Chapter One: The Girl with Hazel Eyes
Duo looked around him. He was so bored! There was nothing to do around the garage he worked at. He hated to think it, but he missed fighting. The fighting, however, had ended three years ago. But more than the fighting, he missed the other Gundams, and his mobile suit, Deathscythe. But he, along with the other Gundams, had destroyed his mobile suit when the threat of Dekim Barton had ended. He sighed. It was nice to think that he wouldn't have to worry about being a target anymore, not that it had worried him, but IF something ever did happen, he would have no way of fighting, unless he used a mobile suit like a Taurus or Leo, but they just weren't as fast as Death Scythe…
He walked out of the garage and took a long walk. The garage wasn't too far from the outskirts of the city he now lived in, and he had found walking out under the trees helped him to think. It was still hard to believe that he didn't have Deathscythe, or Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre. He even missed Zechs. He realized what he was thinking. He couldn't believe it. Peace sure hadn't been peaceful.
Suddenly, a shadow passed overhead. He quickly looked up, but could see nothing. He shrugged. It was probably just some big bird, or a sky craft…there was another shadow. This time, he managed to get a glimpse before it disappeared. His mouth dropped open. It was a mobile suit!
"Stop!" she cried, but it was of no use. The soldier was heading straight for the city and she knew he wasn't going there for a visit. She pushed her mobile suit even harder, but it was much older than the practically brand new Scorpio speeding towards the city. Aggravated, she began shouting insults into the intercom. "You stupid coward! I guess you think you have a better chance against a defenseless city than you do me. Well, you don't! Because if you try to harm anything in that city, I'm going to take that as permission to permanently remove that piece a scrap you call a mobile suit from you! And I don't mean politely!!!!" she froze for a moment: she had forgotten to disguise her voice! Thinking quickly, she began again. "Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind doin' that anyway, seein' as ta how stupid lookin' ya are!!!!" It worked. Angered, the Scorpio's pilot veered to the right. She veered with him. He was watching her every move on his radar. He completed a 180 degree turn, and was suddenly facing the old mobile suit was pursuing him. He couldn't believe it was a young girl in an old mobile suit who was chasing him! Usually, even the other Scorpios had trouble keeping up with him. But she was holding her own, even if she did have a much older mobile suit. In fact, it was practically an antique. It must have been one of the first models ever built. She definitely must have had some training. All these thoughts were flying around his head in less than a second. He fired his beam cannon. She was too close. She would never be able to escape the hit.
Duo, however, had no idea what was going on. He was too busy "borrowing" a small space mining craft from the garage he worked for. The Z-Kat mining vehicle had some mid-strength lasers attached to it. He had a feeling that the pilot in the older mobile suit could use some help. His friend, Steven, walked in just as he was taking off. "Hey, Steven! I'm gunna borrow this for a few seconds. I have a party that I'm goin' to, and I'm gunna help cut the cake!!!"
As he neared the place where he sighted the two mobile suits, he saw the newer turn suddenly and fire at the older. He knew the pilot, no matter how good, would never be able to dodge it. Apparently, so did the new mobile suit's pilot; it turned and was heading straight for the city. Duo began to follow the pilot heading for the city. But he saw something that he had never believed could happen take place. As the mobile suit was fired at, it sped up to intercept the blast! The old mobile suit had no shield to protect it from the blast…or did it? When it was struck, there was a strange glow surrounding it, almost like an aura of light. The light quickly faded, and the mobile suit looked normal. But it was hardly damaged, and was traveling faster. It seemed to be super-charged. It sped up even more. The vid-screen lit up, and the face of the pilot in the old mobile suit was finally shown to him. His mouth dropped open again; it was a girl!!!
"Lemme guess: you're Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you." She grinned at the bewildered, but handsome, face of the former Gundam in front of her. "I am the one they call Eschaton. It's a long story behind the name. Sorry, but I gotta catch up to the guy in the Scorpio; he's lookin' for you, and he'll destroy that city to get to you. But I don't think you're his type, so I'm going to politely explain to him that you're not. Get my meaning, mate?" Laughing, she sped off in her newly charged mobile suit. She laughed again, softly this time; she loved the particle shield she had created for her mobile suit; every beam it got hit with charged the mobile suit more and more.
As she was speaking, he was staring at her. She had reddish brown hair, some of which was hanging down in her face, the rest was pulled back, in a sort of braided bun. She put up a hand to move it from her face. She had a light color skin, slightly tan, but still lighter than his; he had gotten a tan while walking in the sun so many times. Her lips looked soft and were a light rosy color, a bit pinker her cheeks, and both were obviously her natural color. But her eyes were what really held him. They were strange, mysterious. They seemed to hold many lights, which were constantly changing. They were an amber color, with bright, brilliant green highlighting them. She was smiling, and her eyes were flashing like two flames. He wasn't bewildered by the fact that she was a girl anymore: he was amazed that anyone could ever look like that…
After she finished speaking and sped off, Duo's reverie lasted only a few moments longer. As soon as he had somewhat recovered from his amazement, he sped off in the direction of the city. Newly charged or not, that old mobile suit didn't look to be any match for the "Scorpio", as Eschaton had called it. He shook his head as he accelerated; he couldn't believe that anyone so gorgeous could have been a pilot, especially without him knowing about it!
Leonard, the pilot of the Scorpio, was enraged. How could that little brat still be alive? Much less faster than ever! He called for backup. "Roger! We're dispatching Richard at this moment. He'll be there in about three minutes. Hang in there." Easy for him to say! Leonard thought. He's not being chased by a crazy girl in a mobile suit that's probably over half a century old, AND is acting like it's almost new! He was having to dodge about now. If he stayed in a straight line, he would have been hit by the beams she was sending in his direction. She was good, very good. He had almost been hit by more than one of them. And she was getting closer. Oh well, he thought, My backup should be here any moment. She fired again. He managed to keep from getting hit seriously, but barely, this time being grazed on the helm of his mobile suit. He spotted another Scorpio on his radar and smiled. She was definitely going to be punished!
Richard was a good pilot. He was also a good friend of Leonard's. When he saw how hard-pressed Leonard was to escape the hits, he got angry. He slowed to a stalking speed and managed to sneak up on the old mobile suit attacking his friend. He was at her back and Leonard was at her front. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's attack her." He saw Leonard nod on his vid- screen. The fight was on. She was attacked by both and hit at the same time. The old mobile suit fell to the ground. "Ok, let's go and find that Gundam. We don't have anything else to worry about in this city. But if we can't find him, we've been ordered to destroy the city. Jenison doesn't want to risk the Gundams returning."
Duo was finally catching up to the two pilots ahead of him when a third mobile suit, another Scorpio, appeared. The first Scorpio turned towards Eschaton, and the second was already at her back. Less than perhaps a second later, she was attacked and hit at the same time. He watched her fall. That was it. He got mad.
Shaking her head, Eschaton looked at the screen for the damage report on her mobile suit, A Priori. It was not good. Sighing, she opened up a panel under her controls. She quickly rerouted power from the beam cannon to the turbos. Closing the panel again, she reprogrammed the computer to support two beam swords. They shouldn't have attacked her like that; she was even more dangerous with the beam swords than the beam cannon. She was through with all of this in less than a minute. Straightening up in her seat and wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, she started up her mobile suit. It was able to move, and she thought it would be able to fly. It was admittedly a bit unstable, but it would last her through this fight. She took off into the air. She became aware that something was happening with the two Scorpios that had attacked her. They were being attacked by something. A small mining craft! "Duo!" she shouted. He had no idea what he was getting into!
Leonard couldn't believe that he was being attacked by some idiot in a mining vehicle. Especially such an old and weak model like the Z-Kat. He began shooting at it. He was only using bullets. He wanted to save energy in case that girl managed to live through the crash. If she did, he would have some fun killing her. Richard, on the other hand, was more amused than angered. He was toying with the person inside the Z-Kat. Dodging the laser beams easily, he kept getting behind it and using his beam cannon to narrowly miss it. He roared with laughter. This was fun!
Duo was not laughing. In fact, he was not even smiling. He was scowling with concentration. Maybe this was not such a good idea. He did not have anything strong enough to really damage the Scorpios. He should've tried to find something a little stronger to attack with. Oh well. He was resigned. He was going to try to give the girl, Eschaton, enough time to escape from the wreckage of her mobile suit, if she had survived. He had a feeling she had. Suddenly, he was hit by a barrage of bullets from one of the mobile suits. He was going down!
"Oh Duo, you idiot." She whispered to herself. It was obvious he had no chance against the two Scorpios. Suddenly, she saw him get hit and fall. "No!" she cried. "That's it!" She drew twin beam swords from the back of A Priori. The pilots of the two Scorpios were going to discover the true meaning of defeat. "Hey you! Metal brains!" she shouted. "I hope you have health insurance, cuz you're gunna need it once I'm through with you!"
The beam swords flashed through the air like two flames. Leonard's mobile suit was hit in the back. His turbos damaged, he fell to the ground; he would not be able to escape through the air. She turned to Richard. His hands were now more than full. He turned in an attempt to escape, but to no avail. In a matter of moments, the twin swords had completely disabled the turbos on his mobile suit. He managed to land safely, quickly teaming up with Leonard. The A Priori landed gently on the ground. Eschaton quickly opened up the panel and rerouted the power from the turbos to the beam swords and particle shield. She had no need for flight now. She wouldn't leave until she was sure of what had happened to Duo. And she wasn't going to be able to find out until the two Scorpios were gone. Which meant that they were soon to be going on a short vacation cruise for two.
Duo kicked the hatch open and climbed out of the Z-Kat. He looked at it. There were bullet holes, the gas tanks were practically gone, the lasers were burnt out, and the engine was virtually, and literally, shot. Steven was definitely going to be mad at him. He looked up at the two Scorpios above him. He saw Eschaton's mobile suit drawing it's twin beam swords and attack both of the Scorpios. Both mobile suits were forced to the ground. He knew they had been disabled, and he saw the A Priori landing delicately. It seemed as though Eschaton was just standing there for a few moments. In fact, it seemed as though everything, even time, was just standing still. But he knew that the stillness wouldn't last long. It never did.
It seemed to be just like training to Richard. Forced to the ground and having a partner to help him fight. He and Leonard had fought together many times. That was why he had been chosen as Leonard's partner. They could fight together as one. Having known each other for a long time, they also knew each other's every technique, attack, and habits. That girl had no chance.
Eschaton was trying to get a message to Duo. She wanted to know if he was alright. Finally, she was able to get a message across to the mining vehicle. "Duo! Are you there?" Holding her breath, she waited for an answer.
Duo heard the message. He climbed into the wrecked Z-Kat to answer. Eschaton's face was in the vid-screen. She looked slightly worried, and very angry. "Yeah, I'm fine. Who ARE you?" Looking a bit relieved, she answered him. "I'll explain that in a while. They're also going to want to know. Hold on a minute, and then, you'll know what this is about. But right now, I'm going to get them back for messin' up my paint job. I just washed this thing, yah know? Oh well, I guess they didn't take the fact that you just aren't their type that well. But they didn't have to shoot the messenger!" Grinning, she waved at him. "I'm going to see if they wanna dance, been forever since I've gotten a good dance partner, even more since I've had two, so I'm hopin' that they won't mind dancin' with a poor lil' gal like me, see ya!" Duo sat back. He definitely wanted to know who she was, what she was doing in a mobile suit, why the Scorpios were looking for him, the list went on for quite a while. But mostly, he wanted to know her phone number.
"Hello there, big boys," came the impudent voice over the radio. A face flickered across Richard's vid-screen. Although it was a quite attractive face, he decidedly didn't like it. Perhaps because he knew he was about to have to attack it. And one should not think their target looks good. Besides, she had too much of an attitude for her own good. And that was going to cost her. In fact, it was going to be her life that would turn out to be the payment in the end.
Eschaton, however, wasn't thinking of payment. She was thinking of how to defeat both Scorpios at the same time. And that was a bit complicated for anyone in a mobile suit as old as hers. But she didn't really care about that; she just wanted to get the fight over with so she could talk to Duo and explain everything to him. If he was anything like the other guys she knew, it might take a long time. But she had a feeling neither one of them would care if it did. Suddenly, one of the Scorpios fired at her. She dodged easily, only to find the other firing at the spot she was moving to. This might be more difficult than she imagined. But she definitely didn't mind that: she loved a challenge.
Although the girl managed to dodge both of their attacks, Leonard was sure of victory. After all, who could hope to stand against soldiers who belonged to the Son of Darkness? Definitely not her. Especially if she was fighting Richard and him at the same time. Definitely not. She had no chance.
Duo watched her neatly dodge both attacks. It seemed that even if her mobile suit was much older and slower, she seemed to be able to dodge about without much of a problem. Of course, she hadn't really been hit with anything too serious, other than the double attack she was first brought down with. He settled down to watch. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to be sure who won. And both Eschaton and the soldiers had some answers for him. But he thought he would rather ask Eschaton; she looked better, and actually had a sense of humor. His thoughts were interrupted as the fight started in earnest.
Eschaton was tired of playing. She couldn't believe that they made such a good team. There were very few guys that she knew who could fight together like that. They weren't even sending each other signals to indicate what they were going to do next. She was being hard pressed to dodge all of their attacks. But she had not yet even begun to fight.
Richard couldn't believe that it was so easy to keep her at bay. If she was good enough to disable both Scorpios in less than a minute after crashing, how come she couldn't even attack them now? Had her controls been damaged? Oh well, he thought, at least I don't have to worry about one of us getting killed. Sure makes this job easy.
It was right then that Eschaton began her attack.
She knew that she had to speed up. And to do that, she needed to make them mad enough to use their beam cannons so the particle shield could recharge her mobile suit. And she definitely knew how to do that. She just had to turn 'round south, make fun of the guys, and then she sure was going to give them a big surprise!
"Hey, dust brains!" She shouted. "I know you're there, I can smell the stench from way over here!" she turned her mobile suit away, so it's back was towards the two attacking Scorpios. "C'mon, can't you see that my eyes are closed?" Spreading the arms of A Priori wide, she said, "C'mon, my arms are open to make an easy target, or d'yah want I should get a bit closer. I'm already havin' ta talk like I'm some kinda teacher for lil' kids so you idiots can understand what I'm sayin', yah know what I mean?" One of the Scorpios charged from behind. Moving quickly, she side-stepped the attacking Scorpio. Spinning around as it sped by her, she brought the twin beam swords into play, giving the mobile suit a double slash across the back.
Leonard was enflamed that she had struck him so easily. He decided to end it once and for all. He pulled out his beam cannon. "Now!" he shouted into the intercom. Both Scorpios fired their beams at the head of the older mobile suit. It didn't budge out of the way, not even trying to dodge the attack in the least way possible. She must have a death wish… he thought, staring at the stationary mobile suit. It was bombarded by both beams at the same time. The atmosphere of the battle became full of smoke.
Eschaton laughed. Her mobile suit was charged. So was she. Her attack began in earnest now. Closing on Richard's mobile suit, she began using her twin flames, the beam swords, to attack. Parrying one of his thrusts, she spread both arms wide. She swept the twin flames inward, in a scything motion. The Scorpio was shorn in half. She stepped back as it fell to the ground, speaking into her vid-screen. "Hey, Duo! Could ya do me a fave and make sure our friend of the messed up metal doesn't miss the encore performance? Thanks, I knew I could count on you!" She turned her attention to Leonard's Scorpio. "Next?" She enquired sweetly. "Second floor, scrap parts, lasers, ladies' lingerie, and busted up Scorpios, any coming out on this floor?" Leonard charged towards her. "Oh, I suppose that would be you sir. Well, make sure you don't injure any fellow shoppers when you exeunt from the elevator. Thank you, have a nice day! By the by, smoking is definitely allowed!!"
Duo was laughing as he walked over to the smoldering wreckage of the Scorpio. She DEFINITELY had a good sense of humor! He had heard her speech as he was walking away from the Z-Kat. Still grinning, he pulled the coughing pilot from the smoking wreckage. "Some gal, eh?" he said. "I think she wants to talk to you, so do me the favor of sitting quietly. I don't feel like chasing you down, or killing you, at least not for another few minutes, but I'm getting a bit bored right now, if you catch my drift." He added nastily. I don't think he will run, Duo thought to himself. I know I sure wouldn't want to run if I was going to talk to a girl like that!!!
As she was saying her last lines, she swept the swords, which she was then holding in an old warrior's ready stance, towards the Scorpio's mid- section. Although Leonard managed to dodge the worst of it, the Scorpio was almost sliced through to the cock-pit. The mobile suit was smoking. He was angry. She was acting as if this was all a joke! But there was something that she would not be prepared for. Preparing to blast open the hatch at a moment's notice, he began to fight harder than ever. This was something he had never hoped to do, but he knew he would survive if he did it right. But now, he had to get her close enough. A confrontation that had started less than half an hour ago was turning into a true dance of death. She was his partner. And he knew the dance well.
Eschaton was watching the Scorpio warily. Something was definitely up. It wasn't acting as cautious as it had been. It was no longer trying to keep her far away, but instead kept trying to close with her. The pilot had to be planning something; perhaps a self detonation? No, he stood nothing to gain by self detonating. UNLESS, of course, he knew he would survive. Then, he stood everything to gain. She managed to escape yet another attempt to close, giving him a third deep slash to the back. If he kept this up, he would soon be completely disabled, which would be very good for her. But was definitely not what he thought would happen. She got tired of wondering and decided to close on him. If something is going to happen, she thought to herself, then it will happen, whether I try to avoid it or not!
She could not have realized how correct she was.
Richard looked on, no longer able to help his friend fight the girl that was giving them so much trouble. This angered him. He felt as though he were letting his greatest friend down when he needed him most. He watched as Leonard was continuously trying to close on her. Doesn't he realize that she has a superior ability with a beam sword? He wondered. He soon found out what Leonard was trying to accomplish. He looked on in startled, and dreading, amazement. This was not something they had learned in basic training, or even in the training they had been given when chosen to serve in the special forces as Scorpio pilots. This was definitely something he would have thought about many more than two times. In fact, this was something he never would have done, no matter how desperate the situation.
Duo watched as Eschaton artfully dodged another slash from the heavily damaged Scorpio. She was good. She showed definite proficiency in the use of beam swords, and he knew it was difficult, and many times almost impossible to use two at the same time. But he was worried about how much the Scorpio kept trying to close in on her. The pilot had to realize how much better she was than he. Duo was amazed at how both pilots were still able to continue fighting after taking so many blows. I can't believe that they haven't both been destroyed, he thought privately to himself. Especially the old mobile suit that Eschaton was using!
Eschaton wasn't too surprised that he wanted to close on her. He might think that she would break under the strain of true hand to hand combat in mobile suits. But she wasn't the type of person that broke that easily. In fact, she was the one who was breaking him, although she did not know it. But if anyone realized that they were breaking under strain, it was Leonard
He couldn't believe it. He had managed to close with her, but she was still evading his attacks so well that he could not hold her for even a moment. She did not stay in once she had scored an attack. Like an attacking wolf, she struck and kept her distance, searching for her next chance, and taking it as it came along. But maybe that caution could be used to his advantage. He wasn't sure he would be able to fend off many more of her attacks: they were hard and fast. He again remembered the comparison he had made to a wolf. He shook his head. It was more like the great black dragon attacking him than a wolf. And if that was a more apt description, that could mean that she would get even stronger as the fight wore on. Already, he had tried using his beam cannon, but that did more harm than good in his thinking; she got faster with each blow, even moving so she would take it more in the center. It was then that he had an idea. An idea that could prove to destroy the great dragon that was attacking him.
As Eschaton continued to fight, she reflected that he seemed to be trying to get a hold of her mobile suit. She wondered what he was going to do if he did. She would just slash at him with one or both of the twin flames, effectively freeing herself, and most probably destroying him in the process. Oh well, she though, it does no good just thinking. I'd better go on and finish this off. She had no idea how right she was. It was about to be over in a way more complete than she had expected.
Duo continued to watch. He couldn't help but wonder how it was that she was able to continue taking the blasts from the beam cannon. Especially how she could get even faster and have so little damage after every hit. But the fact was she did. And he admired her for that. She also had a tremendous amount of daring to be using such an old mobile suit against the new Scorpios. From what he had seen, they seemed to be a bit like the Gundams in speed and power. Maybe even stronger. Perhaps with even more maneuverability and protection. But he then saw something he knew a Gundam would never do. Something that he would not have done to win any fight, no matter how desperate. He had never ran to avoid death. Especially while he was self detonating. He watched as Eschaton struggled to pull free. The Scorpio was glowing. It's pilot had jumped out when he had managed to grasp Eschaton's mobile suit. Eschaton swung one of her twin blades and struck the arm of the Scorpio that was about to explode. She backed away, but unless she could take off, she would be hit by the blast. And from the way she was acting, that was something the old mobile suit would not be able to take.
She could not believe that this was the reason he had been trying to hold her. No pilot with a touch of honor would self detonate his mobile suit and jump free to avoid being killed! But the fact remained; he had. Struggling to free herself, she looked on in horror as the Scorpio began glowing. The engine was overloading. If she was that close when it blew…in desperation, she swung one of her flames. The arm binding her to the other mobile suit was shorn off and fell to the ground. She would not be able to run fast enough. She needed to get into the air! She began to hurriedly reprogram the computer to support the turbos. If she had ever needed to fly, it was now! Not even bothering to look about her, she took off into the air. sheathing the twin blades, she set the particle shield to its maximum strength. She was prepared. If anyone could ever be prepared for something like this.
Leonard watched as she took off into the air. That shouldn't matter, he thought, it should still hit her. And he was right. She was struck full force.
Duo looked on in horror as the Scorpio exploded in a gigantic fireball. Eschaton had not tried to escape; she would not have been able to get far enough away in that short a time. It seemed she had leapt into the air to lessen the impact. It did, but only slightly. He watched as once again the strange glow surrounded the old mobile suit. But so did the fireball. The old mobile suit plummeted towards the ground. It was like it had no power left to stay in the sky. That was not a good sign. It hit the ground with a deafening crash.
Eschaton braced herself as she was hit by the explosion. "Please," she whispered, "please, don't fail, please." Her only chance for survival was if the particle shield held up. A Priori's instruments went wild as the particle shield began absorbing the explosion. It was too much. Overloading, the particle shield abruptly flickered out. A Priori was engulfed by flame. She fell about 500 feet to the ground, utterly without control. Utterly without hope.
Richard watched, unbelieving. How could Leonard have done such a thing? It was completely without honor. It was a complete waste of life. If one died in battle, while fighting, it was not a waste. But she was such a good pilot, surely he realized that if they could manage to get her to join them… the old mobile suit seemed to fall in slow motion. But in reality, it fell with mind shattering speed.
Duo looked around him. He was so bored! There was nothing to do around the garage he worked at. He hated to think it, but he missed fighting. The fighting, however, had ended three years ago. But more than the fighting, he missed the other Gundams, and his mobile suit, Deathscythe. But he, along with the other Gundams, had destroyed his mobile suit when the threat of Dekim Barton had ended. He sighed. It was nice to think that he wouldn't have to worry about being a target anymore, not that it had worried him, but IF something ever did happen, he would have no way of fighting, unless he used a mobile suit like a Taurus or Leo, but they just weren't as fast as Death Scythe…
He walked out of the garage and took a long walk. The garage wasn't too far from the outskirts of the city he now lived in, and he had found walking out under the trees helped him to think. It was still hard to believe that he didn't have Deathscythe, or Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre. He even missed Zechs. He realized what he was thinking. He couldn't believe it. Peace sure hadn't been peaceful.
Suddenly, a shadow passed overhead. He quickly looked up, but could see nothing. He shrugged. It was probably just some big bird, or a sky craft…there was another shadow. This time, he managed to get a glimpse before it disappeared. His mouth dropped open. It was a mobile suit!
"Stop!" she cried, but it was of no use. The soldier was heading straight for the city and she knew he wasn't going there for a visit. She pushed her mobile suit even harder, but it was much older than the practically brand new Scorpio speeding towards the city. Aggravated, she began shouting insults into the intercom. "You stupid coward! I guess you think you have a better chance against a defenseless city than you do me. Well, you don't! Because if you try to harm anything in that city, I'm going to take that as permission to permanently remove that piece a scrap you call a mobile suit from you! And I don't mean politely!!!!" she froze for a moment: she had forgotten to disguise her voice! Thinking quickly, she began again. "Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind doin' that anyway, seein' as ta how stupid lookin' ya are!!!!" It worked. Angered, the Scorpio's pilot veered to the right. She veered with him. He was watching her every move on his radar. He completed a 180 degree turn, and was suddenly facing the old mobile suit was pursuing him. He couldn't believe it was a young girl in an old mobile suit who was chasing him! Usually, even the other Scorpios had trouble keeping up with him. But she was holding her own, even if she did have a much older mobile suit. In fact, it was practically an antique. It must have been one of the first models ever built. She definitely must have had some training. All these thoughts were flying around his head in less than a second. He fired his beam cannon. She was too close. She would never be able to escape the hit.
Duo, however, had no idea what was going on. He was too busy "borrowing" a small space mining craft from the garage he worked for. The Z-Kat mining vehicle had some mid-strength lasers attached to it. He had a feeling that the pilot in the older mobile suit could use some help. His friend, Steven, walked in just as he was taking off. "Hey, Steven! I'm gunna borrow this for a few seconds. I have a party that I'm goin' to, and I'm gunna help cut the cake!!!"
As he neared the place where he sighted the two mobile suits, he saw the newer turn suddenly and fire at the older. He knew the pilot, no matter how good, would never be able to dodge it. Apparently, so did the new mobile suit's pilot; it turned and was heading straight for the city. Duo began to follow the pilot heading for the city. But he saw something that he had never believed could happen take place. As the mobile suit was fired at, it sped up to intercept the blast! The old mobile suit had no shield to protect it from the blast…or did it? When it was struck, there was a strange glow surrounding it, almost like an aura of light. The light quickly faded, and the mobile suit looked normal. But it was hardly damaged, and was traveling faster. It seemed to be super-charged. It sped up even more. The vid-screen lit up, and the face of the pilot in the old mobile suit was finally shown to him. His mouth dropped open again; it was a girl!!!
"Lemme guess: you're Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you." She grinned at the bewildered, but handsome, face of the former Gundam in front of her. "I am the one they call Eschaton. It's a long story behind the name. Sorry, but I gotta catch up to the guy in the Scorpio; he's lookin' for you, and he'll destroy that city to get to you. But I don't think you're his type, so I'm going to politely explain to him that you're not. Get my meaning, mate?" Laughing, she sped off in her newly charged mobile suit. She laughed again, softly this time; she loved the particle shield she had created for her mobile suit; every beam it got hit with charged the mobile suit more and more.
As she was speaking, he was staring at her. She had reddish brown hair, some of which was hanging down in her face, the rest was pulled back, in a sort of braided bun. She put up a hand to move it from her face. She had a light color skin, slightly tan, but still lighter than his; he had gotten a tan while walking in the sun so many times. Her lips looked soft and were a light rosy color, a bit pinker her cheeks, and both were obviously her natural color. But her eyes were what really held him. They were strange, mysterious. They seemed to hold many lights, which were constantly changing. They were an amber color, with bright, brilliant green highlighting them. She was smiling, and her eyes were flashing like two flames. He wasn't bewildered by the fact that she was a girl anymore: he was amazed that anyone could ever look like that…
After she finished speaking and sped off, Duo's reverie lasted only a few moments longer. As soon as he had somewhat recovered from his amazement, he sped off in the direction of the city. Newly charged or not, that old mobile suit didn't look to be any match for the "Scorpio", as Eschaton had called it. He shook his head as he accelerated; he couldn't believe that anyone so gorgeous could have been a pilot, especially without him knowing about it!
Leonard, the pilot of the Scorpio, was enraged. How could that little brat still be alive? Much less faster than ever! He called for backup. "Roger! We're dispatching Richard at this moment. He'll be there in about three minutes. Hang in there." Easy for him to say! Leonard thought. He's not being chased by a crazy girl in a mobile suit that's probably over half a century old, AND is acting like it's almost new! He was having to dodge about now. If he stayed in a straight line, he would have been hit by the beams she was sending in his direction. She was good, very good. He had almost been hit by more than one of them. And she was getting closer. Oh well, he thought, My backup should be here any moment. She fired again. He managed to keep from getting hit seriously, but barely, this time being grazed on the helm of his mobile suit. He spotted another Scorpio on his radar and smiled. She was definitely going to be punished!
Richard was a good pilot. He was also a good friend of Leonard's. When he saw how hard-pressed Leonard was to escape the hits, he got angry. He slowed to a stalking speed and managed to sneak up on the old mobile suit attacking his friend. He was at her back and Leonard was at her front. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's attack her." He saw Leonard nod on his vid- screen. The fight was on. She was attacked by both and hit at the same time. The old mobile suit fell to the ground. "Ok, let's go and find that Gundam. We don't have anything else to worry about in this city. But if we can't find him, we've been ordered to destroy the city. Jenison doesn't want to risk the Gundams returning."
Duo was finally catching up to the two pilots ahead of him when a third mobile suit, another Scorpio, appeared. The first Scorpio turned towards Eschaton, and the second was already at her back. Less than perhaps a second later, she was attacked and hit at the same time. He watched her fall. That was it. He got mad.
Shaking her head, Eschaton looked at the screen for the damage report on her mobile suit, A Priori. It was not good. Sighing, she opened up a panel under her controls. She quickly rerouted power from the beam cannon to the turbos. Closing the panel again, she reprogrammed the computer to support two beam swords. They shouldn't have attacked her like that; she was even more dangerous with the beam swords than the beam cannon. She was through with all of this in less than a minute. Straightening up in her seat and wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, she started up her mobile suit. It was able to move, and she thought it would be able to fly. It was admittedly a bit unstable, but it would last her through this fight. She took off into the air. She became aware that something was happening with the two Scorpios that had attacked her. They were being attacked by something. A small mining craft! "Duo!" she shouted. He had no idea what he was getting into!
Leonard couldn't believe that he was being attacked by some idiot in a mining vehicle. Especially such an old and weak model like the Z-Kat. He began shooting at it. He was only using bullets. He wanted to save energy in case that girl managed to live through the crash. If she did, he would have some fun killing her. Richard, on the other hand, was more amused than angered. He was toying with the person inside the Z-Kat. Dodging the laser beams easily, he kept getting behind it and using his beam cannon to narrowly miss it. He roared with laughter. This was fun!
Duo was not laughing. In fact, he was not even smiling. He was scowling with concentration. Maybe this was not such a good idea. He did not have anything strong enough to really damage the Scorpios. He should've tried to find something a little stronger to attack with. Oh well. He was resigned. He was going to try to give the girl, Eschaton, enough time to escape from the wreckage of her mobile suit, if she had survived. He had a feeling she had. Suddenly, he was hit by a barrage of bullets from one of the mobile suits. He was going down!
"Oh Duo, you idiot." She whispered to herself. It was obvious he had no chance against the two Scorpios. Suddenly, she saw him get hit and fall. "No!" she cried. "That's it!" She drew twin beam swords from the back of A Priori. The pilots of the two Scorpios were going to discover the true meaning of defeat. "Hey you! Metal brains!" she shouted. "I hope you have health insurance, cuz you're gunna need it once I'm through with you!"
The beam swords flashed through the air like two flames. Leonard's mobile suit was hit in the back. His turbos damaged, he fell to the ground; he would not be able to escape through the air. She turned to Richard. His hands were now more than full. He turned in an attempt to escape, but to no avail. In a matter of moments, the twin swords had completely disabled the turbos on his mobile suit. He managed to land safely, quickly teaming up with Leonard. The A Priori landed gently on the ground. Eschaton quickly opened up the panel and rerouted the power from the turbos to the beam swords and particle shield. She had no need for flight now. She wouldn't leave until she was sure of what had happened to Duo. And she wasn't going to be able to find out until the two Scorpios were gone. Which meant that they were soon to be going on a short vacation cruise for two.
Duo kicked the hatch open and climbed out of the Z-Kat. He looked at it. There were bullet holes, the gas tanks were practically gone, the lasers were burnt out, and the engine was virtually, and literally, shot. Steven was definitely going to be mad at him. He looked up at the two Scorpios above him. He saw Eschaton's mobile suit drawing it's twin beam swords and attack both of the Scorpios. Both mobile suits were forced to the ground. He knew they had been disabled, and he saw the A Priori landing delicately. It seemed as though Eschaton was just standing there for a few moments. In fact, it seemed as though everything, even time, was just standing still. But he knew that the stillness wouldn't last long. It never did.
It seemed to be just like training to Richard. Forced to the ground and having a partner to help him fight. He and Leonard had fought together many times. That was why he had been chosen as Leonard's partner. They could fight together as one. Having known each other for a long time, they also knew each other's every technique, attack, and habits. That girl had no chance.
Eschaton was trying to get a message to Duo. She wanted to know if he was alright. Finally, she was able to get a message across to the mining vehicle. "Duo! Are you there?" Holding her breath, she waited for an answer.
Duo heard the message. He climbed into the wrecked Z-Kat to answer. Eschaton's face was in the vid-screen. She looked slightly worried, and very angry. "Yeah, I'm fine. Who ARE you?" Looking a bit relieved, she answered him. "I'll explain that in a while. They're also going to want to know. Hold on a minute, and then, you'll know what this is about. But right now, I'm going to get them back for messin' up my paint job. I just washed this thing, yah know? Oh well, I guess they didn't take the fact that you just aren't their type that well. But they didn't have to shoot the messenger!" Grinning, she waved at him. "I'm going to see if they wanna dance, been forever since I've gotten a good dance partner, even more since I've had two, so I'm hopin' that they won't mind dancin' with a poor lil' gal like me, see ya!" Duo sat back. He definitely wanted to know who she was, what she was doing in a mobile suit, why the Scorpios were looking for him, the list went on for quite a while. But mostly, he wanted to know her phone number.
"Hello there, big boys," came the impudent voice over the radio. A face flickered across Richard's vid-screen. Although it was a quite attractive face, he decidedly didn't like it. Perhaps because he knew he was about to have to attack it. And one should not think their target looks good. Besides, she had too much of an attitude for her own good. And that was going to cost her. In fact, it was going to be her life that would turn out to be the payment in the end.
Eschaton, however, wasn't thinking of payment. She was thinking of how to defeat both Scorpios at the same time. And that was a bit complicated for anyone in a mobile suit as old as hers. But she didn't really care about that; she just wanted to get the fight over with so she could talk to Duo and explain everything to him. If he was anything like the other guys she knew, it might take a long time. But she had a feeling neither one of them would care if it did. Suddenly, one of the Scorpios fired at her. She dodged easily, only to find the other firing at the spot she was moving to. This might be more difficult than she imagined. But she definitely didn't mind that: she loved a challenge.
Although the girl managed to dodge both of their attacks, Leonard was sure of victory. After all, who could hope to stand against soldiers who belonged to the Son of Darkness? Definitely not her. Especially if she was fighting Richard and him at the same time. Definitely not. She had no chance.
Duo watched her neatly dodge both attacks. It seemed that even if her mobile suit was much older and slower, she seemed to be able to dodge about without much of a problem. Of course, she hadn't really been hit with anything too serious, other than the double attack she was first brought down with. He settled down to watch. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to be sure who won. And both Eschaton and the soldiers had some answers for him. But he thought he would rather ask Eschaton; she looked better, and actually had a sense of humor. His thoughts were interrupted as the fight started in earnest.
Eschaton was tired of playing. She couldn't believe that they made such a good team. There were very few guys that she knew who could fight together like that. They weren't even sending each other signals to indicate what they were going to do next. She was being hard pressed to dodge all of their attacks. But she had not yet even begun to fight.
Richard couldn't believe that it was so easy to keep her at bay. If she was good enough to disable both Scorpios in less than a minute after crashing, how come she couldn't even attack them now? Had her controls been damaged? Oh well, he thought, at least I don't have to worry about one of us getting killed. Sure makes this job easy.
It was right then that Eschaton began her attack.
She knew that she had to speed up. And to do that, she needed to make them mad enough to use their beam cannons so the particle shield could recharge her mobile suit. And she definitely knew how to do that. She just had to turn 'round south, make fun of the guys, and then she sure was going to give them a big surprise!
"Hey, dust brains!" She shouted. "I know you're there, I can smell the stench from way over here!" she turned her mobile suit away, so it's back was towards the two attacking Scorpios. "C'mon, can't you see that my eyes are closed?" Spreading the arms of A Priori wide, she said, "C'mon, my arms are open to make an easy target, or d'yah want I should get a bit closer. I'm already havin' ta talk like I'm some kinda teacher for lil' kids so you idiots can understand what I'm sayin', yah know what I mean?" One of the Scorpios charged from behind. Moving quickly, she side-stepped the attacking Scorpio. Spinning around as it sped by her, she brought the twin beam swords into play, giving the mobile suit a double slash across the back.
Leonard was enflamed that she had struck him so easily. He decided to end it once and for all. He pulled out his beam cannon. "Now!" he shouted into the intercom. Both Scorpios fired their beams at the head of the older mobile suit. It didn't budge out of the way, not even trying to dodge the attack in the least way possible. She must have a death wish… he thought, staring at the stationary mobile suit. It was bombarded by both beams at the same time. The atmosphere of the battle became full of smoke.
Eschaton laughed. Her mobile suit was charged. So was she. Her attack began in earnest now. Closing on Richard's mobile suit, she began using her twin flames, the beam swords, to attack. Parrying one of his thrusts, she spread both arms wide. She swept the twin flames inward, in a scything motion. The Scorpio was shorn in half. She stepped back as it fell to the ground, speaking into her vid-screen. "Hey, Duo! Could ya do me a fave and make sure our friend of the messed up metal doesn't miss the encore performance? Thanks, I knew I could count on you!" She turned her attention to Leonard's Scorpio. "Next?" She enquired sweetly. "Second floor, scrap parts, lasers, ladies' lingerie, and busted up Scorpios, any coming out on this floor?" Leonard charged towards her. "Oh, I suppose that would be you sir. Well, make sure you don't injure any fellow shoppers when you exeunt from the elevator. Thank you, have a nice day! By the by, smoking is definitely allowed!!"
Duo was laughing as he walked over to the smoldering wreckage of the Scorpio. She DEFINITELY had a good sense of humor! He had heard her speech as he was walking away from the Z-Kat. Still grinning, he pulled the coughing pilot from the smoking wreckage. "Some gal, eh?" he said. "I think she wants to talk to you, so do me the favor of sitting quietly. I don't feel like chasing you down, or killing you, at least not for another few minutes, but I'm getting a bit bored right now, if you catch my drift." He added nastily. I don't think he will run, Duo thought to himself. I know I sure wouldn't want to run if I was going to talk to a girl like that!!!
As she was saying her last lines, she swept the swords, which she was then holding in an old warrior's ready stance, towards the Scorpio's mid- section. Although Leonard managed to dodge the worst of it, the Scorpio was almost sliced through to the cock-pit. The mobile suit was smoking. He was angry. She was acting as if this was all a joke! But there was something that she would not be prepared for. Preparing to blast open the hatch at a moment's notice, he began to fight harder than ever. This was something he had never hoped to do, but he knew he would survive if he did it right. But now, he had to get her close enough. A confrontation that had started less than half an hour ago was turning into a true dance of death. She was his partner. And he knew the dance well.
Eschaton was watching the Scorpio warily. Something was definitely up. It wasn't acting as cautious as it had been. It was no longer trying to keep her far away, but instead kept trying to close with her. The pilot had to be planning something; perhaps a self detonation? No, he stood nothing to gain by self detonating. UNLESS, of course, he knew he would survive. Then, he stood everything to gain. She managed to escape yet another attempt to close, giving him a third deep slash to the back. If he kept this up, he would soon be completely disabled, which would be very good for her. But was definitely not what he thought would happen. She got tired of wondering and decided to close on him. If something is going to happen, she thought to herself, then it will happen, whether I try to avoid it or not!
She could not have realized how correct she was.
Richard looked on, no longer able to help his friend fight the girl that was giving them so much trouble. This angered him. He felt as though he were letting his greatest friend down when he needed him most. He watched as Leonard was continuously trying to close on her. Doesn't he realize that she has a superior ability with a beam sword? He wondered. He soon found out what Leonard was trying to accomplish. He looked on in startled, and dreading, amazement. This was not something they had learned in basic training, or even in the training they had been given when chosen to serve in the special forces as Scorpio pilots. This was definitely something he would have thought about many more than two times. In fact, this was something he never would have done, no matter how desperate the situation.
Duo watched as Eschaton artfully dodged another slash from the heavily damaged Scorpio. She was good. She showed definite proficiency in the use of beam swords, and he knew it was difficult, and many times almost impossible to use two at the same time. But he was worried about how much the Scorpio kept trying to close in on her. The pilot had to realize how much better she was than he. Duo was amazed at how both pilots were still able to continue fighting after taking so many blows. I can't believe that they haven't both been destroyed, he thought privately to himself. Especially the old mobile suit that Eschaton was using!
Eschaton wasn't too surprised that he wanted to close on her. He might think that she would break under the strain of true hand to hand combat in mobile suits. But she wasn't the type of person that broke that easily. In fact, she was the one who was breaking him, although she did not know it. But if anyone realized that they were breaking under strain, it was Leonard
He couldn't believe it. He had managed to close with her, but she was still evading his attacks so well that he could not hold her for even a moment. She did not stay in once she had scored an attack. Like an attacking wolf, she struck and kept her distance, searching for her next chance, and taking it as it came along. But maybe that caution could be used to his advantage. He wasn't sure he would be able to fend off many more of her attacks: they were hard and fast. He again remembered the comparison he had made to a wolf. He shook his head. It was more like the great black dragon attacking him than a wolf. And if that was a more apt description, that could mean that she would get even stronger as the fight wore on. Already, he had tried using his beam cannon, but that did more harm than good in his thinking; she got faster with each blow, even moving so she would take it more in the center. It was then that he had an idea. An idea that could prove to destroy the great dragon that was attacking him.
As Eschaton continued to fight, she reflected that he seemed to be trying to get a hold of her mobile suit. She wondered what he was going to do if he did. She would just slash at him with one or both of the twin flames, effectively freeing herself, and most probably destroying him in the process. Oh well, she though, it does no good just thinking. I'd better go on and finish this off. She had no idea how right she was. It was about to be over in a way more complete than she had expected.
Duo continued to watch. He couldn't help but wonder how it was that she was able to continue taking the blasts from the beam cannon. Especially how she could get even faster and have so little damage after every hit. But the fact was she did. And he admired her for that. She also had a tremendous amount of daring to be using such an old mobile suit against the new Scorpios. From what he had seen, they seemed to be a bit like the Gundams in speed and power. Maybe even stronger. Perhaps with even more maneuverability and protection. But he then saw something he knew a Gundam would never do. Something that he would not have done to win any fight, no matter how desperate. He had never ran to avoid death. Especially while he was self detonating. He watched as Eschaton struggled to pull free. The Scorpio was glowing. It's pilot had jumped out when he had managed to grasp Eschaton's mobile suit. Eschaton swung one of her twin blades and struck the arm of the Scorpio that was about to explode. She backed away, but unless she could take off, she would be hit by the blast. And from the way she was acting, that was something the old mobile suit would not be able to take.
She could not believe that this was the reason he had been trying to hold her. No pilot with a touch of honor would self detonate his mobile suit and jump free to avoid being killed! But the fact remained; he had. Struggling to free herself, she looked on in horror as the Scorpio began glowing. The engine was overloading. If she was that close when it blew…in desperation, she swung one of her flames. The arm binding her to the other mobile suit was shorn off and fell to the ground. She would not be able to run fast enough. She needed to get into the air! She began to hurriedly reprogram the computer to support the turbos. If she had ever needed to fly, it was now! Not even bothering to look about her, she took off into the air. sheathing the twin blades, she set the particle shield to its maximum strength. She was prepared. If anyone could ever be prepared for something like this.
Leonard watched as she took off into the air. That shouldn't matter, he thought, it should still hit her. And he was right. She was struck full force.
Duo looked on in horror as the Scorpio exploded in a gigantic fireball. Eschaton had not tried to escape; she would not have been able to get far enough away in that short a time. It seemed she had leapt into the air to lessen the impact. It did, but only slightly. He watched as once again the strange glow surrounded the old mobile suit. But so did the fireball. The old mobile suit plummeted towards the ground. It was like it had no power left to stay in the sky. That was not a good sign. It hit the ground with a deafening crash.
Eschaton braced herself as she was hit by the explosion. "Please," she whispered, "please, don't fail, please." Her only chance for survival was if the particle shield held up. A Priori's instruments went wild as the particle shield began absorbing the explosion. It was too much. Overloading, the particle shield abruptly flickered out. A Priori was engulfed by flame. She fell about 500 feet to the ground, utterly without control. Utterly without hope.
Richard watched, unbelieving. How could Leonard have done such a thing? It was completely without honor. It was a complete waste of life. If one died in battle, while fighting, it was not a waste. But she was such a good pilot, surely he realized that if they could manage to get her to join them… the old mobile suit seemed to fall in slow motion. But in reality, it fell with mind shattering speed.