A black shadow loomed over the L2 colony cluster. Duo Maxwell surveyed the space around his home colony from the cockpit of Deathscythe Hell. Massive amounts of defeated Mobile Doll troops floated in a small orbit around the space colony. Duo looked in disgust as he surveyed the wreckage.
"Will they NEVER learn?" Duo only sighed as he began the journey back into L2.
The World Nation, now led by the corrupt Milliardo Peacecraft, had been relentlessly pursuing the remaining Gundam pilots. With the destruction of the Gundam Wing Zero and the death of Heero Yuy...Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Duo all returned to their respective colonies in order to better defend their homes. Wufei, whose home had been destroyed during the war between OZ (the Romafeller Foundation) and the White Fang chose to return with Trowa to the circus. Trowa finally recovering his memory and the no-nonsense attitude he used during his missions on Earth, returned to work and his surrogate family. Wufei began his tenure at the circus doing a human cannonball/trapeze act while Trowa and Kathryn returned to their knife throwing act. Quatre returned to one of the Winner family's many resource satellites protecting his sisters and the colony from the World Nation's forces. With the Gundams now the only thing protecting the colonies from the World Nation's/White Fang's domination, the same people who had shunned them only months earlier were now embracing the Gundams once again with open arms.
Despite the outcome of the war, Treize Khushrenada found a way to persevere through Romafeller's tragic defeat. Using his vast resources and charismatic personality, Treize bought one of the Winner family's resource satellites in an effort to decrease his overall stature and hide from the White Fang troops still occupying space. This move had backfired and his satellite was the target of many White Fang attacks. Relena Peacecraft, immediately following Heero's death, locked herself away in order to greive for the loss of the only man she ever truly loved. It took her a long time to realize that Heero's death meant more than just another assassination of her loved ones; his death meant that her idealistic world of total pacifismmust be fought for in order for this world to be acheived. Andshe would be the one to do it. Since both of Heero's Gundams had been destroyed, Relena turned to the one person who knew both her and Heero, and had the genius to construct what she wanted: Dr. J. She asked him to construct a Gundam and show her how to be as strong as Heero had been. It took the doctor until now to complete Relena's Gundam and wipe her mind of her fears and inhibitions, much like what he had done with Heero. In order to be less recognizable, Relena adopted the name Michelle Wong, cropped her hair and dyed it black. She even went as far as to wear contact that changed her eye color to a muted gray. Her Gundam, Fyreblade, was truly Dr. J's masterpiece. Borrowing some of Dr. G's ideas from Deathscythe, the Mercurius shield, and Wing Zero's dual-buster rifle, Dr. J had created on of the most elaborate machines in history. Fyreblade, looking much like the Gundam Epyon, had an unequalled speed thanks to it's lightweight design. In the Gundam's wings lay booster jets that allowed for quick maneuvers and provided the Gundam with unmatched agility. Fyreblade's main weapon was a double thermal blade scythe which was easily stowed in a magnetic compartment on it's back. This scythe would be accompained by the dual-buster rifle from the Gundam Wing Zero which was stowed in a compartment directly behind Fyreblade's head. As with the Mobile Dolls, Fyreblade's energy shields were attatched to its shoulder and an armored shield was attatched to the mobile suit's left wrist. Dr. J even went as far as perfecting the flaw in the Zero system. This new system, known as the ZD or Zero Delta system, did not, like its predecessor, make the pilot hallucinate and go insane. Instead, the pilot's abilities were brought past their limits making whomever piloted a ZD-controlled cockpit the ultimate pilot. Relena, rather Michelle, had taken her new duties quite seriously and quickly became a well-known figure of the colonies' defensive line.
As Duo returned Deathscythe Hell to its hangar beneath his home, he surveyed his surroundings. The tall skyscrapers of the colony's metropolis were in sharp contrast to the simple wodden shack which the God of Death now called his home. A simple wood plank fence surrounded the dirt lot as if it wastrying to keep away the world's prying eyes knowing full well how futile its attempt was. In the day of such high-tech surveillance equipment, privacy wasdefinitely an outdated idea; no matter how much people tried to ignore that fact. Despite the lie, Duo Maxwell found the false solitude comforting. It even helped him relax and hebadly needed to unwind today. "Hey Duo!" yelled Hilde from inside the house. She'd seen how distant the Gundam pilot had recently become...more distant than normal...even for him. The burden of the battlefield must have finally taken its toll on the young warrior she assumed. She wanted to always be there for him...even when her presence seemed unnecessary. As he slowly approached the house, Hilde's worries disappeared when she saw his ever-present smile.
Duo pulled up a chair as he entered the house, his braided brown hair swaying as he turned to face his friend. "Man, what a drag that was. Zechs never seems to want to give up. He used to be fightingfor the colonies, and now that lunatic is fighting the Gundams, theprotectors of the colonies. That Zero system that Treize installed in the Epyon must be worse than Wing Zero's...it warped Zechs' mind. He and that Gundamalone are ten times worse than Romafellerever was."
Hilde listened intently as the man she cared so much for spoke. She knew there was only one way that the conflict between the Gundams and the White Fang would be resolved: Zechs Merquise needed to be assassinated. In her heart, Hilde knew that Duo was probably the most capable of the Gundam pilots outside of Heero Yuy and would be able to complete this dangerous mission. Therefore, Hilde looked Duo straight in the eye and said, "You have to leave. Now!"
"Huh? Why?" asked the bewildered pilot.
In response, Hilde simply stated," You need to rid the colonies of the threat of Zechs and Epyon once and for all."
Duo almost laughed. "Hey...Hilde...Did you hit your head or somethin'? Deathscythe's one tough Gundam but he's no match for Epyon...not right now at least."
Hilde smiled inwardly about how protective Duo was about his Gundam, but he really did need to go to Earth. "I never said you had tofight Epyon, just kill Zechs."
Duo sighed. He didn't like the idea of leaving his home unprotected, butsomething needed to be done and soon. Duo threw his hands up in defeat, "Alright! I'll do it. But I gotta do something first. Duo left Hilde upstairs and went down to Deathscythe's hangar. After exiting the lift that descended directly into the sub-hangar, Duo quickly found the communications terminal and sat down. Speedily punching in his own personal security code, Duo requested a link to someone out in the colonies. He knew only one person would knowthis link's code, so he was sure that this conversation would not be interrupted. When the link had been received, a blonde-haired 17 year old popped onto the viewscreen. Unlike Duo's normal clothes, this person was in formal business clothes...A symbol of his stature.
"Quatre, buddy...how's life on L4?"
The young man looked at his friend with kind eyes. "I'm fine Duo. How are the spare parts I sent you working?"
"Top of the line, man. But that wasn't the reason I called."
"Oh? Why then?"
"Can you and Sandrock watch over L2 for me over the next few days?"
"Um...sure. Why?"
"I'm going to take out Zechs."
Quatre gasped at his friend's response, but after contemplating the idea, only nodded in reply. "Oh, and Quatre?"
"Yes?"
"If you don't hear from me in a week, then keep Hilde safe for me."
Understanding Duo's meaning, Quatre eloquently stated, "I will do my best to care for her and protect her...my friend."
"Well, then I guess it's time to finish this..." With that, Duo ended the link and began preparing Deathscythe Hell for battle.