Neo Mobile Suit Gundam

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam name. Gundam belongs to Sunrise/Yoshiyuki Tomino/or anyone else I cannot remember at this time. The Characters of this story however are mine and do represent actually people who I have their concent to use in it.

Episode 01: The Surprise Attack/ Theft of a Gundam

November 21, 2134.

The silence of space crept into the souls of those who were crazy enough to sit and allow it to take hold. Most who travelled through it would subcome to this madness if they weren't focused on something specific. Such group of soldiers who silently drifted towards the Earth Space colony Cataline were ready, holding the sub machine guns in their hands. With their space suits secure, they were ready to secretely infeltrate the colony. Word was that two prototype mobile suits were being constructed by the Earth Unified Alliance. Chronos, a specail Mars military group had caught wind of the contruction and was planning an attack. Not too far behind the shuttle the soldiers were in, were several Mobile suits of Chronos and standard orbital fighters. These suits were the Wraith type, which were built for space and colony combat. Humanoid in design, they sported visor shaped eyes on an elongated head. Blue in color with white trim, they carried a basic armament of a riffle and long sword for long and close range combat. For support in flight they had two wings on their back.

The Orbital Fighters were small but fast and sleek in design, wings angeled forward with a single fin wing beneath. They carried a small payload of missles and a single automatic gun beneath. They were very capable of taking down less armored vehicles or mobile suits.

Ahead of them though, were the pros with custome suits that carried a title and design very few were privalaged to have. The first taking the lead had a feminine design to it, its lower body resembling a snake with large bat like wings on its back. Its head housed two vulcan guns. Its face looked more human in style, having two glowing yellow eyes and a mouth guard where a mouth would be on a human face and had a small red chin. The forehead had a gold V-crest. Its black and gold armor glistened in the light of Earth and the approaching colony. At it's sides it carried two short metal syckles, the tail tipped with a beam weapon for long distance attacks.

Behind this suit was the pilots brother and second in charge. It was tall, slim, and had a triangle shapped eye flipped upside down. Its right arm carried a large beam weapon and the other a short shield for close combat melee. A single saber was housed just behind the left shoulder. Its head also housed two vulcan guns and on each shoulder it carried a single firing rocket. Its green and white design stood out more then its sister suit.

The third following up stood out with the face of a clown mask with bells hanging from its head. Dark in color its red and yellow was what brought it out amongst the gray black and white. It carried a longrange dobber gun and close range combat shield. Just on the back of the right shoulder it held a large anti-ship sword and on the left a small three barrel RPG launcher. The chest had a single vulcan gun with two on either side of the shoulders.

Unlike the Wraiths, these mobile suits were made of a rare metal that was discovered on the surface of mars after its terra forming. A metal that was kept a secerete and hidden from Earth till the escalation of the war. This metal was much lighter, and far stronger then Titanium but because of it was so rare, it was specifically made for certain pilots and their custome suits. These three were of those special pilots. Their suits were made of that specail metal; they were Gundams.

Colony Docking Station

A Steller class battle cruiser was slowly making its way to the lock-in possition. The security hanger doors had long since closed and oxygen was being pumped into the hanger. Maintenance crews were quick to cover the ship and began the refueling procedures while members of the crew, including two high ranking officers, began to depart for 'shore leave'.

Colony Cataline

Barton Technical School for the gifted was a school designed for children, 10 and up, that showed signs of higher intellagance. Very few attended this school and those that did were treated like kings; having their own home, food and clothing, they lived like the rich with all the benifits. All showed great promise in the field of medical development and computer electronics.

"Mr. Kimbal Hajime, you failed again," the teacher said, dropping the report with the large F marking the boys failure in a humiliating way.

The young brown haired boy with yellow eyes sighed as he looked at the grade he was given; feeling the eyes of his peers looking back at him and hearing their whispered conversations on the boy. He knew they were talking about his failing grades and as to why he was there to begin with. He dropped the report and stared at his retreating sensai as the older male returned to the front of the classroom. He had purposely embaressed Kimbal to set an example; something Kimbal took notice he did very often when it came to him. His yellow eyes danced around the room, catching the looks the other students were giving him, but he ignored their hidden laughs and silent comments that he knew they were making and looked back at his grade. This is the forth failed report this month, he thought. They're going to call dad about this.

Off to the side though, a young girl the same age as Kim stared at him with a worried look. Oh man, that's the forth one! she thought. She ran her hand through her short orange hair, her blue eyes darting to the report she had that had a brightly colored A on it. She looked over at Kim again to see him slide his report into his bag and lean back in his seat, arm resting over the back of his chair like nothing had happened. Oh Kim, why won't you be serious about this?

Time passed till the bell chimed, giving the studnets the signal to leave for the afternoon. As the class filed out, Kim remained in his seat, staring down at his desk till everyone accept one other student left. He looked over his shoulder at the girl that remained and sighed. He watched the girl approach, bag held in front by both hands as she stopped at his desk. "Hey Yumiko," he said, grabbing his bag and climbing to his feet. "You didn't have to wait for me. I'm guessing the others are outside waiting for you."

Yumiko Fukanaki bit her lip, but smiled. "They can wait," she said, giving her grin to the boy. "So, where'd you want to go tonight? Its your turn to choose where we're all eating." Her smile faded as she watched him throw his bag over his shoulder and slowly head for the door. She quickly followed.

"You guys go ahead and decide. I'm not really hungry."

As Kim exited the room, he took notice of the group that waited for him and Yumiko. There was one other girl and two boys. The girl was tall, long red hair with sky blue eyes; her name was Koname Urashima. The boy that stood with his arm around her waste had green eyes and brown hair; his name was Collin Nagoya and the second boy with black hair and dark brown eyes was Lee Kajima. All wore the designated school uniforms as the rest. Collin was about to speak when Kim walked out, but stopped when he watched his friend turn and walk in the opposite direction. Turning to the door he watched Yumiko walk out. "Hey, what's wrong with Kim?" he asked, moving slightly away from Koname.

Yumiko sighed and watched Kim walk off. "He failed another report," she said, getting a painful hiss from Lee. She looked at the boy who had a pained look on his face like someone had pinched him.

"Man, I know how that feels," Lee said. "What number was it this time?"

"This was number 4," she said. She held her left arm with her right while looking at the ground. "I wish he had asked for some help. He would have passed if he asked one of us."

"You know how he is, Yumiko," Koname said, stepping over to her friend. "He's stubborn and preferes to do things on his own without any help. If he wanted it so bad he would have asked.'

"I know but still..." she was thorwn off when Koname put her arm around her shoulder.

"Let him be for now. We'll get something to eat and when we're done, you can go and see how he's doing."

Kim stared at her friend and looked back down to the slowly disappearing figure that was Kim. With a sigh of defeat, she nodded her head and the four turned and walked away, Yumiko turning back one last time to see him round the corner to the next hall.

Outside the Colony

The ship slowly attached itself to an airlock. Once the pressure was good, the hatch opened and the soldiers piled out. There, they awaited orders. "Okay, you know what to do," a feminine voice spoke. "You are to make your way to the construction zone and obtain the Mobile Suits and the designated targets that were suggested to have what we need. Our mobile suits will remain outside while our inside men keep the cameras off with a false feed. Once you find the suits and the students, move out and take no chances. Get in, and out, that's all. We don't have an exact number as to how many suits are on this colony, but we're just face to face with Earth and it won't take them long to send reinforcements."

"Roger," the team sounded. One in particular grinned staring happily at the gate in front of him as he awaited to lead his team in for the Mobile Suits.

Outside the transport ship the Mobile suits took hold and rested agaisnt the colony's wall, several watching the area in case an Earth suit would just pass by and happen to spot them. Emerald leaned back in her seat, letting a tired sigh escape her ruby red lips. Her red hair swayed in the 0-G of space as she stared down at the blue planet from her possition. She had never been to the planet before and being so close made her feel something she never felt before. It was like a longing to go home; to a home she had never been to before and had ever seen this close.

"This is boring," an annoying male voice spoke over the coms.

Emerald growled at her brother's interruption of her thoughts and looked to the small screen image of the green haired, purple eyed pilot who looked to the side and out his own screen. "This mission isn't suppose to be entertaining, Ruby."

"I don't care. I prefere a good fight then just sitting around here doing nothing. I'm bored, dear sister, and I would rather BE in a good fight."

"That thirst for blood is going to get you killed one day, Ruby," the third Gundam pilot said with a grin hidden behind his flight helmit. "Keep shooting your mouth off like that and The Powers That Be will make your next one the last one."

Ruby hit the back of his fist against the screen that showed the pilot who had insulted him. It only made him laugh. "Quiet Brian! I will shoot you if you push me."

His idle threat only played to Brian's amusement. "I'm faster then you are, Ruby. Especially with that hulking gun you carry. You'd be lucky to keep up."

"Enough you two and keep your eyes open. Remember, there will be patrols coming at some point and we need to be prepared in case they spot us and our Wraiths."

Inside, the troops slowly floated down the corridor, stopping to greet one of their contacts who wore a brown military uniform of the Earth army. He gave a quick salute, which was returned by the lead man in the gray flight uniform. Lowering his hand to his side, he began to pass out EUA uniforms to each and they began to quickly change. It took a while in the no gravity, but they did it in what would have been a record breaking time. Adjusting the uniforms to regulation standards they made their way to the gravity hatch and felt the pressure of the colony's gravity weigh down on them. With their firearms in hand, the spy lead them down into the lower depths of the colony and they quickly raced down, passing through one door to the next.

The City Streets

The small group of four road peacefully away from the school grounds. With the auto-controls on, the car easily made its way to a small cafe for them to eat. With not having to drive, they could each speak to one another without any problems of having to watch the road. While her friends spoke, Yumiko sat silently looking at her hands while lost in deep thought on the friend they left behind at the school. She feared whatever fate he was left too when his father would hear of his failing grades. Looking to her friends, she watched them laugh at some joke Lee said that she completely missed. Koname saw her not laugh and leaned back over the seat to her friend, giving Collin a near perfect look up her almost-flying skirt that the wind nearly picked up. "Hey, Yumiko, are you okay?" the red-head asked, startling her friend out of her silent stare at Lee.

Yumiko blushed slightly from embarressment and looked away. "I was just wondering what Kim was doing, that's all," she said, catching her eyes on the sidewalk, watching people as they easily drove by. "I've never really met his dad, but I can bet he'll be furious about his failing grades."

"I know what you mean," Lee said, throwing his hands behind his head and leaning back in his seat. "My dad and mom would fly all the way from Earth just to come and chew me out." He blinked for a second and looked to Yumiko. "By the way, where does his perants live anyway?" He looked to Collin. "Collin, your room is right next to his, do you know?"

Collin stared forward, thinking for a minute. "I think his dad lives somewhere here on the colony; I think on base." He sighed and leaned against his arm on the door. "But his mom...I don't know. He never talks about his perants. I don't even know if he has a sister or a brother. Or any relatives for that matter."

Lee turned to Yumiko and Koname, and they both shook their heads. He sighed in defeat and slid down in his seat, but quickly sat up when he saw them nearing the cafe. "We're almost there. Man, I'm starving."

Yumiko was greatful for the change in conversation. They each knew each other for more then a year, but Kim had just shown up only a few months ago as a new transfer student. She had been the one to first greet him and introduce him to her friends. Since then, they hung around him like he had always been there, but he never talked about his family nor did anyone ever ask. She only knew they would call his dad since it was a rule. The old saying was 'Three Strikes and Your Out' but for their school it was 'Four Strikes' instead.

The car parked gently in an open spot and Lee leapt out without even using the door. Collin sighed with a muffled laugh as he saw his friend nearly fall on his rear after landing wrong. He helped Koname out and left the door open for Yumiko. She was the last to climb out and shut the door, the four heading inside to see other students from their school. After a few hellos they sat down and waited to order.

In a Secrete Tunnel

Deep beneath the surface, a jeep carrying three people was driving along the lit corridor to its awaiting destination. The driver was a male Ensign. The two in the back were one female Captain and female Lieutenant Commander. The ensign kept his eyes forward, but his ears open as the two continued their discussion. "I would have never thought this place was located beneath the school," Captain Alicia Miura said, glancing up at the overhead lights that passed by. "Does any of the school's occupants know of this base and its workings here?"

"No ma'am," said Lieutenant Commander Luna Gallagher. "Only the principle and a few members of the faculty. We want this place to remain as secrete as possible."

"Oh, I'm sure of that," Alicia said, looking forward. "I mean, what would the world think if we were performing our experiments here on this colony under a school?"

"I know what you mean, Commander."

"So are the two proto-types complete?"

"Yes ma'am. And both are equiped with the NANO-Links that we created. Without them, the suits would be very difficult to handle for a Tarren. An Extended Martian would probably handle them without it, but the output these two suits put out is unimaginable." Luna looked ahead. "We're reaching the main gate now."

Outside the Tech Dorms

Kim sat quietly on a park bench just outside the dorm, staring up at the colony and at the city just on the other side. He always found it odd, looking up at a city; like he was flying and looking down at it. Turning his gaze away before getting dizzy like he always did, he looked over and caught site of another fellow student he had the pleasure of knowing. Like all schools, you had your classes, but when you're in a technical school like this one, there were no 'nerds'. You just had your regulars, and then the populars. This girl was one of the later. She was tall with a dark tanned skin. Her long sky blue hair swayed behind her as she lightly stepped down the walk, her hands held behind her as she stared out across the grass at seemingly nothing with her dark gray eyes. Her lipstick and eye shadow shared the same color of her hair; he took note as she approached, seeming to not notice his existance as she moved ever so closer. This girl he knew only by word of the mouth. He never really spoke to her or ever had the privalage of hearing her say hello to him. But he knew her name well enough; Aralia Ardere.

His eyes remained on this girl as she approached, and to his sudden shock, she stopped just in front of him. Her eyes were focused at the sky as his was before, but the look on her face said something different then what he had. Was it disgust? "I hate this sky," she said suddenly without warning, also confirming his theory of her emotion at that moment. He froze as her eyes down casted on him, as if she was deciding whether or not he was worthy of her eye site, let alone her time. "What do you think?"

Kim paled. Was she talking to him? He had to have an answer for her or he would look like an ideot. "I...I don't know." He said, gazing upward. "When I look at the sky, and see the other side of the colony, I feel like I'm flying." He then added with a small laugh. "But then I get a little dizzy. Guess I got a thing against heights." He laughed a little more, but abrutely stopped when he saw Aralia still looking at him.

Aralia stared at him, her mind running over his words, before she made a small smile and looked up again. "I guess your right. I get like that sometimes too. Funny," she said, turning back to him with that gentle smile, "how you never know someone till you actually talk to them. Or how alike you are too."

Kim could feel his face turning red. It burned even more as he watched her move over and take a seat next to him, her eyes gazing at the grass in front of him. What is she doing? he thought. She's never even glanced at me before, and now she's sitting with me and talking to me. "Um, Aralia." She looked to him as he spoke her name. Kim looked down at the path in front of them. "I don't...I don't want to sound rude but why are you sitting with me?"

His question bothered her. Why wouldn't she sit with a fellow classmate? But instead of becoming angry with his sudden question, she allowed him to explain. "I mean, I know you by word of mouth. Everyone talks about you because your the richest girl and perhaps the smartest. And I'm not exactly the best at anything, and deffinately not the smartest."

Aralia smiled. "So you want to know why I would be sitting with..." she paused in fake thought, "..lets see, what's the word? Oh yes, Looser." She giggled when she saw Kim's face contort in a tinge of pain from her word. "Don't worry, I don't think of you as such." Kim's face turned to her, confused but curious. "I just took notice of you being alone today. You're usually with that girl Yumiko, or is she usually with you? I can never tell. Why is it you're alone today?"

Kim looked away. "I failed my fourth exam today. They're going to call my father and inform him, then he'll call me and I'll never hear the end of it." His body leaned back with his face stared up at the sky with closed eyes. "I don't even know why I'm here."

Aralia blinked at this. "What do you mean?"

Kim sighed. "I'm probably the dumbest guy at this school. The only thing I'm good at is drawing sketches. My dad, however, thinks I'm some sort of genius just because he was." His attention was broken when he heard the girl beisde him stand up. He looked at her, thinking he had insulted her, or that she was bored and wanted to leave.

Aralia smiled at him, her hands behind her back. "You say you can sketch, right." He nodded. "Why not show me some of your art then, Kimbal."

Beneath the School

The soldiers entered carefully into the installation, nodding secretely to one another before seperating and heading to their designated areas. Groups of two broke off from the seperate groups and worked their way around, giving off a solute to a fellow officer or superior. One kept watch, while the other carefully placed the explosive charges. Two certain members approached the restricted area. Their false ranks giving them axcess, the two slipped by without question. The older with higher rank snorted in disgust. "So this is how the secruity is for these Earthers?" he sid queitly to his grunt. "No ID, just a simple glance at these stupid ranks and uniforms and we walk on through?"

"This may prove to be easier then expected then, sir," the grunt said, looking back to see if anyone was following.

The two reached the end and stood in the open room, staring at the massive metal being that stood silently in front of them with unactive eyes staring down to judge them worthy. The superior smiled at it. "This is impressive. I will give the Terrans credit, they sure do know how to make a Gundam. With this, we can begin our plans. As soon as the last charges are set, we will begin."

The two paused and gave a salute to the two high ranking officers that past. The older male couldn't help but follow the hips of the female captain with a predatory grin on his face.

Captain Alicia snarled, not one but both of those soldiers was watching her walk past. "Is there at least one soldier on this base able to restrain himself from staring at me?" She ignored Luna's small giggle. The two stepped into the conferance room, greeting the men behind the mobile suits and their weapon's construction.

Dorm Room 305

Kim led Aralia to his dorm room like she had asked and into his room where his art was kept. She stood at the doorframe and examiend his room as he went for his desk. His room wasn't very plane, but not too excentric. He had a bed, dresser, closet, and desk for a computer. Those were basics that came with the room. The bed was kept clean and neat, posters lined the wall leading from a band to a mobile suit poster. What caught her eye was the single Mobile Suit model that was hanging over his bed from the ceiling. Obviously he was a fan of the giant human shaped weapons. Her thoughts were interrupted when he returned from his desk with a sketch book. Taking it with a smile, she moved from the door, her shoes left at the entrance, and heading for the bed to sit down. Kim swallowed nerviously as she took her seat, her eyes looking to him and her hand patting the spot next to her. He nodded nerviously and did as such, taking his place next to her.

Aralia opened the book and was awed by the site of a girl standing on what was a beach, staring off in the distance at either the setting or rising sun. She wore a dress with her sandels in her hands. "This is very good, Kim," she complimented.

"I got the idea from a photo of my mom," Kim said. "She was about our age, I think, when the pitcture was taken so I used it to help me draw this scene."

"The girl looks beautiful. Is she supposed to be your mother?"

Kim's face contorted painfully and looked away. "N...no. Just someone I made up."

Aralia noticed his pained expression and turned the page. She had hit a soft spot and needed to get away from the subject. What was on the next page caught her eyes with great intreguement. "Are these designs of some sort?" she asked, glancing at what might have been schimatics of a weapon.

Kim blinked and looked at the sctech. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Yea. It was an idea that just popped up one day and decided to draw it down. Its suppose to be a compact shield generator, but the idea is a little flawed and the power needed to use it, well, you wouldn't be able to find it in a electronics store." He looked to Aralia who smiled warmly at him. "Wh...what?"

"See, you are smarter then you look. As for me, I designed the bio-computer theory that they are currently testing."

Kim's eyes widened in suprise. "I've heard of that! You did that?" he watched her nod. "That's ammazing. Does it really allow a person to link to a machine for better control, almost like bringing it to life?"

"Correct, but like you said, it was flawed to start off with. But I got a deal from a developer that said he wanted to buy my idea. Doing so got me here."

"That's ammazing."

Aralia turned the page and blushed at the image before her. Kim looked and he too turned red. The image of course, was not a beautiful scene on the beach or schimatics for a machine. It viewed a girl lying on her bed, arm drapped across her bare chest and the bed sheet barrely covering her lower half. Needless to say, Aralia turned the page to find a more appropriate image. Her blush faded as she took in the site of a Mobile Suit. "Is this one of the Mars Mobile Suits?" Kim frowned, thinking this could go bad. He looked down at the image of a Martian Mobile Suit from the war that was called a Gundam. It was larger then the normal Mobile Suit, but as Gundam's go, not too big. It's forehead sportted a tripple pointed crest with a set of head-vulcans on either side. The chest protruded forward with what looked to be two clear gems on either side, stretching from the center of the chest and around to the sides. The legs were humanoid in shape with what would have been muscle design. The feet were standard with a split in the center, making it almost talloned shaped. The arms looked strong enough to lift the heaviest of mobile suits weapons, but their size also made that hard to believe. The shoulder were a odd triangle shaped and pointed, with large six funnel shaped wings on its back. "Well?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Yea...it is," he said hesitating. "I drew other's as well similar, but that one I made differently."

Aralia frowned and looked back at the image, while memories of her childhood and a brief part of the war caught her mind. "Why draw such a machine? Its the symbol of Mars."

"Not really," Kim said. "The Gundam isn't a symbol of Mars, its a machine. People are symbols, not the weapon."

"You say it like its nothing," Aralia said with a tint of venom.

"Machines weren't the one's pulling triggers in that war. People did. I should know."

The girl glanced at Kim from the corner of her eye, wondering what he meant when he said that. She was about to ask, but the room shook horrificly, causing her to drop the sketch book. Kim braced himself on the bed till the shaking stopped. He reached down for the book but fell when another quake hit his room. Aralia kept her cool, simply standing up and turning to the window overlooking the campus. She watched as people were getting up from their own falls, some just standing around looking look fools till someone pointed into the direction of the main science facility. Aralia looked and was shocked to see it was smoking from the roof. "An explosion?"

Kim stood up with his book in hand and looked beside her, seeing the smoke and flames for himself. "There must have been an accident." Another explosion shook the room, and it was much closer. His model fell from the ceiling and landed on the bed, but he paid no mind to it. Dust and small bits of his ceiling seemed to fall from the second explosion that followed, this one even closer then before. "What the hell is going on?" He looked to Aralia. He was surprised to see he had taken her into his arms during the first explosion. She didn't seem effected by the embrace but Kim blushed and immediately released her. "Sorry."

"Quickly, we need to get out of here. Something doesn't seem right about the situation." Taking Kim's hand, the girl rushed out of the room with Kim in tow.

Beneath the School

Alicia and Luna coughed and gasped, trying hard not to breath in the smoke. Alicia looked up to see the other members of the confrence were dead. One scientist however struggled to get up, his leg cut open from a piece of debree. He looked up to see the two women were alright and limped towards them, leaning against the cracked wall. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Alicia said. "Who would know about this facility?" she said looking to Luna.

"It doesn't matter now, we need to get out of here," Luna said, taking the scientist's arm around her shoulders. "We need to get out of here now."

Kim's Friends

Collin took hold of the wheele once he saw the smoke and the explosion. He forced the car to a stop and looked up at the smoking research facility and school building. "No way!"

Lee, Koname, and Yumiko all stared in horror as the place they called home for a year was now in smoke. But for Yumiko, one thought came to mind. She was the first out of the car and running through the crowd that stood staring at the building. Lee seeing her take off went after her. Koname and Collin chased after the two, calling for Yumiko to stop running. As they ran, Lee spotted some soldiers running towards the building and turned in their direction. He sood in front of the gorup, catching his breath. "Hey you guys huff . Mind telling me huff what's going on?"

The soldier's stopped and looked at the boy, before looking to a list on a LED pad. He looked to the other and said, "He's one of them."

Before Lee knew what was happening, he felt a blow to the back of his head and everything slowly faded to darkness. A soldier caught him and threw him over his shoulder. He took off for a parked van that they took for their needs. Collin had stopped to see what was going on but when he saw Lee get hit, he didn't know what to do till one of the soldier's looked at him and pointed. Seeing them run for him, he turned and chased for the girls who were already reaching the building.

As Yumiko reached the door, Koname grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "What the hell are you doing, Yumiko?"

"Kim!" she said while trying to catch her breath. "Kim's here somewhere!"

"I'm sure he's out of here already, Yumiko. Come on, we need to get to safety before the fire gets worse." She pulled on her shoulder to follow but the girl remained.

"You can go if you want but I have to make sure he's okay."

"Yumiko! Koname!" The two girls turned to see Collin running towards them, some soldiers right behind him. "Girls, run!" But unknown to Collin, one of the soldier's weapons was a stun gun. When the shot was fired, he hit the ground like a rock, shaking with the volts of energy passing through him till he was caught. The two girls screamed and turned to run inside only to run right into Aralia and Kim.

Yumiko, upon seeing Kim, threw her arms around him. "Kim!"

Surprised by his friend's action, Kim sat silently looking at the sobbing girl. Koname was the first to stand and say, "We need to run, now!"

Yumiko pulled back and took Kim's arm and dragged him to his feet while Koname took Aaralia. The four ran through the building, passing other students and teachers while the soldier's were just behind them. Aralia was the first to ask what was going on and Koname was the first to explain. Kim snarled when he heard his buddies were taken, but knew he wouldn't stand a chance against soldiers. But why were they taken in the first place? What's going on with the explosions? He had too many questions and there was no one to answer them.

Outside the Colony

Emerald watched the news broadcast as it began to anounce the explosions at the school's main facilities. Turning the image off, she powered up her systems and moved her mobile suit from the wall. "Okay everyone, its time. Squad two will secure our route of escape to the Takanami while Squad one and Squad three will assist our men escape with the cargo. Move out!"

The transport ship unlocked from the wall with its squad posistioning themselves to protect it. Emerald's team moved along the surface to the large entrance hatch designed for mobile suits. A Wairth moved in front, popping the hatch and dove inside with the others following behind. Emerald was the last, closing the hatch behind her. Once they cleared the inner working's of the colony wall, they emerged inside and quickly moved towards the school and other facilities that they had marked. Emerald knew once they were seen inside the colony, it wouldn't have been long before the Earth mobile suits would enter the action. One of her men was greeted by solid rounds as it's main body was blown to peaces. The Sithian turned its feminine head to look at the approaching Earth suits. More humanoid like, they had mere jetpacks and single visor camera ports. Mounted on the hips was the close range thermal-powered saber. They each carried their own shield with Earth insignia and a 120 mm machine gun.

Emerald's suit could take the hits unlike her men's mobile suits. She charged in low, weapons out to the side as she closed the distance between herself and the Jag mobile suits. One unlucky Jag stood its ground while firing on the approaching Gundam. Its head was removed before she brought the second scythe across the cockpit, killing the pilot and destroying the suit.

Outside the colony, Brian drew his anti-ship long sword and brought it crashing down on two suits that were unfortunate enough to be caught in the blade's path. Switching the sword out for the long range riffle, he took aim and fired a large crimson beam that was surrounded by a blue aura. The beam ripped through several mobile suits in one shot. As he spotted more approaching, his missile pods opened fire from over the shoulder. The pods opened up and launched several smaller missiles, completely destroying the approaching targets. His smile faded when his alarm caught his attention. The Jester Gundam dodged the green energy blast that ripped straight through the Jag mobiles suits it had hit, along with burning a hole into the colony wall. Brian frowned at Ruby, who sat grinning in his suit. Brian knew he did that on purpose, and decided he would one day pay Ruby back.

Ruby turned his energy weapon to the side and fire another blast a transport ship full of Jags. As an unsuspecting Jag moved closer from the side, Ruby's Messiah drew its over the shoulder saber and sliced the mech down the center. The pilot inside didn't have the chance to scream. Ruby burst away just as it exploded, grinning all the while.

Down in the Tunnel

Luna was wreckless behind the wheele, but made it look very easy avoiding the fallen pieces of ceiling and wall till the path was clear from the affect of the explosions. The scientist that was with them gripped for dear life while Alicia was busy trying to contact the outside, but getting no signal. "Damn it!" she said, smashing the radio down. "They must be jamming out transmissions." She sat striaght in the front seat, glancing over at Luna. "We'll need to get to the surface."

Luna swerved to the right to get around another vehicle that was unfortunately crushed beneath a large chunk of ceiling. "I'll do my best, ma'am," was her only responce.

Back with Kim

Kim could feel his legs burning out and the girl's weren't looking any better. They had managed to loose the soldiers chasing them, but for how long they weren't sure. Spotting an open door, he lead the girls in and slammed it shut behind him. Taking a breather, he turned to the girls who had all collapsed onto the steps they stood on. Kim placed himself in front of the door, locking it behind him as he sat on the floor. He looked up as his ears caught the sound of mobile suits from outside. "Sounds like a battle outside," he commented, turning to look at the girls. Yumiko was beginning to fall apart, crying against Koname who seemed surprisingly calm, but even in the dim light of the stair way, Kim could see her eyes were full of fear. But when he tuned to Aralia, she was seriously calm and looking away and down the stairs. "Wait a second, where do these stairs go?"

"I was wondering the same," Aralia said calmly. The space around them rumbled with the battle above. "If I'm right, this is suppose to be the janitors closet on the East Wing. "

"It's usualy locked," Kim stated, looking down past the gray-haired girl.

"But why are there stairs leading down below the school?"

"Does it matter?" Koname asked, standing up with Yumiko in her arms. "Its probably safer down there then it is up here." She began to lead Yumiko down the steps but Aralia stood in the way. "What are you doing?"

"We need to remain calm," she said. "We can't just rush down there. The place could fall down on us, or trap us down there. We don't even know what is down there to begin with."

Kim moved alongside the two girls. "Listen, Aralia. I understand, but you saw those guys grab Collin. Something's not right and they were after us as soon as they saw us. We need to hide before they head for that door."

Aralia looked into his eyes and could see he was only looking out for their safety. "Very well. We must go then before something else happens."

With Kim at the rear, Yumiko and Koname in the center and Aralia taking the lead, the four of them treked down the steps, spotting the light at the end. Once they were out of the stairs, they each took in the site of a large open room that seemed to be design to hold a mobile suit. The room was empty though, but seemed to have been prept to house a mobile suit at some point in the future. Looking around, Kim spotted another door on the other side and lead the charge with the girls quickly moving behind. As they were running, Yumiko noticed Kim still carried his sketch book in his hand. She blinked and looked over to Aralia, then back to Kim as they approached the door. Wait, what was she doing with Kim?

Kim put his hand to the scanning pad, and groaned when the door wouldn't open. "It's not working." Aralia moved over to the pad. Kim stepped aside as she opened a small hatch on the side and began to type away on the keypad. "What are you doing?"

Aralia glanced over to him then back to the pad as she continued to type away. "I'm trying to hack into the door so we can get it open."

Kim blinked. "You can do that?"

"I'm not just all looks, you know," she said, giving him a smile. As her fingers danced across the pad, a green light popped on the pannel and the door slid open. "There."

Aralia moved into the next room first followed by Koname. Kim was about to move forward when he noticed Yumiko wasn't moving. He turned to her, seeing her looking off somewhere distant. "Hey, Yumiko. Are you okay?"

Yumiko shook her head and looked up to Kim. Their eyes locked, and she could see he was worried. She shook her head and gave a reashuring smile. "I'm fine. We need to get going."

Kim watched her walk past him and join the other girls. As he followed behind them, he could help but wonder what was up with Yumiko. It must be the shock settling down now, he thought. He looked back seeing the door close with a hiss. I can't blame her. This whole thing is just crazy.

The girl's were further up ahead by the time he reached the next door. Another explosion rocked the ceiling above. He looked up in time see large pieces of the ceiling and metal come falling down. Yumiko looked back in time to see the ceiling come crashing down, seperating her from Kim. She ran over, trying to look through the debree, but couldn't see anything. "Kim!" She Koname and Aralia moved over, attepting to pull the fallen ceiling away, but the debree was too big to move by themselves.

Kim, on the other side, was now waking up and finding his path cut off from the girls. "Yumiko!" he shouted. He leaned over the debree, hoping to hear her voice, but there was nothing but the rumbling of the battle above.

"Kim!" Yumiko continued to shout. She pulled with everything she had but the debree still wouldn't move. Tired and falling into the shock of perhaps loosing her friend, she fell to her knees. Her eyes began to swell with tears, fearing the worse for the boy. "Kim..."

Koname kneeled down next to the crying girl. "Listen, I'm sure he's okay. Look, we'll try and find a way around to get to him, promise."

"I don't think we will," Aralia said, putting her hands in the air.

Koname and Yumiko looked at her, then looked down the hall to see three soldiers, two of them with their SMGs aimed right at them while the other was looking at a glowing pad. He nodded his head and the other two approached.

Kim looked all around, finding no way of joining the others. The only paths left open for him was the one he came from, and the one leading off to his left. With no other choice, he picked up his sketch book and turned to the path on his left. The hall was barely lit, and the lights flickered with each explosion that rung over head. It was like walking around your home during a thunder storm. Other doors were blocked by debree or locked. He had no other choice but to continue down the hall to the next room. He stepped into the open room. Another hanger, just like the one before, but unlike the one before, this one held something massive in it. Kim Hajime stared up at the site before him, oblivious to the thunderious noise of gun fire and explosions. His jaw dropped as he finally realized as to what he was staring at. His sketch book fell from his hand, ironically falling open to the page of a machine that looked like one of Mars' Gundam Mobile Suits; one he made up of his own design, and was now staring up at...

To Be Continued...

Episode 02: The Escape/ The Chase

Climbing into the seat of the Gundam, Kim makes his way out into the battle field in hopes of finding his friends, and instead finds himself in the midst of battle between the Earth and Mars. The battle is fierce and as the Mars troopers begin to make their escape, Kim gives chase with the Earth force's ship, the Fly Leaf, following quickly behind. Who will win in this game of cat and mouse? Find out next time, on Neo Mobile Suit Gundam.