctic out there," Cavan hissed as he took off his thermal-woolen jacket and glared at Duo who shrugged.

"That's all that I can see," Val's voice came from above and Cavan turned his head to see him and Reyna walking down the stairs. Reyna was flexing her hand as if she had just knocked someone out.

"Good, two teams; Cavan, you and Reyna take elevator, Val and I will take the stairs. Remember, eliminate all opposition don't hesitate. We can't have anyone creeping behind us when we make our move," Duo ordered and Cavan nodded curtly.

"As ordered," Cavan replied and watched Duo and Val make their way up the stairs. When they disappeared from his view he turned to Reyna who was fiddling with something in her pack. "Ready?" Cavan asked the younger girl.

"Let's give them hell," Reyna said giving him a sideways glance that Cavan really didn't like. He notice that she had a glint in her eyes that seemed dangerous and Cavan wasn't too sure of her. He followed after her as they entered the elevator, her guns drawn and ready to shoot any hostile thing that came their way.

***

Val ducked as a bullet whizzed past his head, barely missing him. _Shit, these guys are professionals_; he cursed silently to himself as he returned fire. He ducked behind the wall he was pressed against as bullets shattered the concrete on the other side of him. "There's too many of them!" Val yelled to Duo over the gunfire who was across from him, pinned down by gunfire also.

"We'll have to keep shooting!" Duo yelled back. Val nodded curtly as he dropped his empty gun and drew out two semi-automatic handguns. He glanced at Duo who nodded. _Well, here goes nothing_, Val thought as he launched himself from his cover and into the full firefight. He continually pressed the trigger as he randomly targeted the people that were shooting at him. Val scooted his way towards a large pot that held a small indoor tree. Suddenly he felt pain flare up on his left hip and right arm and he fell down, his concentration lost. _Damn_, Val cursed silently as he glanced at his wounds, only flesh, but they hurt like hell.

"Come out with your hands up and we won't blow your partner to pieces," one of the people that was shooting at them said in a gruff voice and Val glared at the man who was dressed in black, looking down at him with an evil smile; a gun pointed right at Val's throat. "I wonder if you can dodge bullets while like this, since you're the son of Heero Yuy," the man said and Val narrowed his eyes.

"Dodge this," Reyna's voice came from the side and Val saw her press her gun to the man's head and pulled the trigger, sending blood and gore flying everywhere as the bullet took out most the man's right side of his face. Val watched the man fall down towards the ground and a pool of blood form around him.

"Care not to do that Reyna? I just had my dinner three hours ago," Duo said, as Val gripped Duo's outstretched hand and lifted himself up using him as an anchor.

"Calculation dad, its about dinner right now in the states," Reyna corrected and Val raised one eyebrow at her. "Want a energy bar? I picked it out of one of the dead guards I met along my little journey towards you guys," Reyna spoke up and Val didn't like what she was saying or her tone of voice. She sounded almost suicidal, careless of her own life and just handing them an energy bar and talking about the dead person like a person would talk about the weather…it was creeping him out. And he didn't creep out most of the time during whatever situation he was in. _Tarrant's death must have hit her hard, harder than we even know; she might be suicidal_, Val thought darkly as he gave her a cursory look.

"Uh, Reyna honey, you okay?" Duo asked, giving her a once over.

"Sure dad, never been better…now lets go get Severn then we can all head back to base," Reyna said giving them a sunny smile. Val glanced at Cavan and saw that his cousin had a worried look on his face, and he knew that he felt no different about Reyna's situation. _Was it the right choice for her to be on this mission?_ Val wondered as he drew out a silencer from the folds of his commando outfit and cocked the gun. He followed Duo as they made their way towards the entrance of the room where Severn had commandeered it.

"All right we're going to break down-" Duo started when Reyna huffed and kicked the door down.

"I don't care how the hell you break it down, but I'm going in and freeing those hostages," Reyna said in a curt voice and stepped over the door, holding her gun in a prone position as she took a quick look at her surroundings. "Severn where ever the hell you are, you'd better high tail it outta here! Cause we're gonna bring you down!" Reyna yelled and Val shook his head slightly. The girl had gone completely insane, careless of her own life. _She wants to kill herself so she can see her brother again, she can't live with this agony_, Val realized as he looked at Reyna who wasn't even ducking behind any cover as she fired away at Severn and his men.

"Reyna! Get to cover!" Duo shouted and Val saw him duck underneath a desk as an automatic machine gun peppered the desk he was behind. Val glanced at Reyna and saw that she hadn't budged or even move one muscle. She was just standing there, letting her gun do the work. _Crazy girl's gonna get herself killed_, Val thought as he noticed that the machine gun was moving towards her. He was about to make a move when he saw Cavan knock her off her feet as the machine gun lined itself up on her sights and started to fire.

Val noticed that a person with a fair complexion, brown hair, and deep green eyes was behind the machine gun, his face showed laughter of pure mirth. _Severn Cawley, target identified, destroying him now_, Val thought to himself as he lined up his silencer gun, using it like a small sniper gun and he fired. Val smiled a bit as the bullet whooshed from its place inside the gun and headed towards Cawley. His smile turned into a frown as he saw the bullet impact the machine gun instead of Severn. _Damn_, Val cursed silently to himself as he prepared for another shot.

"Well, looks like I'm targeted! See you Preventer some time soon!" Severn called out and Val saw him jump out of the window that was behind the main desk of the newsroom.

"Cover me!" Val shouted to Duo and Cavan as he ran from his cover and over to the broken shards of glass that lined the window. He peered over the broken window, the updraft of wind blowing his hair around as he looked down for any traces of Severn, but he saw none. He turned back around and shook his head a no at Duo who was cuffing up the rest of Severn's men. "He's gone, but I don't think he'll be back for this area," Val said and looked over to the weather desk to see Cavan coming from his cover with a very angry looking Reyna.

"I had everything covered and you just had to ruin it, you asshole," Reyna spat at Cavan who looked nonplussed.

"Not my fault that you were just setting yourself up for a direct hit," Cavan replied bluntly. Val internally winced as the loud slapping sound of Reyna's palm met Cavan's cheek, leaving a giant sweltering red mark on his face.

"Reyna, calm down," Duo spoke up taking Reyna's shaking form and pressed it against him. "Cavan, Val, check the hostages, and tell Preventer that we've got the situation under control," Duo ordered and Val nodded, placing his silencer away.

He keyed his comlink and tuned it to Preventer frequency, "Colonel Lady Une?"

"Speaking," Lady Une's voice returned, slightly exhausted and haggard.

"Falcon Zero here, Cawley escaped but we've ensured that he's not coming back here," Val replied giving a cursory look at Cavan who was tending to the injured hostages, "and you might want to get the nearest medical facility on hail, we've got a lot of injured here."

"Roger that Falcon Zero. Report back to base as soon as you're done with them," Lady Une replied. Val disconnected the line as he watched Duo talking to Reyna in a quiet, yet angry voice.

***

"So in reality, both of your missions were failures…neither one a complete success," Lady Une said pacing around the four remaining Gundam pilots. Her sharp gaze penetrated each one of the pilots' sullen mood, giving them something to think about.

"A team's stationed at the Network building to secure the premises if Cawley attacks it again," Cavan spoke up, and Lady Une fixed him with a stare.

"But you failed to capture him, alive or dead," she stated in a monotone voice. She sighed and shook her head a bit. "All right, I can see all of you are in a very distressed situation…Reyna Maxwell, your father and your teammates told me that you seemed suicidal during your mission," Lady Une stated and saw that Reyna had a neutral look on her face. Her posture told Lady Une that she wasn't even paying attention or she didn't even care about what she had to say.

"So, what does that have to do with me?" Reyna asked, looking around the small briefing room they were in.

"Young lady, if you have any means of committing suicide then you also endanger your teammates during a mission. If you plan to commit suicide, then I suggest that you'd be placed under decommissioned status for now. Think over if you really want to commit suicide," Lady Une stated and Reyna glared at her.

"Fine, then," Reyna huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in anger.

"We will speak with you tomorrow at 0830, until then get some rack time. Oh, Val, Cavan? I need to speak with you earlier, so report to the main briefing room at 0815," Lady Une ordered and watched them file out. Her gaze looked beyond them as Quatre and the rest of the Gundam pilots filed in, most of them looking dead tired.

"Things just got worst, didn't they?" Duo spoke up; his voice held no emotion in them, something not common for him.

***

Adler walked along the mammoth cavern of the hanger bay, where the Gundams were stored. His footsteps echoed throughout it, bouncing off of walls. He'd had seen Reyna go off in the direction of the café, but decided not to follow her because of her current state of mind. Val and Cavan were jibing each other again, this time Cavan being the worst pain in the ass, as far as Adler thought he was. He wished that Neo was here, she would be able to stop everything, keep everyone from fighting and probably help him out of his sullen mood. But she wasn't here, she was probably in a torture chamber, plugs and wires hooked onto her and changing her, changing her for the worst.

__

"Adler…listen to me. The next time you see me, I will change. They will be doing things to my mind that will change me. You must kill me the next time you see me, promise me this."

Adler shook his head once, to clear out her voice that rang in his head. She had told him that he'd had to kill her the next time they met. Why? Why was she doing this?

__

"No…Neo don't make me do this."

"Adler, you have to…promise me."

No! I can't…I can't do this, I can't kill her…Adler thought as her words came back, telling him to kill her. "Neo, why did you have to go? Xylon will sooner blow the colony even if you surrender to him," Adler whispered as he glanced at his Gundam Taliesin. The Gundam that he had completed looked impressive, like something out of the mythical world. Howard told him that it was named the Taliesin, because of the Old Welsh legend that Taliesin was a visionary with powers that could guide people and was at peace with the forces of nature.

"A force of nature, war. That's a force of nature, a nature of humans. Those who want to seek its leadership also depict Taliesin as an eagle. I never thought that you'd be the leader of this little ragtag group, Adler Barton…or should I say Eagle," a mellow voice said from the shadows and Adler spun around to see a young man with dirty blonde hair that hung over one of his eyes, hiding it partially, while his other one, sparkled with uncontained anger, almost like chiseled light blue ice.

"Jordan Kent…" Adler growled as he rested his hand on his gun that was sticking out of his flightsuit pocket.

"So, you're the leader of the second generation of Gundam pilots, what a high position for yourself. Did you get it by force? By power? By lust? I heard about Winner's eldest daughter…a pity for her, but she is now one of us," Jordan taunted and Adler narrowed his eyes in anger as Jordan walked around casually.

"What are you here for, Kent? Cause you don't usually come here just to talk, you're up to something," Adler asked, giving a dark glare at the teen.

"Of course, straight to the point, as always, you don't beat around the bush…still the same old Adler Barton I knew from the Space Academy," Jordan said, giving Adler a smile that was full of teeth, "so, my purpose here is to…well actually kill you. But I won't do that just yet, I want to know how much you've gotten into a relationship with Winner's girl…Neo I believe that was her name. She is such a beautiful young lady."

"Go to hell and rot there," Adler spat back, drawing his gun and pointing it in Jordan's face.

"Tsk, Adler, why do you have to be so cruel? I mean you don't really want to kill me, unless of course you want to know how to free your lover. So tell me, did you ever sleep with Neo? Is she what you've always dreamed of, so pure, so exotic, so full of life?" Jordan taunted again, and Adler snapped the safety off of his gun.

"You are so full of it, just like back at the Academy, Kent, so full of your own desires, your perverted fantasies…tell you this, how about I give you the finger, and then blast you into oblivion," Adler whispered in a deadly quiet voice, shoving his gun next to Jordan's temple.

"Ah, so you do love her. But, if you want to kill me, then do so, but I will warn you again, there is a way to save Neo," Jordan added, pointing a finger at Adler's gun which was jammed deep into his temple.

"Neo told me to kill her the next time I see her, and I do love her, so then I will respect her wishes. If she wants me to kill her, since she's changed, then I will. There isn't any way to save her, my father taught me that because of your ass-hell of a Hidden Agent Program. Psychic powers are needed to stop that, and her father might not be able to stop her," Adler hissed and moved his gun from Jordan's temple to under his jaw. He grabbed Kent by the collar and picked him off from the ground, and glared into his icy light blue eyes.

"You forget something Barton…" Jordan whispered, as both were almost nose-to-nose. He raised his fist and gave a predatory grin at Adler; "Emotions are your weakness." Jordan punched Adler in the stomach, making him drop him and he smiled with satisfaction as Adler staggered back, his gun dropped to somewhere in the darkness. He looped his arm around Adler's and kneaded him in the stomach again and again. Finally he dropped him and Adler landed on the ground hard and out of breath. "Not so tough are you Barton?" Jordan asked, moving around as Adler slowly staggered up, one hand over his stomach, his face a bit bloodied and bruised.

"Your weakness is that your arrogance, your arrogance brought you down to the second graduate…you never passed the Space Academy did you Kent?" Adler asked, spitting out a bit of blood as he leaned against a metal guardrail. "You faked your way through, and changed all of the scores on your application," Adler accused, wincing a bit.

"So you finally found out about my little secret…too bad Barton, cause now you'll die," Jordan said in a simple, cold voice as he drew a gun from the folds of his outfit and pointed it straight at Adler.

"Hold it right there, Jordan Kent," a sharp voice said and Adler looked beyond Kent to find Hawk holding a gun at him, her gaze and grip unwavering.

"Oh, so now you're behind your mother for protection aren't you Adler," Jordan said, turning slightly towards Hawk and gave her a smile. "Well, I best be going, see you on the battlefield, Barton," Jordan said, and faster than any eye could follow he leaped off of the catwalk and into the shadows of the lower hanger bay.

Adler lifted himself up from the guardrail wincing a bit as pain shot through his bruises. He felt pair of hands support him and he glared at his mother. "I don't need your help," he growled at her as he shook himself away from her grasp. He walked swiftly as he could towards his bunkroom he shared with Val, not wanting her to see him like this.

"I'm so sorry, Adler…so sorry that I did this to you," Hawk whispered as a single tear fell from her eye, as she watched him walk off.

***

__

Chapter 17- Pain, Thrown Away

"Things just got worst, didn't they?" Duo spoke up; his voice held no emotion in them, something not common for him.

"We have a problem…if Neo is changed by the Hidden Agent program then she'll become a formidable opponent," Heero stated in a monotone voice as all of them stood around in a circle, the glow of the holoprojector lit up their faces in a bluish glow. He glanced at Quatre, who had a distressed look on his face, making him look older than he should. _He's the one hardest hit with this news, also he's been bogged down by the media scrutinizing him for so long_, Heero thought.

"So then what do we do?" Wufei spoke up in the awkward silence.

"We do nothing," Quatre whispered and felt all eyes on him, surprise written on some of their faces. He glanced up at them, "She made the choice on her own…Xylon might blow the Colony if we do anything."

"But…but that's your daughter out there, being tortured, converted, and brainwashed…so your saying that you would be willing to sacrifice your daughter for your Colony? That's pure bullshit!" Duo shouted and picked Quatre up by the collar of his shirt, and lifted him off of his feet.

"Duo, put me down," Quatre said, glaring at the American. "Neo won't get converted, she's too strong for their probes," he reasoned.

Duo made a noise of exasperation as he set Quatre down and crossed his arms across his chest, "how do you know about that?"

"Its because I do," Quatre replied in a simple voice.

"Stop it you two, after twenty-four years you still squabble like kids, and its getting on my nerves," Lady Une said and both looked at her. "I'm sending Cavan and Val on a mission to Lunar Base to see what's going on with Neo. And if they can, rescue her and disable the device Riyet has for Colony 04."

"They'll start a war of their own between each other," Wufei commented under his breath.

"They need to learn how to work together if they want to win," Heero said and nodded to Lady Une, "when are they leaving?"

"0900 tomorrow morning," Lady Une replied.

***

(_This next part is written by my beta-reader and good friend Caroline Fales…kudos to her!)_

The hanger was silent save for the occasional grunt and squeal of a wrench as it worked at a bolt. Reyna Maxwell sat back for a moment, wiping her sweaty brow with the back of her hand and scowling. _God dammit_, she swore silently, slamming her wrench in frustration against Hellfire. The hollow sound bounced across the room and over the dormant Gundams of her teammates or what was left of their group. Reyna had to admit even with all their power off and half-covered with tarp, the Gundams were still a pretty damn impressive sight. Then she glared at her own suit. _And damned things to fix_, she thought, picking up her wrench again. Didn't Howard improve on these things any at all? She rolled her eyes. Maybe if he had then I wouldn't always have to work on Hellfire or one of the other Gundams. And maybe Tarrant…

No. No, she wouldn't think of Tarrant. Not now, not until after this damn war was over. Or rather, think of him and plot what she was going to do when she got her hands on Lealya. Oh yeah, that bitch was gonna pay and it wasn't going to be by languishing in some jail cell. As far as Reyna was concerned, there was regular justice and there was _justice_. Justice her way…her rules. And justice and mercy were not mutually inclusive principles. They had all been betrayed and Tarrant had been murdered-was that just? Was that _fair_? Was it just that her parents' had to put one child in the ground while the other went off to fight for the very ideals they had fought for a generation earlier? Was that fair? Was it fair that even amongst her fellow Gundam pilots, Reyna was alone? Alone and unable to connect with anyone for fear that she'd lose them, too. She glanced at her watch, and saw that it was around 1:15 in the morning. _Damn you…_she thought as she thought about her brother.

The universe wasn't fair. In fact, it had a pretty sick sense of humor as far as she was concerned. But hey, that was life, right? Just one cosmic joke after another and at the moment, she was the butt of every one of them. 

She reached over and wiped her hands free of grease before grabbing a scrunchie and twisting her lengthy braid into a ball on her head and securing it. While she dearly loved her hair and would lose a few fingers before she let a pair of scissors touch it, there were times when it quite frankly got in the way. And the last thing she wanted right now was hair prickling and teasing her face and obscuring her vision. Knowing her luck she'd probably hit something vital and cause Hellfire to self-destruct. It was humiliating, her parents thought that she needed some time with a person to talk out her feelings. She wasn't crazy--she was madder than hell, yes but she wasn't nuts. If she were to say what she was really thinking, they'd take her out of her Gundam and off the team faster than you could say 'Shinigami'. Nope, it was better to play along and let them think they'd won something. 

She'd lost sleep more times than she cared to count just sitting up thinking, unable to sleep, almost unable to breathe because it hurt so damn bad. Every ugly thought and every ugly feeling came back until all she wanted was to be numb. If she was numb then she could get on with things and there wouldn't be any doubts or anything else to hold her back. She wouldn't have to watch her mother cry or see the grief hidden deep in her father's blue eyes or stare at her own haunted reflection each morning. Sometimes, she felt like she had died with Tarrant and now she was just a restless spirit, wailing out her pain in silence with no one seeing or hearing. She couldn't cry, outwardly at least. Inwardly, she hadn't stopped crying since she'd seen Wing Zero explode. 

__

Weak, you're so damn weak, she berated herself. _Weak like Wufei usually said, and he is right, you are just a weak girl._ It was pathetic really. She had repairs to make and she was sitting here mooning like some lost calf. _Get a grip on yourself for God's sake and stop acting like such a stupid girl. You're a soldier now and soldiers don't whine._

***

It was raining; one of those rare freakish storms that hit the desert once every fifty-to-seventy-five years and usually lasted all of five seconds. Only it hadn't just blown over. If anything, the storm had increased in intensity, forcing them to secure the hanger as the rain and winds whipped up the desert sands. There was some concern that the rising sand levels might prevent them from leaving the base unaided in the morning. Then there was the fabulous light display outside. Every ten to fifteen seconds, the nightscape was lit up in brilliant blue-white as lightning streaked across the sky. 

Val Yuy pressed his face against the cool pane of glass separating him from the elements raging outside. Water slipped and slid down, his eyes following the silvery tracks they made. The glass made tiny puffs of fog each time he exhaled. Of their own accord, his fingers cut a path through the misted circles; creating wandering circles and lines. Rain was a rarity and a wonder to him. Most of his life had been spent in Nairobi, wandering its dusty narrow streets or staying inside and watching as the seasonal sandstorms hit, creating a world of yellow haze. He had been seven the first time he'd seen rain and visiting the Sank Kingdom. Val rolled his eyes. That had also been the day he'd met his cousin Cavan for the first time and knocked His Imperviousness on his royal ass. Cavan never had forgiven him for that. Then again, he had never forgiven Cavan for being such a snot-nosed brat, so they were even. The way he saw it, they didn't have to like each other, they just had to be able to work together and get their job done. 

__

At least I don't have to share a room with him, he thought, glancing over Adler Barton's sprawled form. The young man had staggered into his room, bruises littered all over him. Val didn't even say a thing as the teen dropped straight into his bed and was deep asleep in a few minutes. Although he was fiercely protective of his privacy, Val had reluctantly agreed to share his quarters for the simple reason that space was at a premium. Besides, what right did he have to be picky and choosy? He was no better than the rest of them. No, he'd leave that kind of arrogant behavior to his aristocratic pain in the ass cousin. Cavan had gotten a room of his own but not because he had wheedled his way into it but simply because no one else wanted to room with him. His cousin's self-indulgent snobbery wasn't exactly endearing, even if he was a damn fine pilot. 

Whether it was simply due to the raging maelstrom outside or something much deeper, Val found himself unable to sleep. Silently, he eased his way around the beds and outside the door before he ended up waking his roommate. Or so he hoped. Then again with Adler it was hard to tell--the boy had ears like a damn cat and you could never be sure just what he heard or didn't hear. 

He paused in the hallway, listening to the crack and pop of his joints as he stretched. Oh, that felt good. _Hnn, I must have been more tensed than I thought. Perhaps running through a few of Master Wufei's katas would help._ There was something comforting about being able to throw himself into their smooth, simple rhythms. It took him away from his thoughts but allowed him the illusion of feeling he had done more than simple meditation allowed. Besides, they were great ways to keep in shape. He regretted deeply the loss of being able to throw himself into his martial arts for hours at a time. Such activities were a luxury these days, one that he could ill afford. And God knows after their last mission, they could use a little vindication.

He threaded his way through the dimly lit hallways, nodding briefly to a few of the members of the night staff. His reputation obviously preceded him for they didn't attempt to detain him, only acknowledged his presence with the briefest of nods. On the whole, Val was grateful for that; he wasn't in the mood to exchange pleasantries with inquisitive strangers at the moment. 

He was headed towards the workout rooms when the sound of muffled swearing and a series of loud bangs caused him to change course. He froze, tensing up into battle readiness. The sounds were emanating from the hanger where the Gundams were stored. The door was half-open, a stream of thin soft light peeking out. He slipped through the door and skittered away from the light. _Someone was here_, he thought, cocking his gun. _Well, they picked the wrong night to try to break in_, he thought grimly. _Looks like I'll get that work out after all._

Val crept along the walls, sticking to the shadows until he was near enough to make out who it was. His eyes widened then narrowed as he silently uncocked his gun. Hopefully, he wouldn't need it. Then again one could never tell when dealing with Reyna Maxwell.

"God damn it!" she screeched, raising her wrench to pound into nothing whatever bit of machinery was trifling with her.

"Don't you think that's going a bit overboard?" 

He found himself leaping to the side as soon as the words left his mouth, grappling with the railing as a wrench sailed past his head. It clattered and skittered down the catwalk past him. Slowly, he raised his head, fixing the thrower with an icy stare. Reyna was glaring right back, not the least bit intimidated. She was quite a sight with her hair wisping around her face; breathing heavily as two red flags of color suffused her pale cheeks.

"Can I get up?" he asked dryly, indicating the bit of railing he was halfway perched on, "Or would you like to throw a few more blunt objects my way first?"

Reyna snorted, her hands straddling her hips. "As tempting as it is, no. I've got better things to then to see you standing there like a statue waiting for pigeons to puke their guts and shit at you. Plus I don't need to watch your cute little ass waving around the air all night."

Val raised his eyebrows, striving very hard to hide his surprise. Despite everything, there were times when Reyna's bluntness could still throw him for a loop. Then he noticed something. Was it his imagination or was Maxwell's face flooding with even more color than before.

***

__

Shit! Shit! Dammit! Reyna swore in silent horror. _I did not just say that, I did not just say that. Oh, lord I must be overboard because there is no way I could have said that. Act calm, don't let him think that you actually meant it or anything_, she thought rubbing the back of her neck. It felt hot. _Oh, damn!_ She was blushing, she just knew it. Damn her fair coloring and face that gave away everything she thought or felt. She was just like her father in that respect. Her mother said that they both had glass faces with every thought registering like light through glass for the entire world to see. It was just her luck to have been her father's girl in this as she was in so many other ways.

She turned away quickly, squatting down in front of her toolbox and fervently wishing that Val would go away. She was not equipped to deal with anyone at the moment, least of all Val Yuy. No, make that, especially Val Yuy.

Not too long ago, she would have jumped at the chance to spend some time alone with him. She made no bones about the fact she found him attractive--okay, pretty damn gorgeous was more like it. Val had what her mother had once dubbed as the 'Grrr' factor when describing the kind of boys her daughter had a tendency to be attracted to. Val had it in spades. There was something about him--something dangerous and exciting and-- _Okay, Maxwell, rope it in before you get in real trouble here._ Tarrant had teased her when she'd actually been stupid enough to admit to having a crush on the Commander's son. _You've fallen for a statue, Rey-honey. Pretty to look out but completely inaccessible and out of reach. You're just setting yourself up for hurt if you think you're going to get past that mask._

Now...well, now, Reyna envied the ease his detachment and the ease with which he put distance between himself and the rest of the world. Besides, with Tarrant's death, she had put any thoughts of romance out of her head. She'd already lost her twin--if she let someone else get close only to lose them too, then she really would have to be carted off to the funny farm. The only thing she wanted to get close to these days was Lealya's head with her revolver.

"Making repairs?" Val asked. Somehow he had managed to sneak up behind her and was now looking over her shoulder. 

"Obviously," she bit off, trying not to let him know how much his sudden nearness threw her. 

"Need any help?"

She finally looked up--so she could eye him incredulously. "Help? Me? From you? The day I need you to tell me how to fix my Gundam, Yuy, is the day I retire."

"That wasn't quite what I meant," he crossed his arms. "Quit trying to pick a fight."

"Who says I'm trying to pick a fight? I'm just telling it like it is."

"Of course."

"I am," she insisted, her hackles rose at his knowing tone of voice. Damn, he always did this to her. He always found ways to get under her skin and make her so mad! _Maybe you should think about why that is_, a little voice in her head taunted. _Shut up_, she thought savagely. She so did not want to go there. She wasn't some stupid little schoolgirl who could afford to have a crush--she was a Gundam pilot and there was no room for those kinds of feelings in this job, or feelings of any kind. Tarrant's death had taught her that if nothing else.

"Mhmm."

She paused, sitting back on her haunches and throwing a glare over her shoulder. "Val, is there any particular reason you're being a jackass to me this late at night? 'Cause I could really do without the condescension right now, thank you very much."

"I'm being condescending?" His eyebrow went up and those dark blue eyes became particularly piercing. "Excuse me but you nearly clocked me with a wrench. I think that entitles me to be a little concerned."

"Concerned about what?" she snapped. "Afraid I'll accidentally hit the wrong panel and blow us all up? Give me a little credit--I haven't suddenly become stupid just because..."

She trailed off unable to finish her sentence, unable to drive reality home one more time. Did she really have to be reminded every second of every day that Tarrant was gone and he would not be back? 

"Because what?" Val prodded his voice quiet. 

God, what did he want from her? Did he want her to break down and start crying? Did he think that would help? If that were true, she would have sobbed buckets by now. Crying didn't help anything. It didn't change facts. Tarrant was dead. Dead. Dead. She'd just be wasting her tears. They wouldn't bring her brother back. Nothing would. Nothing ever would. Her chest suddenly hurt a deep vacant ache that threatened to spread and consume her if she couldn't find a way to control it. 

She gave him a smile, a good old patented Maxwell grin. "Jeez, look who's chatty tonight. You'll turn my head with all this attention, Yuy."

"Don't."

Reyna kept smiling, inclining her head and keeping her poker smile. "Don't?"

He hunkered down beside her, his knee brushing hers and causing her to jerk back. He reached out and caught her elbow, steadying her before she could fall flat. His hands were so warm his touch gentle. That surprised her. Gentleness was not something she normally associated with Vailo Yuy. Brusque, icy calm or anti-social--yes, those were words she would have used to describe him but not gentle. She stared at his hand then lifted her gaze to his. He seemed a trifle uncomfortable, slowly pulling his hand away and using it to ruffle his hair. 

"You don't have to go through this alone, you know," he said steadily. "We're all here for you and--"

She held out a hand as if that would stave off his words. "You know what, Val? Don't. Just don't. I appreciate the offer but I'm fine. Really."

"Are you?" he studied her. "Because I don't think so."

"That a fact?"

"Yeah, that's a fact. Maybe you should take some time off. Time to get your head together."

***

Val regretted the words as soon as he said them. Reyna's face paled then became an alarming shade of crimson. He warily eyed the screwdriver she was clenching in her right hand. Her whole body was taunt. It wouldn't take much to set her off completely. 

"Time to get my head together?" she repeated, her voice calm and almost reasonable. That, Val decided, was not a good sign.

"Why does everyone around here think I'm some sort of psycho?" she asked, her voice still steady but her blue eyes were flashing dangerously. 

"No one thinks you're psycho," he replied refusing to take the bait. Reyna was clearly itching for a fight and he wasn't going to provide it if he could help it. He well remembered what she had done to Cavan when they came back from their mission and was pretty certain that he didn't want to be on the receiving end if he could help it. 

"Now you're humoring me. Thanks, Val." Sarcasm fairly dripped from her words. 

She rose to her feet. He mimicked her, intending to follow when she spun around to face him. She was so close they were almost touching noses. Those large blue eyes were wide with anger and hidden pain, a pain that called to him. He faintly recognized that pain, the haunting pain. She was hurting--far worse than anyone knew and the weight of trying to cope with it on her own was going to kill her.

She slapped him. The sound cracked and reverberated across the room. He raised his hand to cup his stinging cheek, grateful that she'd had enough control to switch her tool to her other hand. If she'd hit him with that damned screwdriver, it would have hurt. 

"That's the point, isn't it, Val?" she seethed "Nothing helps. Nothing! Suicide would help, yes it will, but nothing else."

Reyna Maxwell angry was an impressive sight. Dark eyes narrowed to slits and hands clenched in fists, her body language screamed that if it came down to a fight or flight situation, then she was more than ready to do a little ass kicking. Her self-control was dangerously diminishing moment by moment and it wasn't going to take much more to push her completely over the edge. The thought was one Val didn't exactly relish. He'd seen lions in circus cages that possessed more calm then she did at this moment.

"God, I'm so sick and tired of everyone treating me with kid gloves," she shouted. "I'm not crazy. And I'm not an invalid. I don't need to pity and I don't need to be taken care of. Not me. Not Reyna Maxwell. Do you understand that? I'm fine. Fine. FINE!"

"Everyone's worried about you," Val said, and Reyna noted a hesitation in his words. "Especially me," he whispered the rest, startling her.

"I didn't know you cared," Reyna said, walking away from Val's grip as she leaned against the leg of her Hellfire. She gave a cursory look at Val who shrugged.

"Let me tell you something, something that only my mother and father knows, not even my sister, cousin or his family," Val started, his voice caring and Reyna turned her head slightly, just wishing that he could leave her alone.

"You never cared, you never had any feelings, you are a loner, so why are you telling me this? Just leave me alone!" Reyna shouted in his face.

"Because, you were almost suicidal! You almost killed yourself during that mission and would have caused others more grief, and because you are just like me when I lost my brother!" Val shouted back, staring at her with even eyes. He saw shock register on her face as her mouth dropped slightly open.

"You…you had a brother?" Reyna said, not believing what she heard.

"Yes, an older one. He was three years older than I was and it was about nine years ago, a few weeks before my sister was born. My brother, Akane, was testing out his mobile suit for the first time. It was one of the rebuilt Gundam models called Black Wing. My father had insisted that he'd be trained under a Gundam model for guardian purposes. My mother strongly objected, but eventually my father convinced her. What nobody knew was that a Zero System, one like the Columbia-Zero, had been installed in the Black Wing by someone. Akane went into the suit and the test commenced…" Val hesitated as he took a deep breath.

"It's okay, you don't have to continue if you don't want to," Reyna said, watching the usually quiet and cordial pilot struggle with his emotions.

"No, you have to hear it, because it concerns your attitude," Val said, then continued, "During the test, the Zero System started to tamper with his senses and he lost all control of his surroundings. He eventually self-destructed after my father went up in a Leo suit, and was heavily injured trying to calm my brother down. I was devastated after that, because he had been a role model to me, some one that had could have looked up to. In the aftermath, I devoted myself to training and basically I did not even want to talk to anyone, I wanted to train and train. Master Wufei noticed that every time I trained with him I was becoming more suicidal then before and he told this to my father and mother. They were both concerned and eventually convinced me of my errors."

"Oh," Reyna said, suddenly quiet as she glanced down at her feet.

"So if you want to kill yourself then by all means do it, but just remember, if you want to kill yourself, think about who your gonna leave behind. Also, will you have enough courage to meet your brother when you're dead? What will happen to your parents? You kill yourself and you leave the task of killing Lealya to us, you want that?" Val asked putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She went still, body going limp and silent. He sighed with relief and loosened his hold on her. That turned out to be a mistake. The second his grip slackened she pulled back and swept his feet right out from under him. _Okay, enough is enough_, he thought as he glared balefully up from where she'd knocked him down. 

"Why are you just sitting there?" she taunted. "Little old' me didn't hurt big, bad Val Yuy, did she?"

He slowly got to his feet, keeping his eyes on her at all times. This time, he made sure there was the minimum amount of space between them. Rubbing his sore...pride, Val studied her. "Why are you doing this, Reyna?"

"Because I'm problem girl remember? Pay attention, Val."

"This isn't you."

"And if it is, what are you gonna do about it?" she smirked at him, the maniac gleam in her eyes more than just a little disturbing.

"You should go to bed. You're tired and out of control and continuing this argument is pointless," Val said.

"And who's gonna make me? You?"

"If I have to," he replied evenly.

That Cheshire smile grew larger and he tensed as she stepped up toe to toe with him. "Oh, really? Well, c'mon then, Yuy. Kick my ass."

"I'm not your enemy," he said softly. 

"No, that's right you're my friend. My well-meaning concerned friend who thinks I'm psycho."

"That's not true. I think you're troubled. It's understandable after what happened to Tarrant--"

"Shut up!" she yelled at him. Her face had gone pale again and the pain he had glimpsed in her eyes was now an open wound. It was an expression Val well recognized. Once long ago, it had been his. She knew his story, yet did she listen to what he had told her? Was that reason he found himself unable to let this go? Unable to let her self-destruct as she was so obviously intent on doing? Because he had been there and he knew how it hurt.

"Tarrant's dead," he tested gingerly. She flinched. 

"I know that," she hissed. "I know he's dead. I know that every second of every day! I--"

"It's not your fault."

It was strange how that one sentence could silence her so effectively. The fight seemed to drain right out of her, posture loosening so that she almost seemed to fold in on herself. She hugged her arms around herself tightly as if she could protect herself from his words by doing so. "Yes, it is," she whispered.

"Lealya killed him," he pushed. "Not you. You didn't have anything to do with his death, Reyna."

"Yes, I did! He died saving me! Because I was stupid. I let myself get put in a position to be killed. I should have died. Not him," she said. "I wish it had been me. I couldn't save him, couldn't protect him like I was supposed to."

"No, Reyna," he forgot about being wary and moved forward, touching her arm. "Never choose death over life. That's not the answer. If you do that then Tarrant will die again and this time it will be you that killed him. Don't throw away what he gave you."

She stared at him then gasped as if someone had hit her in the stomach hard. Her face dropped into her hands and she shuddered. More than that, she was shaking from head to toe. Val watched uneasily stirred by the feeling that he should do something, anything and torn because he didn't have a clue what to do. 

Hesitantly, he reached out and pulled her forward until she was resting against him. She fought for a moment then relaxed clutching the front of his shirt. She was crying, he could tell that by the way her body shuddered and shook with each sob and the feel of hot tears soaking his shirt but she wasn't making a sound. It was eerie, these silent tears and they affected him more than he cared to admit. He tightened his grip, one hand stroking her head as she burrowed her face in his chest. He didn't bother to tell her it would be all right or any other such nonsense that she wouldn't have believed. Instead, he just held her and gave her his presence. 

"Just cry, Reyna," he murmured. "Just cry."

(_Okay back to my writing…also I edited the part before…_)

***

__

Chapter 18- Only Heart to Live

It was as if her mind was ripped out of her body, and stuck into a jar. She screamed as pain coursed throughout her body, touching every joint, fiber, and nerve of her. It hurt so much, so much more since they strapped some kind of device that amplified her abilities and made her feel more pain than any human would.

"Up the amplification, I want her to break," Locke Dabnerba ordered Dr. Parker who nodded gruffly and twisted a knob on a control board.

"Oh, God, Allah, why are you doing this to me?" Neo whispered as more surges of pain shot throughout her, making her muscles twitch to the own accord. Her senses were overwhelmed with the agony of her suffering. She hung limply from the metal bonds that strapped her to a bed of electric currents. Another current of electricity ran though her, and she winced a bit as the electric fiber touched the nape of her neck and entered her, running through her windpipe, making her open her mouth involuntarily and she spewed out electricity mixed with her own blood.

"It hurts doesn't it Neo? Hurts so bad that you want to die right now, don't you?" Xylon whispered into her ear as he stood next to her.

Neo hung her head and nodded a bit. All she wanted to do was to die, she didn't want to suffer anymore, the pain, the pain was too much for her. She stiffened a bit as Xylon's hand ran along her face. The electricity had toned down a bit as she realized that she was breathing hard, and her whole body ached as if she had been ran down by a eighteen-wheeler. She cried out in muffled protest as Xylon forcefully kissed her, biting deep into her lip, and she tasted a coppery taste, her own blood.

"It's the fear of being dead that haunts you isn't it Neo? It's the fear of not seeing your family or your friends," Xylon said looking at her slyly. He ran a hand down her neck and traced her collarbone, admiring her form.

"Get your filthy hands off of me," Neo said, glaring at Xylon as she struggled against his touch and the bonds that were keeping her down.

Xylon laughed as he took his hand away from her, and he gave her a leering look. "Such violent temper, Neo Winner, that will do good," Xylon said coyly and looked at Locke and Dr. Parker. "Activate the probes, I think she's weakened enough to accept the probes. If she isn't then I can force her to accept," Xylon ordered and pointed to his head to accent his point.

"Very well, you heard him doctor…activate the probes and start the process again, this time full power," Locke ordered and Dr. Parker nodded as he pressed a few buttons on the control board. He flipped a switched that started the electrifying process again.

Neo screamed again as currents of electricity ran all over her this time twice the intensity and power as she had felt before. She felt her mind began to change as a new aggressive nature started to paint her world into her own. She began to feel that she needed to destroy someone, someone that was her enemy. _No! I can't let that happen! I have to concentrate!_ Neo felt the remains of her own mind cry out in protest as the new alien nature took over inputting information of her targets to kill, targets that were ruining her life. She gave a final cry of protest before she saw blackness. _What's…what's happening to me? What's…what's wrong with me_, she faintly thought as a blanket of blackness over took her, muddling her senses.

***

Quatre sat up from his bed as he gasped from the lack of air and he saw the fading image of his daughter, being converted. _Neo, what have they done to you?_ Quatre thought with horror as he bowed his head.

"Quatre? Anything wrong?" Ione asked, sleepily as she sat up from her side of the bed, and placed both hands on his shaking shoulders.

"She's gone…she's fallen into their hands," Quatre mumbled, as he couldn't get the image of Neo working for Omicron, doing their evil, out of his mind.

"Dear Allah," Ione whispered as she hugged Quatre, her blonde hair spilled onto his shoulders as they clung to each other for comfort and support.

"I'm so sorry, Ione, I couldn't protect her," Quatre whispered as rubbed her back in comfort.

"Its not your fault…its not that. We'll have to be stronger, stronger to turn her back to our way," Ione replied and looked towards the room door as it opened slightly and two small heads peeked in.

"Mommy, where's Neo? Is she gone?" Dumas asked as he and his younger sister walked in, both looking teary-eyed.

"Neo…bad men have her," Jade said in a quiet voice, too quiet for her age of five. She was sucking on her thumb as she and Dumas climbed into the bed.

"Don't worry, Jade, Dumas, Neo will be strong," Quatre said, as he hugged them. He felt their tears soak through his light nightshirt, and he knew that they had felt Neo's pain along with him. The odd thing was that Ione hadn't felt a single thing. What was also odd was about Dumas, he didn't even have any empathic powers as far as Quatre and Ione knew, so how could he'd have felt his sister's connection? _Neo, be strong, fight it_, Quatre thought as he glanced at Ione who looked devastated.

***

Cavan blinked his eyes open as he heard the whining beep of his alarm clock and he reached over to shut it. "Damn stupid clock, giving me all this trouble," Cavan grumbled as he got up from his bed and staggered over to the refresher station. He was out in a few minutes and grabbed a towel to dry his shoulder length white hair. He didn't know why he had left his hair long, ever since he was small. _I guess it's a mark to my father_, Cavan thought as he changed into a navy blue flightsuit. He glanced at his clock and saw that he had a few minutes before he had to report to the briefing room. _Not enough time to eat_, Cavan thought as he slipped on his ankle boots.

He walked out of his room and stopped short as he saw Val and Reyna up ahead, deep in conversation. He stayed in the shadows of the dim lights that dotted the hallway as he watched Val turned Reyna to face him, and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. He narrowed his eyes as he felt a flare of jealousy erupt in him. The jealousy became hotter as he saw Val lean in close with Reyna; their faces almost touching then he suddenly backed away and left her. Cavan watched as Reyna walked towards him and past him, her face blank and unemotional.

"Val, you…" Cavan whispered fiercely as he followed his cousin to the briefing room. He was going to have to talk to him later.

***

"Your mission is to Lunar Base, where our contact told us that it has been overran by Omicron forces. From there, you will have a main objective and a secondary objective. Your main objective is to get Neo Winner, and get her out of there. Your secondary objective is to find out the extent of Locke's forces, and if you can, destroy them. Remember, your safety is primary and if you find that you're in a situation where your life is endangered, abort the mission and return to base," Lady Une ordered giving both Cavan and Val an even look as they were dressed in commando outfits.

"Roger that," Cavan and Val replied simultaneously.

"Val would be leader for this operation. Good luck, and Godspeed," Lady Une said and Val nodded curtly. "Any questions? Dismissed," Lady Une barked and both men turned and left.

"Lets, hope that Locke doesn't find out about them, or else we'll be in deep horse shit," Sally Po commented as she stepped from the shadows of the briefing room.

"They're so young, they will have to succeed," Lady Une replied.

***

Val seated himself in the pilot chair of the shuttle and closed the hatch as Cavan came on board. He stared outside of the cockpit into nothing as he remembered his earlier conversation with Reyna, just before he reported to the briefing. He had told her that she must not do anything to kill herself just because she felt guilty. He had made her promise him that she would not kill herself while he was gone, he had a lot more to tell her. _So much to tell her, to tell her that I feel something for her?_ Val wondered when suddenly he felt a poking to his shoulder and glared at the cousin who sat down next to him in the co-pilot's chair.

"You seemed very cozy with Reyna this morning, is there something I don't know?" Cavan asked, as both started the pre-flight checkups.

"Nothing, nothing's going on. She's just frightened that's all," Val replied bluntly and nodded his head slightly as he saw that all the pre-flight checkups were in nominal shape. He started the shuttle and blasted away from the hanger bay of Nairobi Base.

"Do I sense a hesitation there, Val?" Cavan pressed and Val glared at him.

"What do you have against her? And why are you asking me all these questions?" Val asked as they sped in space, towards the Lunar Base.

"I saw you two outside near my quarters, you seemed very close to her…I just felt that it was fair to ask you if she is something special to you," Cavan replied in a simple voice and Val felt some anger boil in him. Cavan could be so nosy at times and it really got under his skin sometimes.

"You really want to know?" Val asked, giving a sideways look at Cavan whom nodded. "Try losing someone then you'll know," Val shot at him and returned his gaze to the moon, which was rapidly coming up towards the shuttle. He calmed himself by using one of the Master Wufei's breathing techniques and keyed the comm system as they approached the moon base. He could see a massive dark triangular shape shadowing the far side of the moon base and knew that it was the _Firestorm_.

"This is shuttle B5-1138, requesting permission to land on Lunar Base. We've just come from the Network base, after it was taken over by those bastards Preventer," Val spoke into the comm system.

"Shuttle B5-1138, why didn't you come in with Severn Cawley's shuttle?" the control of the moon base asked and Val glanced at Cavan who nodded.

"We were captured at first, but those cells, you know they suck at holding us in. Tell Miss Dabnerba we'll be reporting to her when we get off of the shuttle," Val replied and held his breath, hoping that Lunar Base would accept them in.

"Roger that shuttle B5-1138…you are clear to land in docking bay 45. Miss Dabnerba will meet you in the briefing room 23 in about twenty minutes," the control replied back and Val breathed a sigh of relief.

"Roger that control, shuttle out," Val replied and keyed the comlink off. "Now, we get Neo, and find her forces and blow them to hell," Val said to Cavan.

"As ordered," Cavan replied.

***

Trowa watched from a distance as his son shadow-fought an unseen opponent, his face beading with sweat as he kept at his fighting. He knew that his son was hard hit by Neo's sacrifice and wanted to keep it bottled up to himself, not letting anyone see through his mask of calm. _Too much like me, too much like Azure_, Trowa thought as he saw Adler run through a series of kicks.

"I thought I find you here," a soft voice said from behind him and Trowa stiffened as a pair of hands rested on his shoulders. He violently shrugged them away and moved a bit away from the person.

"Why are you here, Hawk," Trowa growled as he kept his eyes on his son.

"You mean I'm not allowed to see my son shadow-fight?" Hawk replied, putting hurt in her voice.

"He's not your son, he's mine," Trowa replied, not caring if his words sounded selfish.

"But we created him together, you and I," Hawk replied and Trowa froze as memories of that horrible day came rushing back to him. He had just had a rough day after joining Space Force instead of Preventer, and his commanding officer had chewed him out good for something he didn't remember what it was. He had entered his room, intending on getting some sleep and probably mull over what his commanding officer said, but he had found her in his bedroom, dressed in a black bodysuit. He had drawn a gun on her and wanted to kill her, but found that he couldn't. After that, it was all foggy to his memory, but he remembered that the next morning he found her gone, and him, lying naked in his bed.

"No, you're the one that forced me," Trowa snapped at her, glaring at her with his green eyes.

"So then, he is my son, not yours," Hawk replied and Trowa narrowed his eyes in anger. He felt so much pain rush in him, so much guilty feelings swirled around him like a maelstrom.

"Why did you keep the Barton last name, then?" Trowa asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"You never accepted your real name, but instead lived with this name, the name you called Trowa Barton. It was all I could do, leave him with your name," Hawk replied in a simple voice. "He doesn't know about us, does he?" Hawk suddenly whispered and bowed her head in shame.

"How could I tell him? How could I tell him, and have him look at me the same way he had seen me all these years?" Trowa accused pointing a finger at Hawk, "it's your fault you know."

"I know its my fault and I'm sorry about all this, sorry that I couldn't have been there for him," Hawk replied and quickly left the training room.

__

You're never sorry, Hawk, you just want everything to be your own way, your own gain. That's why you let everyone down, including him. You just want everything to be perfect in your own way, never letting others know the truth, Trowa thought darkly as he looked back to his son who was still practicing furiously. "Adler, someday you'll have to find out," Trowa whispered.

***

Cavan flattened himself against a wall as a guard walked by. He waited a few minutes before peeking from his hiding place and glanced into a large hall and saw no one there. He glanced behind him and waved Val over, telling him that it was all clear. "From what I saw on the blueprints, Neo should be around over here," Cavan whispered to him and Val nodded.

"Okay, cover me, I'll check the terminal," Val ordered and Cavan stepped into the hall, pointing his gun in both directions and kept his eyes sharp for any signs of guards or anything out of the ordinary.

"Found her, she's in the room 11," Val announced in a stage whisper after a few minutes. Cavan nodded and went down the hall until he found the room 11. He keyed in an override code and the door hissed open. Cavan stepped in and pointed his gun at various places, his senses alert for guards or traps, but he found none. He saw Val brush past him and went over to a bed-tube thing that was situated to one side of the room.

"Holy hell," Val cursed and Cavan could hear an unusual dread in his voice.

"What?" Cavan asked, walking over to him.

"Look at her," Val said and Cavan peered into the tube. He suddenly recoiled as he saw her.

"What the hell?" Cavan questioned as he looked at her again. She saw in a black bodysuit, her hands folded neatly on her stomach. Her hair was pooled around her, but her face; it was her face that scared him so much. She had black wires of some sort running throughout her head, and all of them were connected to a black blob that was stuck onto her left temple. The black wires looking organic, almost as if it was alive in some sort and they kept flashing occasionally. "We have got to get her out," Cavan said and looked around for anything that could be useful for opening the tube. He found a crowbar and jammed one end up the seal between the tube and pushed down on it. "Did you find any control board to open this thing?" Cavan asked, his voice strained as he tried to lift up the cover to the tube.

"No, none at all," Val replied looking around the tube and the room. Suddenly there was the wailing of alarms and Cavan stiffened.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Situated around the Agent bays," a sharp voice blared all over the system and Cavan cursed silently.

"Damn, all right, we'll have to leave her and get out," Val ordered and Cavan glanced at him with surprised.

"What? You mean leave her here? She's our top priority!" Cavan shouted to him over the alarms.

"She might be converted and could be a time bomb waiting to be unleashed. We can't take that chance, also how will we get her out of that tube while your still trying to open it?" Val questioned and Cavan nodded numbly.

"All right, we go now," Cavan agreed. He took a glance at Neo who was lying there. _Adler's not going to be happy, neither is anybody. The stakes just got higher_, Cavan thought as he left her room.

***

Val ran down the corridors and found that all ends of the hallways blocked their escape routes. _Damn, they've got us cornered_, Val thought as he calculated his chances.

"Shit, okay Cavan go! Go get the shuttle ready and start launching!" Val spun around and faced his cousin with authoritative eyes.

"You two won't be going anywhere," a soft voice spoke up from behind Val and he turned slightly to see an Asian woman with long flowing jet-black hair and sharp winter green eyes.

"Who says lady," Cavan snorted.

"Cavan go, I'll handle her," Val ordered and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Take care, and be careful cousin," Cavan said and Val actually heard compassion and worry in his cousin's voice.

"I will…now go!" Val said and he heard Cavan's footsteps fade away as he turned to face the Asian woman.

"Locke Dabnerba, sworn enemy of my father; you will die where you now stand," Val said, narrowing his Prussian blue eyes into a chiseled icy glare.

"Tsk…too much like your father…it's sad you know," Locke started giving him a predatory smile as she walked towards him slowly, "you have his spirit, yet do you have his skill?"

"Well why don't we see?" Val answered and waved a hand towards her, beckoning her to make the first move.

"Confidence, over confidence…good. I like that; this will make my victory easier," Locke replied then suddenly ran towards him and brought her leg up in an arc.

Val ducked under the high kick and brought his fist up, hitting her in the stomach. He smiled grimly as she staggered back, the wind slightly knocked out of her. He then ducked as she got back on her feet and launched a barrage of blows towards his head. _Father was right; she is a tough opponent, tougher than Master Wufei or anyone else I've ever faced_, he thought to himself as he blocked her blows with relative ease. "Is that all you've got?" he asked as he countered a kick and grabbed onto her right ankle. He twisted her leg and lifted her into the air. He let go and she spun as she fell to the ground.

"Quite the amuser aren't you Falcon Zero?" Locke said, "Did you know that I killed your brother?"

Val was silent for a few minutes as anger build up inside him. His blue-eyed gaze became glazed with anger. "You…killed Akane…you…killed," he started before hot anger choked his words. "You're the one that stuck a Zero System in the Black Wing, you're the one that made my brother destroy himself," Val started then yelled with fury as he traded blows with her.

"You like your father, so full of anger, so cold, both of you are space in its entirety," Locke said then slammed Val up against a wall.

Val felt pain arch throughout his back and his teeth rattled. He crumpled to the ground and curled up a bit, wincing in pain. Val reached for his gun that was stuck in the back of his flight suit pocket, and started to draw it, out when he felt a sharp kick to his right hand, which made him drop the gun. He felt the bone to his wrist crack and break as spasms of pain shot through, racing up and down his right arm, numbing him.

"Not so powerful aren't you Falcon Zero. Your father was a better adversary. Now you will die," Locke whispered and took out a gun. She fired.

Val felt the bullet impact him and his body twitched involuntarily. He touched the wound where the bullet had entered him and was slightly surprised to see blood on his fingers. _So this is what dying is like_, he thought silently as he heard the gunfire again and another bullet entered him. There was another loud echoing crack of the gun firing again, again, and again.

"I hope you'll rot in Hell where your brother is," Locke whispered, tracing his pain-etched face with a finger, then walked swiftly away.

A roaring of blood through his ears drowned the noise of her footsteps that echoed throughout the area. He felt very faint and lightheaded and knew that he was losing a lot of blood_. I'm sorry Akane; I couldn't destroy your killer_, he thought as he slowly closed his eyes. He saw a faint image of Reyna smiling at him as blackness over took him.

***

Cavan felt guilty as he made his way back towards the shuttle that took them here. _I have to go back, I just get the feeling that Val is in serious trouble_, he thought as he mentally kicked himself. He stopped for a minute as he considered his options. He was almost to their shuttle, but his conscious told him to go back.

"I can't…I have to do what he ordered…I have to," Cavan whispered as he looked around. "Aw hell…" he cursed the decision to go back was wrecking his mind.

***

__

Chapter 19- Survival to the Last

"Sir! Commander Yuy! There's a shuttle coming from the Lunar Base at top speed, headed towards us," a communications officer said his voice high and squeaky.

Heero gave a look at the officer and prompted him, "Well? You know the drill."

"Oh, uh…incoming shuttle identify yourself," the officer stuttered and Heero mentally slapped himself for hiring a newbie during the war, especially a new communications officer.

"He's on the verge of spazzing," Duo commented softly as all Gundam pilots were crowded in the main room of the Nairobi Base.

"This is Scorpion, mission aborted and we have a problem. Send a medical-team towards the hanger bay," Cavan's voice said and Heero was surprised at the weariness the young pilot had in his voice.

"Scorpion, might I ask what's the medical-team for?" the comm officer asked.

"…Falcon Zero is dying," Cavan's voice came back after a few minutes hesitation.

***

The harsh sound of water dripping slowly into its sink echoed throughout the room. It was quiet save for the occasional intake of a breath then a release of it. Heero Yuy stared out into the serene scenery outside a hospital window. He turned his head slightly to see his son who was lying like a corpse among masses of tubes and wires. _He looks so dead, almost like me…why? I didn't want him to suffer as I did, but Locke had to interfere with that_, Heero thought to himself as one of his hands unconsciously clenched into a fist.

There was a slight knocking to the door. "Come in," Heero said and he heard the door open.

"Oh, Commander, I'm sorry," a young officer's voice said, slightly embarrassed.

"No worry. What is it?" Heero asked.

"Sir, Locke Dabnerba is making an announcement that you might want to hear," the officer replied then quickly left the room.

Heero took another glance at his son, then spun around and left his hospital room.

***

Reyna sat at the café's table with two other men with her. She noted that both of their faces held an amount of sadness, sadness that was stretched since Tarrant's death. She hated this sadness that followed around her, whispering at every edge of her mind, telling her that she was born to feel this kind of feeling.

"I can't believe it, three gone already, how many more?" Cavan whispered, his hands wrapped around a mug of hot coffee.

"He's not dead yet, and there's still hope for Neo," Reyna spat back at Cavan and glared at him through the rim of her mug of tea.

"But you've seen what the readings said about Neo, she's an alien host now, for something organic. Organic that it's controlling her to the fullest! They've changed the Hidden Agent program," Cavan protested, and banged a fist on the table the three were sitting at.

"Shut up Cavan, just shut up," Adler interrupted the older teen in a quiet voice.

Reyna could detect a hint of underlying distress and feeling in the usually quiet pilot. "It's okay, we've been through a lot, now all we need to do is to calm down and think things over," Reyna tried to settle the tension that was growing between the two teens.

"Think things over," Adler snorted in disgust, "Cavan you left her there, not even trying to free her! Maybe she wasn't even converted yet, maybe she was just in a stasis chamber."

"You don't understand what Val and I saw…she had organic things on her, dark looking things that ran over her face and some into her head. Now tell me does that seemed to be a person in stasis, I don't think so," Cavan shot back and glared at Adler.

"You could have given her a chance," Adler replied.

"Shut up you two! Just shut up!" Reyna shouted, placing a hand between both of their faces, interrupting their staring match. "Tarrant's dead, Neo's converted, and Val's in a coma for who knows how long and all you two can do and just sit here and fight! You guys are so…so…Argh!" Reyna yelled at them and suddenly stood up, knocking her chair over. She glared at each of them, "I don't know what the hell is going on, but you two have to get your act together." She spun around and left them, heading towards the infirmary in the Nairobi Base.

Adler was quiet for a few minutes when a sudden crackling from the TV located in the café brought his head up. He narrowed his eyes as Locke Dabnerba's face appeared over the screen.

"Citizens of Earth and Colonies, this is your new leader," Locke started…

***

Reyna sat in a chair next to Val's hospital bedside. She glanced at his still form, save for the occasional rise of his chest when he breathed, but even that was very shallow. The doctors told them that Val was healing, but he was still in a coma from the bullet wounds.

"Now, all we can do is see if he wakes up. It's his choice if he wants to wake up or not," the doctors had said.

"Val?" Reyna whispered, stroking a tuff of his bangs. He was so pale, almost translucent. _My God, he looks so dead, so…_Reyna thought then felt tears form on her eyes as she swiped at them. "Oh Val, why did you have to face her? Why did you have to sacrifice yourself? You told me that I couldn't kill myself while you're gone, but here you lay, almost dead," Reyna whispered as she sat down beside his bedside and took one of his hands into her own. She stroked them gently; afraid that any sudden movement would trigger something in him that could lead to his death.

"Citizens of Earth and Colonies, this is your new leader," Locke's voice blared out from the TV screen that was in Val's room. Reyna glared at it and narrowed her eyes.

"Bitch," she spat quietly at the leader of Omicron Empire.

"I tell you now, your protectors, your so-called Gundams won't save you from my wrath that will destroy all of you!" Locke said in a deadly quiet voice. "This is my declaration of war to all of you. All of you who think you have no equal, but there is one that will rise to the top, my kind. All of you will submit under my rule as programmed into me by Dermail those forty-four years ago. Send up your military, send up your forces, I will eliminate them all. No one can save you, not even the legendary Gundam pilots you so come to fear yet adore," she said then abruptly shut off the transmission and left the TV in a blanket of static.

"Just who the hell does she think she is? Wonder woman bent on taking over the world?" Reyna snorted quietly to herself as she remembered she was still in a hospital. Suddenly there was a beeping sound and Reyna glanced at her comlink that was sitting on a small table near Val's bed. She sighed in frustration and picked it up, "Reyna here."

"Reyna, we need you for battle preparation. She's getting her forces massed up near Colony 01 and the Lunar Colony. Are you able to fight?" Lady Une's voice came over.

Reyna glanced once at Val, and squeezed her eyes shut as tears spilled down her face from the sight of him. _I don't know, am I ready to fight without loosing it? Can I go to battle and survive to see him?_ Reyna wondered as she swiped angrily at her eyes and opened them. She looked at Val for a long time, her eyes running up and down his body and face. He looked so dead, so lifeless. Was he the same person a few hours ago that told her not to kill herself? "Val, you baka, you told me not to kill myself while you were away, but here you lay almost dead," Reyna whispered.

"Reyna?" Lady Une prompted her voice a tad bit impatient.

"Colonel Une, sign me up as pilot of Gundam Hellfire. Maxwell's back in business," Reyna replied and shut off the link. She stood up and glanced outside at the serene scenery. It was so peaceful, how could anyone destroy it? She glanced back at Val and leaned over his bed. "I'll try to come back so you don't have to miss me, Yuy," Reyna whispered as she placed a soft kiss on his cold lips. She backed away towards his room door, suddenly unable to tear herself away from him.

"Get a grip Reyna, you have to survive to see him, or else you'll have bad-ass Merquise to pick on and that's no fun," Reyna told herself as she left his room and headed towards the locker room to change into her flightsuit.

***

Heero glanced at the monitors that were in the main control room in the Nairobi Base. There were four monitors that showed each vantage-point in where Locke was going to deploy her forces. One on Space Force Station where Trowa and Wufei were, one on the asteroid where Duo and Howard where just about arriving to it, one from a satalight that was in position, and one from Colony 01. He glanced at another monitor that showed his wife, speaking with force as she tried to calm down the political situation that concerned them. God he hated those arrogant sons of bitches senators, they always stuck their noses in every single thing that the military did.

"She's putting up a good, fight, but unless we destroy Locke then all her efforts will be for nothing," Zechs' voice came from behind him and Heero nodded slightly.

"Do we have video transmissions coming from all pilots?" Quatre's voice yelled from the far end of the room. Heero glanced at their resident tactician. He was going to coordinate all the attacks against Locke, and Heero could see that Quatre had a lot of stress on him.

"We do, all with the exception of Sandstorm and Falcon Zero. We don't know until it has enter battle and or the pilot chooses to reveal herself," one of the officers replied and Heero saw Quatre stiffen a bit at the mention of his daughter's Gundam.

"What's the pilots' ETA to Locke's forces?" Heero asked as he glanced at a green monitor that showed Colony 01 and the Lunar Base with hundreds of yellow blips in between the two objects.

"About two minutes," the officer monitoring the battle feed replied and Heero narrowed his eyes. He keyed in a broad band comlink to all the pilots; "This is Commander Yuy, battle defensive formation, but beware of her tricks. Adler, you're in charge of this group, good luck."

"Yes sir," the three remaining pilots replied in unison.

Heero caught the eyes of both Quatre and Zechs and both of them nodded fractionally. He looked back at the space monitors wishing that he was young again so he could go and battle Locke and finish his mission that he had undertook so many years ago. _I'll defeat you somehow Locke Dabnerba…you destroyed my family and I will destroy yours…_

***

Adler watched as Locke's force slowly got large in his tri-screen in his Gundam Taliesin. He built his Gundam almost like his father's Heavyarms and he was proud of it. Taliesin was guidance for those that were lost those that were seeking its leadership. _And Commander Yuy left me in charge of this group_, Adler thought as he readied his multiple gattling guns. They were situated on his arms, two barrels per arm and could be dropped manually when they were out of bullets.

"Cavan, move left take those on the wing front. We need you to keep them at bay while Reyna and I head to the denser part of the grouping Locke's made for her forces," Adler ordered over the comm system and he saw a small image size of Cavan nod.

"Roger that Taliesin, good luck," Cavan replied and his image disappeared from Adler's left side screen. He glanced at his right side screen, which held a small image transmission of Reyna. "Reyna you ready?" Adler asked.

"Ready as I will ever be, Taliesin…lets give them hell with our Gundams," Reyna replied and Adler was glad to hear that there were no traces of her suicidal personality in her.

He throttled forward and past Scorpion who was engaging three Orion mobile suits. _"Neo told me to kill her the next time I see her, and I do love her, so then I will respect her wishes. If she wants me to kill her, since she's changed, then I will."_ Adler heard his own words echo in his mind as he fired his gattling guns at a few Orions, pelting them with energy bullets that ripped through their easy metal and they exploded into tiny bits. _Will I be able to kill her when the time comes?_ Adler wondered as he ducked underneath a beam saber from another Orion and retaliated by shooting the head off of the Orion. Suddenly the flow of Orions coming at them stopped and they all backed away.

"What the hell?" Reyna wondered out loud and Adler narrowed his green eyes, ready to do anything. He raised his right arm and looked around cautiously for any signs of an approaching enemy. He glanced at his scanners and saw that there was no threat. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his head prickled and Adler suddenly felt a chill run through him.

"Adler Barton…Reyna Maxwell," a cold, yet hauntingly familiar voice said over their comm systems. Adler thought he heard an overlapping voice following the first announcement of their names.

"Oh my God," Adler breathed in horror and wonderment as a face appeared on the full size of his left screen. Blonde hair pooled around her face and her eyes were chiseled like Arctic icebergs, but a black pool was filling them rapidly. Sinewy black strands wrapped themselves around her face almost embracing her and they occasionally flashed. _Dear Lord, no…no this can't be her…no_, Adler thought in horror as he saw a cruel smile form on her soft lips.

"So Cavan was telling the truth, she's monster," Reyna said over the comm system and Adler couldn't do a single thing but numbly nod in agreement. _Neo…_

***

Quatre stiffened as he saw the monitor to Sandstorm light up and his daughter sitting in the cockpit of her Gundam. _But that isn't her_, Quatre heard a voice in his head tell him as he saw numerous black strands of organic looking things wrapped around her face, all of them connected to a black blob that was lying on her left temple. Her eyes were pools of blackness and they seemed to hold no life in them.

"Ah, its so good to awaken again in a mobile suits, particularly a Gundam, even if I'm the extension of Locke herself," Neo spoke over the comm system and Quatre could hear a distinct overlaying of his daughter's voice mixed with someone else.

He glanced at Heero and Zechs who both had equally puzzled faces. _What the hell has she done with her?_ Quatre wondered as he tried to calm himself down. He wouldn't go around and demand information about his daughter, but he would get revenge. _Now isn't the time to mess around with Locke, I need to concentrate on the battle_, Quatre thought as he looked at the two Gundams that were facing Sandstorm.

"All right asshole where's the real Neo?" Reyna was saying and Quatre could see that Duo's daughter was extremely pissed off, just like her father when in a situation not too good.

"You want to see her? You want to talk to her? Fine," Neo replied and Quatre heard an eerie silence descend upon the whole control room of Nairobi Base. Suddenly Quatre saw Neo close her eyes for a few seconds then reopened them but without the black pool that once engulfed her eyes. "What…" Neo started and he couldn't hear the distinct overlapping of the other voice.

"Neo, can you hear me?" Quatre immediately shouted into a link he had established with the Sandstorm.

"Father? Is it really you? What the hell am I doing in my Gundam?" Neo poured out question after question. Quatre saw her suddenly straightened as she realized that she was in the midst of a battlefield, "Dear Allah, what have they done to me?"

"Neo? Are you all right?" Adler jumped in before Quatre could say anything.

"Adler…oh god, Adler kill me now, cause they've messed with my Gundam and me…I…I…I…have a Zero System in here," Neo whispered and Quatre saw her eyes tear up. "Someone just kill me now, cause I don't know what she'll do when I'm in her control!" Neo suddenly shouted then her head dipped down and then back up. Quatre narrowed his eyes as he saw the fire within his daughter's blue eyes cover up by the black pool.

"Aw, how sweet…now are you going to actually kill me Adler? Are you willing to kill me? Oh, and Quatre, I wouldn't use your powers against me, cause I can do this to you," Neo said in a simple voice and Quatre narrowed his eyes cautious of anything that was happening around him.

Suddenly he felt as if his head was exploding into millions of pieces and he felt empathic waves of pain radiating from him, going off in different directions. Then the pain stopped and Quatre realized that he was gasping like a fish out of water. "Neo…" Quatre whispered, as he slowly stood up, suddenly aware that he had crouched down onto the metal ground. He looked around and saw the some other people in the room were grabbing onto their heads in pain, just like him.

"She's too dangerous to go near…Adler, Reyna do not attack her in anyway, we don't know what she might do," Heero spoke to the pilots.

"What? But, Commander, I made a promise to her," Adler started but Heero cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand. "That promise cannot be full filled right now with her this dangerous," Heero reasoned and Quatre saw the young teen nod reluctantly.

"Things are going to get tough aren't they Heero," Quatre asked tentatively and Heero nodded.

***

It was so dark, so cold. It was like as if a blanket had fallen over his senses, muddling everything. _Where am I?_ Val wondered as he saw that the blanket started to show some light in them.

"_You are in the mind of your own self. You are here because of your defeat; here because of your injuries; here because you have a choice to make. Your life or your own death_," a voice echoed throughout the dark places in his mind. He glanced around for any signs of the person or thing that had spoke to him, but all he saw was blackness.

"_Val?_" A familiar voice said from the darkness and Val turned his head slightly to see Reyna Maxwell step from the shadows dressed in all black like she was in a funeral mass for someone. She walked past him and over to a casket and knelt down in front of it, her head bowed. Val walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, but was surprised to see his hand pass right through her. _What the hell?_ Val wondered as he glanced into the casket and saw his own body, lying in a prone form.

"What the hell is this? Some kind of sick joke?" Val shouted as Reyna and the casket faded away. He glanced around and then upwards, "Hey! What the hell is this?"

"_You have still a lot to know…that was your death, your death at this given moment_," the voice replied and Val narrowed his eyes. "_Look again, at your life, your past, present, and possible future_," the voice urged and Val turned to face a white screen that suddenly appeared out of thin air.

He saw his parents holding him as he laid in a small white blanket, just out of the hospital he was born in and at home. The small head of his brother, Akane could be seen peering over their parents' shoulders. The image flashed to another when he was visiting the Sank Kingdom for the first time, where his cousin lived. Suddenly the screen took on a darker tone and Val knew what scene would appear next…his brother's death in the Black Wing. Val turned his head away from the image, not wanting to relive the events that took away his childhood happiness. _I took in a deep depression that left me like my father when I was young, like him_, Val thought as another screen popped up this time showing his recent fight with Locke Dabnerba that ended with him almost dead.

"_This is your possible future, if you want to continue to live_," the voice returned and Val looked up to a third screen that showed him dressed in a tuxedo standing before the altar, ready to be married to someone. The scene suddenly flashed as saw himself in bed with a person, the face of the person he could not see. There was another flash and Val saw himself carrying a small baby with light tuffs of brown hair and dark blue eyes, his son.

"_I have shown you the path, now you must decide which door to open, but remember, once you open that certain door, you cannot come back_," the voice boomed as all three screens flashed away leaving him again in darkness. There was a sudden rumbling and two doors appeared one marked with a "D", the other marked with "L".

Val hesitantly walked over to the one marked "D" when a sudden wave of pain made him drop to the ground in agony. He felt Neo's, Reyna's and all the others pain especially that of his father's run all around him and he realized that he had to help them. Val quickly got up, ignoring the pain, and flung open a door.

***

Val snapped his eyes open and found that he was staring up at a white ceiling. He moved his head to the right and saw that there was a window that showed the endless sand dunes of the Nairobi Base. _I'm alive…_Val realized as he sat up with a start. He felt no pain, no dizziness, nothing. He glanced down at his bare chest and abdomen and found that there were a few bandages that covered his bullet wounds. Val hesitantly pulled the bandages off and found that pink healthy skin covered his wounds, leaving not a single trace of him being shot. Suddenly there was a shaking to the building and Val ducked a bit as a high whine of an Orion blocked the sunlight to his room, flew by, making the windows rattle violently.

"What the hell? Omicron?" Val wondered out loud as he got up from his bed. He flicked on the TV to his room and narrowed his eyes as he saw a battle being waged in space as the reporter at Global News Network blabbered on about details. _I have to help my friends_, Val thought as he ran out of his hospital room, not caring if anyone saw him without his shirt on. They were probably all at the control room or at the bomb shelters by then. He made a beeline towards the locker room to suit up.

***

__

Chapter 20- A Fight of Zero

"Sir! Orion mobile suits have us surrounded," one of the officers said and Heero narrowed his eyes.

"Damn, okay what's the status of our mobile suit forces?" Heero asked, leaning over the officer as he looked at a green monitor.

"Not enough to spare to us. Paris Base is also under attack and so are the other headquarters of Preventer. Space Force Station is also under attack, as is the resource asteroids that are around Earth. All available mobile suits have been transferred up to there since they don't have the strongest defense," the officer replied.

"Get the defense armaments up now," Zechs ordered.

"But sir, those things haven't been in use for twenty years," another officer protested and Heero saw Zechs give them a withering look.

"I don't give a damn how long they've not been used. Just get them on or else you want to be blasted in to oblivion?" Zechs countered and Heero saw the officer cringe a bit before going back to his station.

"Holy shit!" one of the officers exclaimed.

"You know that language is not permitted on the premises," Heero said in a flat voice, but looked at the officer curiously as she began to shake in her seat.

"Uh…uh sirs, half of the Orions have been wiped out…uh, uh," the officer stammered and Heero went over and activated the outside view camera. He recoiled a bit as he saw Falcon Zero, slice an Orion with untamed fury. The Gundam then spun around with a reaction time Heero had never seen except only by him or Zechs.

"Give me a link to the pilot of that Gundam," Heero ordered then took the small comm link into his hand. "This is Commander Yuy, pilot of Falcon Zero identify yourself," Heero spoke into it.

"You should know already who it would be. You think I would let anyone touch my mobile suit?" Val's voice came over and Heero blinked a bit.

"Val?" Heero started before he was cut off.

"I'm fine dad, I heal fast, just like you I guess. I'll clear these guys away from the base before heading out to space. Yuy out," Val disconnected the line and Heero frowned a bit.

"Maybe with Val in the Zero System, we could have a chance of getting Neo back," Zechs said and Heero nodded slightly, a bit doubtful.

***

Reyna blasted apart one pesky Orion that was trying to sneak up on her and smiled grimly as the Orion blew up, taking out a few of its near by friends. She then swiped at two Orions with her scythe, cutting them apart from the waist and they floated in a space before becoming two fireballs that added on to the rest of the exploding Omicron Forces.

Suddenly she slammed forward into her controls then the restraints locked up, sending her back into her seat. "Ugh, damn," Reyna cursed as she rubbed her chest that hurt from the force of the impact. She glanced behind her to see an ancient piece of junk that her mother called the Lafayette. _What the hell, they're still functional?_ Reyna wondered as she peppered the mobile suit with her shoulder gattling guns but they did no effect. Reyna quickly brought up her wings over her body and head as the Lafayette fired its massive beam cannon it had.

She could feel the power of the beam cannon being absorbed into her power system by her wings and she smiled. "Here's one back at you!" Reyna yelled as she opened her wings and flicked on her scythe to transfer the power to her beam, which glowed brighter. She throttled her Gundam and swiped her scythe over the Lafayette. Reyna didn't bother to turn around to see if she had destroyed the mobile suit as she continued on her warpath, cutting down Orions left and right. Suddenly she felt a lancing pain to her head and she glanced up to see Sandstorm…no Sandstorm Zero standing in front of her. "Get the hell away from my mind," Reyna spat at the person in the cockpit.

"Oh, I'm sorry Reyna, did I hurt you?" Neo's double voice came back, laced with fake worry.

"Bitch, get you stinking little program away from her!" Reyna snapped as she felt the pain intensify. Reyna let out a small moan as the pain shot throughout her body, making her stiff.

"Why, such language Reyna. I'm your friend," Neo replied and Reyna glared at the changed Neo with hate filled eyes.

"You're not my friend, not anymore. You were once my ally, and my best friend, but now, no more," Reyna said and she raised an eyebrow as the pain lessened and a confused look appeared on Neo's face.

"My ally?" Neo questioned and Reyna could see the black pool in her eyes start to dissipate, but only very little.

She was about to say more when suddenly there was a white-brown blur that swept by followed by a flash of green. "Val?" Reyna asked as she saw Falcon Zero engage in a fierce sword fight with Sandstorm Zero.

"Get those Orions off of me, I'll handle her," Val replied curtly and Reyna raised and eyebrow.

"You sure? I mean she can control you, if not possibly kill you with her mind," Reyna said a tad worried about his condition, after all only a few hours ago, she saw him on his hospital bed, almost dead.

"Not with a Zero System mind she can't," Val replied his voice strained as Reyna saw him press his beam saber against Neo's. Reyna narrowed her eyes as she saw two Orions trying to converge on the battling warriors and she throttled away from the two combatants, heading towards the oncoming Orions.

"Here you go assholes, eat this!" Reyna yelled as she brought her scythe in a punishing swipe that cut the arms off of the Orions. She then brought her green double scythe across again, this time taking the two mobile suits out by their waist. Reyna glanced around as they exploded, her senses alert for any other hostile enemy.

"Reyna Maxwell," a voice said behind her and Reyna spun around, her scythe held in a ready position. She narrowed her eyes as mobile suit was waiting behind her, holding two beam Sais. She found that the mobile suit model was eerily familiar and realized that it was the Black Wing model of Gundam that she had seen for the plans during her time on MO-VII.

"Lealya Dabnerba," Reyna hissed her eyes blazing with anger.

"You're the next one to go after your dear brother. It was a pity that he returned to your side before completing his mission for me, but no worry, he died just as well," Lealya replied and Reyna gritted her teeth in pure fury.

"Bitch, whore, asshole, slut," Reyna rattled off any kind of swear or degratory name she could think of at Lealya. She throttled her Hellfire and sped at Lealya, hoping to take her out in one shot. Reyna suddenly was thrown forward then backward as the force of Lealya's blow rattled her teeth. She blinked stars from her eyes as she pressed her double scythe against Black Wing's twin sai. _I'll defeat you Lealya_, Reyna promised herself.

***

Cavan watched as his cousin took on Neo, both of them furiously battling between sparks of energy released as both charged at each other with their beam sabers. A sudden bleeping alerted him to enemies who were lining up shots at him. He snapped his heat whip at an Orion, taking off the head and right arm in one shot. With his beam saber in his other hand, Cavan stabbed through the heart of the Orion, making it explode.

He glanced over his shoulder to see a few Orions flying towards Colony 01 all their weapons hot and running. _Damn, is she serious enough to shoot down a Colony?_ Cavan thought as he throttled his Gundam and sped towards them. He powered down his beam saber and brought out his beam rifle as he set it on his shoulder. Cavan heard the pipping of the targeting box that slowly made its way to his eye and a constant tone sounded, indicating that he had a good shot at all of the Orions.

Cavan squeezed the trigger and looked saw a massive yellow beam of energy shoot from his beam rifle and past all of the Orions. The yellow beam dissipated and he gave a small smile as all the Orions promptly exploded one after another. "Locke shouldn't mess around with the Colonies, someone might just blow her forces up," Cavan whispered wiry. He glanced at his monitors and saw that the Omicron forces were attacking Space Force Station and some of the resource asteroids that were situated around the Earth. _Well, gotta go help them_, Cavan thought as he opened his thrusters to maximum and sped towards the Space Force Station.

***

Val gritted his teeth as he pressed against Neo, both of them resorting to their beam sabers. He fired his gattling guns at her, peppering her with bullets and sprang away from their locked combat. "Neo, if you are still there, you know that you have to regain control of your own self or else I'll be forced to kill you," Val said, trying to see if the young Winner could still hear him.

"Falcon Zero, you of all people should know that she is not here anymore, fully under my command," Neo's double voice came over and Val ducked as she slashed at him with her bluish beam saber. He countered pressing all his weight behind his blow and was face to face with her. Val narrowed his eyes and suddenly shouldered her in the face, sending her flying backwards. He wrapped his brown tipped wing vulcans around him as she took out her shotgun and fired rounds at him. Val glanced at his sensors and noticed that Adler was near by, holding off a few Orions.

"Adler! Get her!" Val ordered as he opened his wings again and throttled towards her.

"Roger that," Adler's grim reply came over and Val knew that their leader was going to have a tough time since he really liked Neo. Val swung at Neo with his beam saber then suddenly backed off as Adler came swooping in, firing all of his gattling guns and missiles at her. He watched as all impacted her, sending a huge shockwave of an explosion everywhere.

Val shielded his eyes, as the glare of the blast was too bright. He looked back at where the Sandstorm Zero was and found that it was standing, like a shadow in front of the explosions, a bit scuffled at places.

"You know, you shouldn't mess with this mobile suit, it just might hurt you," Neo's voice said and Val felt a small pain erupt in the back of his mind. He heard Adler cry out a bit, as he was affect by the pain wave. _Zero helps me keep the pain away, but what about her? Is Zero trying to control her?_ Val wondered as he keyed the comlink to the Taliesin.

"Adler! Get away," Val ordered as he felt Zero's presence engulf him in its world. He felt a rush of his senses loading with information and targets for him. Everything seemed digitized and he felt as if he was merging with his Gundam.

"No, I'm not fleeing, if she wants to kill me, then I don't care," Adler's voice came back distantly. Val narrowed his eyes, as he felt his mind search throughout space. He saw Reyna battling what looked to be a remake of Gundam Black Wing, her determination pouring through his heightened senses. Val closed his eyes and found a presence that radiated with brashness and knew that it was his cousin in the Scorpion. He narrowed his search and felt a presence that called out, saying that it was lonely, yet it couldn't kill. _Adler…_Val thought as he bypassed that presence and honed in on the Sandstorm.

Val suddenly recoiled as Neo's screaming voice penetrated through him. He snapped open his eyes as he felt Neo's pain, so much of it. _She's trapped in her own body without any guidance, but wait…_Val thought as he searched through her Zero System mind with his own and saw a small light within the darkness. It was a part of the Zero System that wanted to help Neo. _Neo_, Val thought, _Neo, use the Zero System…_

"What are you doing to my mind, Falcon Zero!" Neo's double voice asked, slightly gargled.

Val opened his eyes and smiled, "Just giving it a make-over." He readied his beam saber in case Neo didn't succeed, and waited.

***

Neo saw through her own eyes at the destruction she was creating. She was battling Val, but not with her own hands, own mind, or own power. "Let me out of here!" Neo screamed as she wandered in the blackness of her own mind. "Father!" Neo yelled, trying to establish mental empathic contact with him, but she felt her efforts being repelled by this…this thing that was controlling her.

"Well, now how does it feel? You're not in complete control of yourself," Xylon's voice echoed throughout her dark prison and she glanced around.

"I thought Locke's personality is in me," Neo snapped, standing up, her senses alerted for any psychic attack that Xylon was going to throw.

"That's just her voice I'm using. It's a psychic's job, see just look how much power you have gotten, you're in command of all this power, so much that you can just take over all the Colonies and Earth, declaring yourself leader," Xylon taunted and Neo spun around as she heard footsteps echo. She narrowed her eyes dangerously as he appeared from the shadows. She glanced at two windows that showed her the outside battle and her eyes widened with surprise as she saw multiple missiles being fired at her from the Taliesin.

"Adler!" Neo cried, almost joyful, as she knew that he was keeping her promise of destroying her before anything else happened.

"No, missiles won't work," Xylon interrupted her and Neo watched as her own hands wrapped her reflective cloak/armor around herself, reflecting the energy and power given off from the missiles as they exploded on her.

"No…no…" Neo whispered as she sank to the ground in horror. She wanted to die; she didn't want to live in her own mind trapped behind this evil thing controlling her. "No!" Neo screamed upwards, hoping that her voice could get out, or at least her pain.

"The mind can be very powerful, you want to test it out?" Xylon's annoying voice asked and Neo lifted her head up and glared at him, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Shut the hell up! Why can't you do that!" Neo yelled as she charged at him and swung a fist at him. She passed through thin air and looked up to see him, hanging above the air as if ropes were tied to him. But there was none. "What the hell?" Neo whispered.

"You see, the mind can make you do anything, actually it is my mind now," Xylon explained and floated towards the ground. He glanced around and snapped his fingers. Neo ducked unconsciously then glanced around puzzled as the darkness changed into a candle lit room with a bed in the middle of it.

"What the hell?" Neo asked, as she looked around the 14th century style of room.

"Get into the bed," Xylon ordered and Neo narrowed her eyes as she realized what was happening.

"I don't think so," she replied evenly and took a defensive stance as he approached. She watched him carefully as he made his way towards her, an evil smile on his face.

"You have to be this stubborn? Come on, I can show you," Xylon asked, and Neo gritted her teeth; she glanced at the two windows that showed her stopping the battle with Val for a few moments.

"Show this to hell," Neo spat and kicked in him the chest, sending him flying to the other side of the room. _Looks like I'm not that powerless in my captive mind_, Neo thought as she watched him stagger up, wiping blood from a split lip.

"Very well then, Cerelia Winner, if you won't go willingly then I'll force you…we'll settle this by a duel," Xylon said and snapped his fingers again, plunging them into a room with blocks of lights in it. Neo recognized the room, but didn't know where that recognition came from.

"How ancient can you get? A duel?" Neo laughed then quieted down as Xylon drew out a fencing foil and tossed one to her. She grabbed the handle and pointed the end towards the ground.

"This is a Zero System room, much like the one aboard the Libra before it exploded, except this one has a few surprises. Neo watched as spikes emerged from the walls, some of them still had blood dripping down it. She glanced up and saw a small white light but beds of spikes surrounded it.

"What do you want me to do?" Neo asked, looking at him warily as he took a few slashes with his fencing foil.

"My dear, I just want you to fight, and if I kill you then oh well…but if you are injured, you will sleep with me. If you kill me, then you are free," Xylon explained and gave her a smile full of teeth.

"I'll kill you," Neo replied and swung at Xylon who parried. Both foils clashed and sent sparks everywhere. Neo reminded herself that this was a battle in the mind, and any injury she received she was going to get it on her physical body. She swung again and then reversed her process and countered a head blow from Xylon. Neo thrusted her sword not really used to sword fighting, and felt the tip break. _Shit_, she cursed to herself as she backed away. She was only trained in dagger fighting, not for an ancient duel.

"Looks like you'll be staying with me," Xylon taunted and Neo narrowed her eyes. She hated him, hate him for all that he had done.

"You are evil, pure evil. You don't-" Neo started before she was cut off mid-sentence as Xylon stabbed between her chest and her stomach. She gasped a bit and dropped to her knees as Xylon pulled out the foil and tossed it away. She knew the wound was slightly serious, only if she lost a whole lot of blood. She touched the area where his foil went through and glanced at her fingers, which were coated with blood. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw two booted feet standing next to her. "Why? Why did you do it?" Neo whispered as she felt the pain spread throughout her.

"It was the only way for you to stay with me, Cerelia. You are so pure, something that space doesn't need. You have a power that I hunger for," Xylon said and Neo glanced up to see the white light still shining. She felt something warm encase her and realized that it was her father's, Val's, and Adler's presence trying to help her.

"Neo…Neo use the Zero System," she heard Val's distant voice echo throughout her mind.

__

The Zero System…Neo realized that the shining white light was a part of the Zero System that wasn't affected.

"What are you doing to my mind, Falcon Zero!" Neo's double voice asked, slightly gargled. And Neo smiled as she realized what she had to do.

"No! This can't happen, this can't!" Xylon protested as he realized what Neo was about to do.

Neo summoned up strength to her body as she sprang with inhuman height towards the white light. She touched it and immediately felt her strength renew. Neo closed her eyes as she hung in the air like suspended animation, and let the Zero System wash her mind. She could see through her close eyes a brightness that overpowered the darkness.

"No!" Xylon's cry was washed away as the Zero System overloaded the probes and program that was inserted into her mind. Neo snapped her eyes open and saw a raging battle between the Omicron Empire and the Unified Earth and Colonies. _No more_, Neo thought as she felt the Zero System merge with her mind, providing her with battle data and targets for her.

***

__

Chapter 21- Crossfire at Firestorm

Adler watched as the Sandstorm Zero became quiet and the glow to its green eyes faded. "What the hell did you do Val?" Adler asked the pilot of Falcon Zero.

"If she is strong enough she should regain control of herself," Val replied and Adler could hear hesitation in his voice. He was about to ask another question when Val's voice crackled over his comm system, "If she isn't, we will have to kill her swiftly."

Adler nodded slightly and watched for any signs of hostility coming from the seemingly lifeless Gundam. Adler suddenly narrowed his eyes as he saw the green eyes of the Gundam glow again and its head lifted up. "Neo?" Adler asked tentatively, still unsure.

"It's…It's…all right. I've gotten rid of that mind techno-organic thing," Neo's voice came over and Adler didn't hear any overlapping voice.

"Prove it," Val's curt reply cut through the comm system.

"Val shut up, and don't you start fighting with Cavan over this. He'll just probably taunt you to death like his ass-hell way," Neo replied and Adler smiled a bit as he realized that she had succeeded in over throwing the techno organic thing.

"Thanks," Val's flat reply came over.

"Val, head to the _Firestorm_, Neo and I will cover you. You have to destroy Locke's clones before we blow up the ship," Adler ordered the teen, dropping one of his used gattling guns.

"Roger that mission," Val's reply came back and Adler saw Falcon Zero make its way towards the massive battleship that was on the outskirts of battle, still heavily damaged from Tarrant's explosion.

Adler opened up his missile ports and fired the last rounds of his warheads at a few Orions who were trying to line up shots at Val. He raised his right arm, the one that still had a double gattling gun on it and shot hails of bullets at the rest of the Orions. Neo, who lined up shots with her shotgun and fired a round in each Orion, targeting their heads covering a few that he had missed.

"You going for head shots?" Adler asked as both of them continued to rake fire around the Orions.

"Its better than hitting them in the chest, the pilots will survive, but they won't be mobile," Neo replied and Adler nodded. He saw Falcon Zero disappear into the _Firestorm_ and prepared to move on to help Cavan dispose of the Orions that were milling around his father's station, when a sudden bleeping alerted him of two rapidly approaching mobile suits.

"Computer, identify suits," Adler said and glanced at Neo who had a dangerous look to her eyes.

"Its him, he's finally here," she whispered.

"Mobile suits, Lafayette made out of gundanium, and a titanium enforced Columbia-Zero. Pilots aboard unknown but have exceptional battling skills," the computer replied to him and Adler knew who were the two pilots.

"Well, well, Adler Barton, we meet again," Jordan Kent's voice came over and Adler narrowed his eyes in anger.

"Never thought you could pilot a mobile suit," Adler snapped at him as he ducked to avoid a spray of flames from the Gundam Lafayette's flame-thrower. He retaliated by shooting off a few rounds from his double gattling gun. "Neo! Handle the Columbia-Zero, Jordan and I have an old score to settle," Adler said to Neo who looked surprised.

"I thought you said that personal agendas don't count in here," Neo replied wiry and Adler shook his head a bit.

"Forget what I said, if who I'm thinking is in that Columbia-Zero, then you're our only ace up our sleeves," Adler replied.

"Roger that, leave him to me," Neo replied and terminated the comm link. Adler returned his gaze to the red-white Lafayette in front him. His father told him how mobile those things were, even though they looked like crap, they had very good weapons on them. _Gotta be careful when around him, I'm almost out of ammunition_, Adler thought as he waited for Jordan to make the first move.

***

Val pressed a few buttons to his Gundam, setting the auto self-destruct if anyone didn't type in the correct password. He slipped on his space helmet and locked it in place to his flight suit, tinting everything to a slight blue color. He checked everything one last time before opening the hatch to his Gundam, letting vacuum fill the cockpit. Val floated away from Falcon Zero and grabbed hold of a guardrail. He flipped himself onto it and looked around. Val noticed a pinkish light coming from one of the ends of the hall the guardrail was on and headed towards there.

"Her clones must be there, from what father told me her clones need a power source close to them," Val commented softly to himself as he drew his gun out, wary for either Locke or any other person. _I'll have to complete my work fast, before Locke knows anything about my presence here_, Val thought as he came upon a huge chamber with a pinkish glowing column of light in the middle of the room. He glanced behind him as a door hissed shut and a whistling sound filled the air. After a few seconds the whistling sound was gone and Val glanced at his wrist monitor to see that the room had been pressurized and oxygenated.

He removed his helmet and sniffed the air. "Smells like blood," Val commented and jammed the helmet back on, not wanting to smell anything pungent. He checked out his surroundings and saw many rows of tubes that held what looked like bodies in them. Val smiled grimly as he saw that there were three doors all of them airlocks. _Must be the doors that keep the vacuum from coming in_, Val thought as he had an idea. He reached into a pocket of his flight suit and produced three small magnetic C4 explosives. "This will do nicely," Val heard his own voice echo within his helmet.

He placed a C4 on each of the three air locks. After doing that Val took out his gun and loaded a round of bullets in it. He proceeded to a batch of tubes that held clones of Locke and shot the glass of each. After finishing with that batch he went to the next one and proceeded to do the same. _Each of her will die with spacing when I'm through_, Val thought as he reloaded his gun.

***

Adler sprayed a hail of bullets at Jordan who returned fire with his beam rifle. Adler clicked his gun to fire again, but found that he had run out of bullets. He checked his missile ports and found that they too were empty. _Damn, not at a time like this_, Adler thought as he watched Jordan launch his shield defensors at him, all of them paring up and crackling with electric energy that could paralyze his Gundam. He dropped his gattling gun and reached behind him and took out a long metal pole, about the size of him. Adler pressed a button on both ends of the pole and out sprang two wicked looking energy pitchforks, his double beam trident.

"So that's what you've been waiting to show me," Jordan's voice came over and Adler gave a sardonic smile.

"Bring it on," Adler replied and spun around and slashed at the shield defensors that were coming at him. He jabbed his one end of his trident behind him and caught two of the defensors, exploding them into dust. Adler then took his trident into his other hand and slashed at four oncoming defensors, rendering them useless as they sparkled in space, dead.

"Very good Adler, you're skills haven't lacked that much since you've graduated from the Academy," Jordan mock-praised him and Adler narrowed his jade green eyes in anger.

"I never thought that you'd be able to pilot a mobile suit," Adler shot back and brought up his green trident in a parry as a purple beam saber appeared out of nowhere in Jordan's hand. He swiped at Jordan, hoping to catch him off guard, when suddenly felt an intense heat pour all over him. He staggered back as Jordan spewed fire from his flame-thrower and into his face. He could feel the heat from the flames, almost melting the cockpit of his Gundam.

"So how does it feel? Looks like you forgot how much your weakness of not paying attention cost you," Jordan taunted and Adler gritted his teeth as he was forcefully pushed back by the hot flames melting the outside metal plate of his Gundam.

"This'll cost you, Kent," Cavan's voice suddenly crackled over and Adler could faintly see the Scorpion slash at Jordan's flame-thrower arm with his beam saber through the wave-like heat of the flames. He suddenly felt as if all the heat had gone away, leaving him with a rapidly cooling cockpit of his Gundam. "Hey Adler, you still alive?" another crackle of Cavan's voice through his damaged systems.

"Yeah, a bit crisp," Adler replied and pointed one end of his beam trident at Jordan's neck. "Jordan Kent, on behalf of Preventer and the Unified Earth and Colonies, you are to be arrested, tried, and found guilty of your crimes," Adler spoke slowly.

"And just what are my crimes?" Jordan shot back, contempt rolling off of his voice.

"Assisting the enemy, going against your government, and cheating within the Academy process. Not to mention a few hell lot of stuff that you've got up your sleeve," Cavan's arrogant voice replied.

"That's enough Cavan, escort Kent to Space Station, they can hold him there until this battle's over," Adler ordered and he watched as the Scorpion grabbed hold of the Lafayette.

"Hold it, Barton, Merquise. I can still self-detonate, taking you out with me," Jordan said and Adler froze as Jordan brought up a small cylinder that held a red button.

"Jordan, don't do anything foolish, you don't want to take you life do you?" Adler asked the teen, looking at his thumb positioned on the button warily.

"I can take my life how ever I want to. My mom's an ass; she's probably dead already since Locke's actually loosing this battle. You know, you Gundam pilots are what Locke said you guys would be, so I think it be fair that I repay you, since I'm told that mostly, you guys are masochistic," Jordan replied.

"Get away you two, if that blast if powerful enough they can trigger a self detonation of your own Gundams!" Quatre's frantic voice blared through Adler's fuzzy comlink.

"Jordan Kent," Locke's voice slashed through all the communications between Adler, Cavan, and Nairobi Base. "Sacrifice your life for the good of Omicron Empire, you will obey me," Locke ordered.

"What!? Wait, are you serious that I have to self-detonate? I mean I was just only kidding," Jordan replied and Adler could hear a bit of hysteria in his voice. _So, Jordan was bluffing the whole time_, Adler realized as he saw Cavan approach the Lafayette again, but this time carefully.

"Do it or else I will," Locke replied.

"Uh…no…you couldn't be that evil, I mean I'm you're devoted soldier! You can't mean that I have to give my life for this war. I want to become your General, your right hand person!" Jordan spilled and a part of Adler felt slightly sorry for the young pilot, but that was quashed immediately.

"A devoted soldier will risk his or her life for their commander, are you devoted to me?" Locke's cold voice came over. Adler suddenly heard a frantic yell and saw that parts of the Lafayette were glowing with unknown power.

"Oh shit, she actually did it," Cavan cursed as he started to back away from the glowing Lafayette.

"Locke! You bastard!" Jordan yelled and Adler could hear over his comlink some sparks hissing loudly with the alarms of self-detonation penetrating through. Suddenly the alarms quieted and Adler glanced at the Lafayette, which stopped glowing. "Adler Barton, Cavan Merquise, I surrender to you," Jordan's voice came over, laced with defeat.

"Accepted," Adler replied then switched comm frequencies to Cavan's line, "get him to the Space Station then head back out, I'll need your help cleaning up the rest of Locke's forces."

"Roger that Taliesin," Cavan's curt yet militaristic reply came over and Adler wondered if after Val was hurt, did the older teen have a change of heart. _Looks like Val's injury gave him a knock around of a one-eighty personality_, Adler thought as he ran a check through his systems for damage reports.

***

Locke slammed a hand against her control board as she saw that Jordan had overridden her command for self-detonation. _Dammit, I can't loose, not now, not with Earth this close to my command_, Locke thought furiously as she glanced at the various monitors on her control board. She took a glance at her clone room, then took another look. _How could have I missed Heero Yuy's little brat messing with my own_, Locke thought as she punched out the monitor, leaving it crackling.

"Falcon Zero will pay for his insolence, his life will wither with my hands," Locke whispered to herself as she walked out of the main control room of the bridge of Firestorm, leaving the dead crew, Dr. Parker, and Dr. Kent, behind. She didn't care now, she was loosing her war that she had so hard to build in the last twenty-four years. Now, all that it took was one single person to destroy her work…Heero Yuy.

"Vailo Yuy, you're time is up, I will personally kill you in front of your father and the others," Locke hissed as she walked towards the clone room.

***

__

Chapter 22- Stardust Memory

Val pressed the trigger to a tube, shattering the glass. He smiled grimly and glanced at the last one left to go in the whole room. "I would have said something before I kill the last of you, but no, not after you killed my brother and cause so much strife to the Earth and the Colonies. All I'll say to you is rot in Hell where you belong," Val whispered as he cocked the gun. He glanced at the last hive-minded clone of Locke Dabnerba and found something familiar about her, it looked a bit like his childhood friend Anima Ryoiji.

"Pondering whether to kill me or not, are we Falcon Zero?" Locke's voice echoed throughout the spacious chamber. Val spun around, and pointed the gun at Locke who stood about ten feet away from him, wearing a flight suit with a helmet on it.

"I will kill you, whether you like it or not," Val replied flatly, keeping his gun trained on her at all times as she advanced slowly towards him.

"You can't kill me, I can easily kill you if you destroy that hive-clone," Locke hissed, narrowing her green eyes in anger.

"So then why are you wearing a flight suit with a helmet? You know that, that is your last clone, you have no other, so if I just shoot your hive-clone in this tube, and blow the detonators, then kill you, your soul would wander, never finding another body to infest," Val deducted and saw that Locke had stiffen as he hit all the right points.

"How dare you…even if you blow the detonators or just shoot my hive-clone, I will still get you and you will die," Locke replied in a dangerous voice and Val decided he had enough.

"Fine then, come and get me," Val said in a curt voice and pointed the gun and shot the final tube. He quickly then brought out the detonation device and was about to press the button when he felt his windpipe constrict as Locke's hands held him in a deadly chokehold. Val felt his left-hand go limp as the blood was cut off from it and he dropped his gun.

"Give me the switch," Locke's voice hissed near his helmet.

"Go to hell," Val replied and he started to see spots as he felt his neck slowly being cracked. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and concentrated, just like his father and Master Wufei told him to. I have to survive…I have to, Val thought, I'm the son of Heero Yuy, the one that destroyed Locke…I have to complete this mission for my father. Somewhere he felt his strength build up and Val crouched down then suddenly heaved up. Immediately he felt the pressure to his neck loosen and he reacted without thinking.

Val flipped over to pick up his discarded gun and fired a bullet straight into Locke's helmet, barley missing her face. He then simultaneously pressed the detonation button that blew out all the doors. Immediately there was a loud whistling sound that sounded like a whole lot of sandstorms in the desert of Nairobi, and Val grabbed onto a guardrail as all oxygen was pulled out into space, along with the tubes and their lifeless bodies in them. Val glanced behind him as he felt his grip on the guardrail slipping rapidly. He saw Locke, clawing at her face as it froze all shiny black. Suddenly the face exploded from the force of the vacuum and Locke's body floated out along with the rest of the dead clones.

Val reached into another pocket of his flight suit and pulled out a magnetic gun. He fired the magnetic cable just as he lost his grip and saw the small cylinder fly towards the door which he came though. Val felt the hard tug of the cylinder's line becoming taunt and he pressed a button on the machine to slowly reel him in. Just as he reached the door he pressed a coded button and the door hissed open. Val swung himself through and reached for a panel that was on the other side. He slammed the panel and the door hissed shut, trapping the vacuum that was sucking up everything. Val breathed a quiet sigh of relief and leaned against the panel. He heard his own breath echo within his helmet and realized that he had completed his father's mission.

Val keyed a comlink to the Space Station, "Captain Barton? Master Wufei?"

"Online, Falcon Zero," Trowa's voice came back.

"Mission accomplished…she's dead," Val replied and shut the link off. He closed his eyes for a few minutes as he calmed himself down. _My brother, you are finally avenged_, Val thought as a deep hurt that had kept him so down was finally lifted.

***

Neo gasped in great pain as Xylon slammed the back of her Gundam with his heat saber. She gritted her teeth as lancing pain went all around her. Neo placed a hand on her abdomen for a few seconds then removed it to see her glove slicked with blood. She still had the wound on her after her mind battle. "That's it, now you're really making me pissed off," Neo muttered under her breath as she powered up her heat scythes and threw them at Xylon.

Neo expected the scythes to impact the Columbia, but Xylon just deflected them with his heat saber. "Damn you! Why can't you die!" Neo yelled as she clutched her head in her hands, Xylon's mental daggers piercing her weakened defenses.

"Its because I am stronger than you are, stronger than you can ever know," Xylon's icy voice replied and Neo narrowed her eyes in hatred and deep anger.

"Asshole," Neo muttered over the comlink. She glanced at her monitors for him but couldn't see him. Suddenly she felt something-heavy slam onto her and she began to fall at a rapid speed towards the blue-brown Earth. Neo turned her head slightly to see the Columbia-Zero attached to her, forcing her to speed downwards into the hot atmospheric conditions when reentering. She pressed a few buttons as her cockpit started to heat up from the pressure and heat. Immediately the heat began to die down in her cockpit as she activated her reflective armor that poured the heat away from her Gundam. The only part of her mobile suit that was not covered with the armor was her back where the Columbia-Zero was hitching a ride.

"You will die when I'm through with you," Xylon's voice hissed over as both broke away from each other after hitting the upper stratosphere. Neo saw him draw out something that looked like a morning star except on the ends were four bright beams.

__

That's a crossbeam almost like mine, Neo thought as she drew out her beam saber. Crossbeams were the most dangerous weapons besides the massive beam cannon. They were thrown in an incredible rate and can cut through many mobile suits in one throw like a disc. "So what are you planning to do with that? Cut me in half?" Neo asked, then winced a bit as pain flashed on her abdomen. She knew that she had to end the battle fast, because of her blood lost. Plus she was feeling very dizzy and that wasn't usually a good sign to her from her racing experience.

"Precisely," Xylon replied curtly and charged at her.

Neo ducked underneath his heat saber, dropping her altitude a bit. She slashed at him parrying his blade against hers. She noticed that he didn't use his crossbeam yet and was puzzled. _Why would he hesitate now? I'm already weakened and injured, can't even stop his blows that well, why?_ Neo wondered as she dropped another few meters in her altitude to avoid his deadly swing. She turned and flew down towards the blue ocean and glanced behind her to see Xylon follow. I'll have to use the earth's gravity to the fullest, Neo planned as she skimmed close to the water. In front of her there was a cliff wall that she was rapidly approaching.

"You thinking of suicide?" Xylon asked, unable to keep the mirth out of his voice.

"No," Neo bit back, "just wanting to see if you're smart enough to do this!" Neo pulled back on her joysticks sending her Gundam straight up the face of the cliff. She cleared it and skimmed on the deserts that was over the ridge of the cliff. This was where her Sandstorm was in its elements…the desert. _Wait, I think I landed somewhere in Africa_, Neo thought as she skimmed the desert sands, bringing up swirls of sand and creating a storm of dirt and grit.

"Fancy moves you're flying Neo, but aren't you afraid of what might happen to your injury that you received?" Xylon's taunting voice came over and Neo cursed as he came though the sandstorm she had created.

"Shit, why can't you die like you're supposed to on that cliff wall?" Neo said as she slashed at his mid section, but found resistance there. She brought her beam saber up and clashed it against Xylon's heat saber. Both sent sparks everywhere and Neo narrowed her ocean blue eyes in anger. She slammed her other hand into his chest, making him stagger back. Suddenly Neo was thrown forward as something shot into her back. "Ahh," Neo gasped in pain as the control panels hit her wound hard. She regained her footing and glanced behind her to see one lone Orion standing with a massive beam cannon in its arms.

"Argh! Die!" Neo yelled as she had enough with these pesky suits. She got up, not caring if her wound hurt like hell and brought up her beam saber. She swiped it across the Orion, taking out the gun along with its mid-section. Neo turned around to face Xylon but found nothing, only a cloud of dust. Suddenly her sensors beeped alerting her to some attack force that was converging on a place. Well, gotta help civilians, then I can see if this battle is really over, Neo thought as she throttled her Gundam towards the area.

When she got there, her jaw dropped open a few inches as she saw numerous Orions firing at Nairobi Base, who's defenses looked pretty bad. There were only a handful of old Leos and Aries guarding the base, and they seemed insignificant compared to the sheer number of Orions that were assaulting the base. "Dammit," Neo muttered as she took out her shotgun with her free hand and targeted the Orions. Neo fired round after round blowing the heads off of each Orion. She dropped her shot gun as it ran out of bullets and powered up her beam saber, its glowing green color bright against the harsh sun of Africa. She moved swiftly towards the rest of the Orions who didn't notice her, as they were intent on destroying the base.

***

"Holy! What the hell?" one officer shouted as he ripped his earphones off and had a bewildered look on his face. "Sir!"

"What is it Lieutenant Capon," Zechs demanded tearing his gaze away from a monitor that was showing the space battle. The building suddenly shook as something impacted again. More Orions had shown up after Val had headed towards space, and they were left on their own.

"Sirs! Gundam Sandstorm is destroying the Orions!" Lieutenant Capon said excitedly and Zechs sighed in frustration; newbies all of them, new and excited during a prospect of winning. They never learned how to keep their cool during battle, that's what got most of the new ones killed.

"Sandstorm?" Quatre's voice echoed from the other end of the control room and Zechs turned his head to see the former pilot of 04 reach for a comlink.

"This is Quatre calling Sandstorm, Neo, you okay?" Quatre spoke into it and Zechs hoped that the young Winner was all right since they lost communications with the Gundam pilots when the battle started. Even the monitors that were supposed to see into their cockpits were damaged.

"Slightly okay, got those mind-probes off of me, courtesy of Val and Adler. But I'm wounded," Neo replied and was about to say more when Quatre jumped in.

"Wounded? Neo, disengage battle right now and get in here," Quatre said, his voice stern.

"No can do, father. Besides, its not that bad," Neo replied and shut the link off.

"Sir! Message coming in from Space Force Station," Lieutenant Capon interrupted again this time his voice calm and composed.

"Patch it through," Zechs ordered and watched as a static image of Trowa and Wufei was online. Blood smeared on parts of their faces and Zechs could see in the background that the Space Station had taken hard hits for the worst.

"Heero, received a call from Val, he says 'mission accomplished…she's dead'," Wufei replied and Zechs glanced at Heero who had a hint of a smile trying to appear on his face.

"Tell him well done," Heero replied, then turned back to a station that he was looking at.

"Wufei, what's the status of all the battles going on?" Zechs asked as the video image that shook a bit followed by a soft rumbling.

"Most of Locke's forces have been decreased drastically and we've received numerous surrenders. Duo's taking all the prisoners in; good thing Noin is there, cause I just received a message from Duo that he's complaining about all the prisoners coming in," Wufei said in a monotone voice and Zechs raised an eyebrow at Wufei's joke coming in bluntly.

"What about the other Gundams?" Zechs inquired as he put that little joke in the back of his mind. He was going to have a talk with the former pilot of 05 after this fiasco was over.

"All are accounted for, with the exception of Hellfire, Reyna is probably most likely venting her anger off of a few stragglers of Omicron. Cavan is just patrolling outside the station along with Taliesin," Wufei replied and Zechs nodded.

"All right, keep me posted," Zechs said and shut the connection off. He returned his gaze to the space monitors that showed a fierce battle between the Hellfire and what looked to be the Black Wing.

***

Neo decapitated the head of an Orion then spun around and stabbed on in the stomach. She powered down her beam saber and stuck it into a shoulder hold that was made for the small metal cylinder. The last of the Orions blew up and Neo sighed in relief.

"Not so fast Sandstorm Zero, you're going down," Xylon's voice suddenly crackled over her comm system and Neo clutched her head as a lancing pain shot though. She backed away as the Columbia-Zero throttled towards her and she gritted her teeth as she felt the Columbia slam into her, pushing her into a rock outcropping. Neo hissed a bit as she felt herself slam all around her cockpit chair, making her pain from her wound almost unbearable.

"Damn you!" Neo yelled as she drew out what looked like a morning star. She powered up the four green beams on each end of the crossbeam and slashed it at Xylon who countered with his own. Neo suddenly lashed out with her leg, kicking Xylon a few feet back. She spun the crossbeam in her hand and narrowed her eyes as a targeting grid lined up with her right eye and the Columbia Zero who was recovering from her kick. Neo heard the constant tone of her targeting box saying that she had a good lock and the box became red. She threw the spinning crossbeam at Xylon and saw it impact him, sending him flying backwards. Neo then throttled her Gundam and rammed Xylon in the stomach, pressing the crossbeam further into the Columbia-Zero.

"Maximum thrusters," Neo whispered to herself as she touched a few buttons, she looked up and smiled grimly as a water front cliff came up and she and Xylon fell towards the rapid blue ocean. Neo kept her thrusters at maximum and waited till the last second before breaking off. She pushed her joysticks up and hovered in mid-air as she saw Xylon plunge into the ocean with great force.

"We will meet again, Xylon Riyet, and there I will defeat you," Neo declared in a grave voice before turning around and heading back to Nairobi Base.

***

__

Chapter 23- Deathscythe Hell's Fire

Reyna covered herself with her black leather-like wings as Lealya shot her Bismarck cannon at her. The Gundam called Black Wing had every single advanced technology, greater that hers and Reyna didn't like it at all. _That was the Gundam that killed Val's brother, how could it have all these weapons? No, I won't let it defeat me, because Lealya is a foe that I have to defeat to avenge my brother's death_, Reyna thought with determination as she powered up her scythe and slashed at Lealya who countered with dagger-sai. She had already dropped one of them and was defending herself with her cannon and the remaining dagger-sai.

"Have you had enough, Reyna Maxwell?" Lealya's voice came over laced with malice.

"Haven't even gotten started, bitch," Reyna replied sardonically. She backed away from Lealya and shot her shoulder gattling guns; surprised that some of them pierced the Black Wing's defenses. Reyna took careful aim at Lealya's dagger-sai as she kept pelting her with bullets. She fired one of her dagger blasts at Lealya' hand and smiled a bit as the dagger blast knocked the small weapon out of Lealya's hand and it floated away.

"How dare you! You…" Lealya's voice came over heavy with anger.

"Oh, sorry that I broke your toy for you, you want me to fix it asshole?" Reyna spat back as she throttled towards her, her black wings open, their sharp edges flashed against the sun light.

"I have more you can play with," Lealya replied and discarded her Bismarck cannon. Reyna watched as she reached behind her and drew out a long metal pole. She pressed a button and two short beams popped out from each end of the pole.

"Oh a twin beam lance, not too fancy might I say, but they won't help you girl, not when I'm through with you," Reyna said and parried as Lealya jabbed at her with one end of the lance. Reyna whirled around and brought her scythe up over her head. She made herself look like she was going to go for and overhead blow when she suddenly reversed her tactics and swung diagonally at Lealya, cutting the hand of her lance apart. She backed away again and raised her left arm and shot the remaining three dagger blasts at Lealya.

Reyna didn't want her dagger blasts coming back her as she made improvements to them. She watched as they burrowed themselves at three different placed on Lealya's mobile suit, none of which were critical points. "What about you, Lealya, you had enough or do you want more?" Reyna echoed Lealya's words mocking her.

"Never, I will never surrender," Lealya replied exhaustion evident in her voice.

Reyna suddenly was slammed back into her seat as Lealya whipped out a massive beam cannon that was painted a bloody red. She grunted a bit as the pressure of the beam forced her into her seat. Reyna tried frantically to move her Gundam away from the blast, but sparks began to fly all over her cockpit. Shit, dammit! Reyna cursed silently to herself as the blast died down and Reyna checked her Gundam for damages; her Gundam had lost about three-quarters of it maneuverability and power drive. Damn, I'm a sitting duck now, Reyna thought as she opened a panel in the cockpit and touched some wires.

She drew back her hand as the wires sparkled, all electrified. "Damn you," Reyna said as she saw the Black Wing approach her.

"So, now my question to you is, do you want to die by self-detonation, decapitation, or spacing?" Lealya asked laughing a bit as she enjoyed this moment.

Reyna made a small noise in the back of her throat and glared at the Black Wing. She felt her anger pour out into her own self, fueling her desire to eliminate her. Within that anger she felt something different something that wanted to help her. Brother? Reyna wondered as she recognized his thought waves' milling around her head, their link was still connected even though he was dead. He was helping her, Reyna realized as she touched a few buttons that rerouted power to her scythe.

"How about this, Lealya, how about I give you the finger," Reyna said sarcastically and stuck up her middle finger at Lealya's communication image, "and you go to hell." Reyna then powered up her scythe to the maximum capacity of energy and the blade turned a bloody, crimson red instead of its usual green. She used the last of her Gundam's reserve strength and slashed down at Lealya, catching her off guard. Reyna watched as the Black Wing floated a bit away from her, all the while breaking in half in a clean cut. Reyna shielded her eyes as the Black Wing blew up.

"My brother, Tarrant, my you rest in peace. I will miss you," Reyna whispered as the fireball died down, leaving only scraps of what once used to be the Black Wing.

"Hey Reyna! Reyna!" her father's frantic voice came over and Reyna glanced behind her to see that Lealya had blasted her back towards MO-VII where her father was.

Reyna grinned a bit as he father's tousled image came onto her left screen. "Hey dad, what's up?"

"The sky?" Duo replied and Reyna laughed for the first time since her brother had died a genuine laugh.

"Very funny dad," Reyna replied laughing.

***

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Chapter 24- One Thing Before Another

Val stared at the hulking mass that was once the battleship, _Firestorm_. It was an impressive sight he had to admit, but it was also a menace to Colony travel, Earth, and everyone else. He keyed his comm-link, "Falcon Zero here, ready to destroy the target."

"Commence operation," his father's grave voice spoke back and Val nodded curtly.

He brought up his massive Ragnarok; the beam cannon he'd never used until now. Howard wasn't entirely correct about this weapon; it was very deadly, and very powerful. _The perfect weapon to destroy what evil is left of outer space_, Val thought as he lined up the crosshairs. He heard the constant tone of the weapon getting a lock on the target and his targeting box turned red, indicating that he had a good shot. Val fired, and watched as a massive beam of yellow energy erupted from the barrel of his Ragnarok and headed towards the _Firestorm_. He shielded his eyes as the beam went through the Ragnarok and exploded it, sending bright shards of metal everywhere.

"Mission accomplished, returning back to Nairobi Base," Val said after a few minutes.

"Roger that Falcon Zero. Good job Val, I'm proud of you," his father's voice spoke back and Val smiled faintly. _Now brother, you may rest in final peace…_he thought as he throttled his Falcon Zero and folded his wings around him, acting as a cocoon as he entered the atmosphere.

***

Val watched at dancers filled the ballroom of the former Sank Kingdom's castle. They seemed in perfect tune with the waltz that was playing. Val remembered that President Kushrenada had told them that history was like an endless waltz, a three-time beat; rebellion, war, peace; rebellion, war, peace; all in that order. He heard some high pitched giggling coming near him and glanced over to see Cavan surrounded by girls who were oohing and ahhing at him. Val snickered a bit as Cavan shot him a deadly glare, but in his dark blue eyes that said that he was content actually. Val had set most of the girls up to with Cavan for revenge since when he had arrived at Nairobi Base, he asked Cavan why did he save him during his first fight with Locke.

"Three reasons cousin," Cavan had replied, "One, your father would have my head, two you're my cousin, and three…I hate to see Reyna cry, she loves you Val, she just doesn't know how to show it and if you died, she would have no one left to care for her. I just don't want to see her cry."

Val smiled faintly as he recalled what Cavan said. He didn't really believe it since his cousin still flirted with Reyna and Neo, hell he flirted with just about every girl he saw.

"God dammit, why did I have to wear a dress!" Reyna's voice said from beside him and Val raised an eyebrow as Reyna leaned against the wall next to him, her face pinched and angry.

"Might I suspect that you don't like your dress," Val said in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, dad makes me wear these…ugh," Reyna huffed in frustration and she drank a bit of her punch in her white gloved hand.

Val had to admit, the dress looked stunning on her, showing all her curves for the world to see. The downy yellow fabric of her dress matched her brandy brown hair that was tied up into a lovely French braid. Some sparkles were put into her hair and adorned with the dress was a pearl necklace and matching pearl earrings. "You look fine in it, what's your complaint," Val said in a simple voice.

"What!" Reyna hissed at him glaring at him with her slightly pissed off cobalt blue eyes. Val raised his arms slightly to defend himself as she prepared to strike when a sudden tugging at his pant legs brought his head down to his sister Setsuna who was dressed in a deep green dress that made her look like a mermaid out of water.

"Val, mommy and daddy wanna see you," Setsuna said and for the first time since the little brat was born, Val was glad that his sister was there to save him. He did not want to receive a slap or a punch from Maxwell, seeing what she did to Cavan during her psychotic episode after her brother's death.

"Excuse me," Val said in a hasty voice and ducked underneath Reyna's arm and moved into the crowd leaving her behind.

***

Neo sighed a bit as she watched her parents whirl around the dance floor, smiles on their faces. Her father had once convinced her again to get into a dress much to her protest, but Neo finally agree as she made a promise to herself that she will choose a dress that Adler might like.

"You look nice in that dress," Adler's soft voice said behind her and Neo turned to see him dressed sharply in his blue Space Force uniform. He handed her a punch and Neo took it nodding a thank you to him.

"Thanks," Neo replied blushing a bit as she returned her gaze to her parents.

"Actually I meant to say that you look beautiful in the dress," Adler whispered into her ear and Neo laughed lightly.

"One comment is good enough for me Adler," Neo replied giving him a sunny smile. Her smile faltered as she found her lips covered with his and her senses became numb as she felt electric tingle around them.

"Uh," Neo commented as both of them parted. She breathed in a little, trying to clear her muddled senses. _Adler, just…he just…he kissed me_, Neo realized as she glanced him and saw a hint of pink erupt on his face.

"I loved you ever since the ballroom incident," Adler whispered into her ear.

"Same here, Adler, same here," Neo replied as she leaned against his strong form, both of them watching the others dance.

They didn't notice another person a bit away from them in the shadows, watching them. Trowa smiled faintly as he watched his son. He was glad that his son could have a life that he never had. _Adler, you'll know some day, but not now…_Trowa thought as he walked away from the two and towards where Wufei was engaging in a conversation with Sally Po and Lady Une about Preventer and Space Force's future.

***

Val nodded to his father's words and watched him walk away with his mother towards the dance floor. He looked around for any sign of Reyna but didn't find any. Duo was having a debate with Quatre, both of them sitting at a table. His uncle and aunt were talking to President Kushrenada and were joined by Lady Une, Sally Po, Trowa, and his Master Wufei. It looked more like a committee meeting than a celebration of Earth's liberation. He noticed that the door to the balcony in the ballroom was open and there was a figure standing outside. Val approached the balcony and saw that it was Reyna standing and looking at the stars.

"You know what's so good about them?" Reyna asked as he stood behind her, not too sure what to do or say.

"What?" Val asked.

"They remind you that you have to survive. I know cause I don't have to grieve anymore for Tarrant. He is still in me, still pushing me forward," Reyna replied and Val raised any eyebrow at her comment.

"That's good," Val said still unsure what to do. Val suddenly thought up of an idea. "Reyna would you like to dance?" he said and mentally slapped himself for such a spur of the moment idea. _Dumb move Val, you're gonna get slapped again or maybe she has a wrench underneath that dress to clock you with_, a voice in his head said. Val saw Reyna turn around, her eyes sparkling against the blue-black night sky.

"Yes I would Vailo Yuy, yes I would," Reyna replied.

***

Pictures flashed, photos taken all of them smiling. There was a group picture where everyone posed, all the Gundam pilots and their parents and siblings. Suddenly the group picture caught on fire and burned at the corners then made their way towards the center. The picture was dropped into a trashcan where it crumpled up into a melted ball of paper and ink.

"How soon should we prepare?" a voice asked kicking the trash can away.

"Not yet, let them think they have won," another replied the first one.

Severn Cawley and Xylon Riyet watched as more of the photos burned up in the trash can. When all were done, both men turned and watched the oceans of Florida Base wash up, brining some metal parts up to the sandy shore.

__

~ Fini

***

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Interview With the Author:

Questions by: Chibi Shadow Chaser and Sephy

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  1. Who is your favorite character of Gundam Wing?

Quatre Raberba Winner

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  2. What inspired you to write this story?

I wanted to see some good quality action Gundam stories out there; since most people would put up humor or Heero/Relena couple fics.

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  3. So, you are not a pro-Heero/Relena worshipper, despite the fact that you have them married in your fic? Can you explain this?

I have them married in my fic because it is the easiest to work that way from here on in. You see, with the character of Vailo Yuy that I created, I can make all sorts of different family problems arise during their marriage, maybe even have them divorce.

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  4. One of the nicer things about this fic is that it includes old favorites as well as new characters to carry on the mantle of the Gundam Wing universe. What made you decide to keep the older characters in such an active role when so many next generation fics lost them completely?

Well, for starters it wouldn't be called Gundam Wing if there weren't any old guys in there! If there was just Val and his crew, then it probably is called Gundam Falcon Zero or something of that nature. I find that bringing the parents into the fic helps the character develop a lot, they give advice and worry about you.

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  5. Another point of interest is your decision to develop Neo Winner's power whereas in Gundam Wing, Quatre's are mentioned only in passing. What prompted this decision?

Well, one thing…I'm too influenced by psychic animes…I decided that in Gundam Wing there weren't that many strong female characters and I needed a few. Neo was created to have these special powers because she was a bit naive and didn't really know how to handle her father. I wanted her character to know that she is like her father.

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  6. There isn't just one strong female character in your fic--there are two. Where do the characters of Neo Winner and Reyna Maxwell come from?

Neo Winner…is actually a part of my sister and I. Reyna Maxwell comes from the side of myself that wants to fight, also from the Matrix's Trinity.

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  7. There are a lot of Matrix references in your story, would it be amiss to say that the Matrix heavily influenced you in the writing of this fiction?

Yeah, some parts of it. The rest, like some battle scenes I just created myself because of the frustration of school; I need to vent out my anger. Also a lot of the Gundam battles comes from Michael A. Stackpole's work on both Star Wars and Battletech.

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  8. So what can we expect from you in the future? Do you have any sequels to this story planned?

You can expect a lot more of Mini Stories about the original Gundam pilots. Maybe…it's still in the work though with school starting and such.

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  9. Is there any chance we'll see more development of the relationships between some of the characters--such as Neo Winner and Adler Barton, or the apparent triangle developing between Reyna, Val, and Cavan?

Possibly…like I said, if I write a sequel, there will be definitely more on the relationships. Also Sephy is working on a small mini fic on my characters so she is working on their relationships too.

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  10. Finally what is it about Gundam Wing that inspires you to continue it through your stories? What is it that touches you on a personal level?

Gundam Wing is an anime that shows the innocence, and horrors of war that surround us during our real time. We don't really see the perspective of others in their face against war. Gundam Wing in my opinion is about man's struggle to find why does it make them fight? Why is bloodshed necessary? Why do we all fight? Is it for honor? Glory? Power? Or just for our families? I'm still searching for the answers; it'll never end.

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  11. Quick question: Is Locke Dabnerba really dead?

Well, did you see Val break all her clones' glass then put the whole area into a vacuum? So, yes she's finally gone! **Hears cheering in the background**

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Author's Final Notes:

Well I hoped you enjoy my After War Trilogy, and stay tooned for my other fics that I will be posting up! If you have anymore questions you like to ask, then post them on your review and give me your email so I can reply to your question! Enjoy reading until next time I post up another! Special thanks to Sephy, Chibi Shadow Chaser, Onyx, and Bunny for being there when I need you and for helping me improve on my ideas!

~ Shadow Chaser email: shadow_chaser41@hotmail.com


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Gundam Wing/AC, Adventure