New Mobile Report OMLAN issue Gundam

by Jinpachi

One hundred and Fifty four years after Gundam Wing, the world is yet again in another dangerous predicament. Six young pilots must again take up arms to fight for their planet.

1. Default Chapter Title

New Mobile Report

OMLAN Issue Gundam

In the year 349 after colony, the militaristic OMLAN foundation has in essence taken over the continents of Earth. As they quest for complete world and space control, Gundam Development facilities process the raw material known as Gundanium into useable metal for the construction of Mobile suits. The purpose of these so called "Gundams" has been reserved for those specified pilots and the hgh officials of the foundation themselves. Not even the scientists or developers of these doomsday weapons know their intended purpose.

Chapter 1

The awakening Gods

Omaha, Nebraska

"I feel a sneeze comming on."

Lucian Dysvek rubbed his nose, the discomfort building as the dust welled up in his nostrils. Slowly, yet surely the sneeze built up upon itself, until it released itself in a violent lash of snot laden air forced from his mouth and nostrils. As he recovered, he wiped the remaining snot from underneath his nose with the handkerchief from his back pocket. "Hey Doc, whatdaya think? White to red or White to yellow?" He alternated the .3' white couplet between the red and yellow circuit.

"White to yellow, Lucian. The propulsion systems will never work the other way around," Doc Windstrom shouted as he glared against the bright lights to the platform the 14 year old was perched on, 24 feet off the ground. "Watch out when you connect it, the wire may spit at you."

"Spit at me? What is it? Some sort of camel?" Lucian called back, smiling slightly as he carefully connected the wire to the circuit. Suddenly, a large shower of sparks poured from the connection, He nearly jumping off the platform in surprise, only to hear the other seasoned veterans cracking up. "THAT THING TRIED TO KILL ME!?!" He screamed, as even more of the electricians and systems specialists realized what had happened and joined in the laughter. Even Doc Windstrom was chuckling. "You could have TOLD me it'd try and burn my hair off! Spit my ass. . .more like fry."

"Now, now my boy. . .Try the blue to red," Doc Windstrom smiled, rubbing his hands together almost deviously.

"Is it going to do something this time?" Lucian smirked, rather cautiously picking up the .5' blue power couplet. "Or is it going to be nice and let me put in the cockpit power supply?"

"Nothing should happen, just do it."

"Fine, fine. It's your funeral," Carefully he plugged in the couplet into the extension slot and waited. A faint hum reverbrated from the connection, the lights began to turn on one by one inside the mechanism. "Wait," Lucian said, after a moment of realization."That would have been MY funeral!"

"Yes, yes, my little apprentice," Doc Windstrom said under his breath, a rather sinister look playing across his face. "I have high plans for you. Not just working on the greatest Mobile suit design since the early wars, but even greater. There was a lot to learn from the early scientists, yes. . ." A wrench then broke his self-informance, bounced off of his shiny, bald head with a thud.

"OOPS!" Lucian called from his lofty position. "Sorry Doc! It kinda slipped."

"Lucian! YOU. . .YOU. . ." Doc Windstrom shook his fists angrily. "GET in the cockpit, you stupid little destructive brat!"

"What ya want me to do? Test out the guidance system?" Lucian asked, carefully edging himself along the narrow boards towards the opening to the cockpit. "I don't know if I'm the best person for it, Doc. I might break your little baby."

"JUST get the hell in there!!!" Doc screamed. He turned his back and began to walk towards the control center at the opposite end of the hangar. As he stormed away, Doc Windstrom mumbled obscenities, rubbing the knot forming on the top of his head. About one hundred steps brought him to the hangar control center, where several OMLAN Security guards manned the cameras and other equiptment. "Collapse the walls." Several of the guards nodded, then went to work at the displays.

After taking his time getting to the open cockpit, Lucian took one look down over the edge. Falling down was something he didn't want to do. Below the platform, almost exactly, the legs of the Mobile suit stuck out, looking much like the boots of a goliath fighter. The left hand held the blunt ended 23 foot long pole, that when swung, protruded a variable neo-thermal(cold instead of hot) blade while the right hung free, the projectile shield, the Dragonbayne attached to the wrist, able to spread itself to cover up to 75% of the Mobile suits body and also to be flung at an attacker, the razor sharp edge reinforced with both diamond and Gundainium alloy. The sleek, violet blue, white, and black armor shone as the lights within the hangar, almost showing nothing of the construction and effort it took to shape the Gundainium. Although he could not see them, the dragonesque wings were neatly folded behind the shoulders, to be unfurled during flight. The position he stood at didn't allow much of a view of the head of the Mobile suit, but the golden double V stuck out from just above the mid forehead, the helmet covering the "Head" appearing much like a blocky head of a dragon, the top lip hanging out over the eyes, the V reminiscent of horns, and fanned sensors to detect incoming aircraft and messages appeared much like the feathered ears, right now folded in the "Rest" position that could be spread manually to allow further reception. The ultimate in Tactical/Stealth/Defense, the XX0TF-03, the third current model of these "Gundams" stood majestically, capable of liquid, air, and vacuum battle over 150 feet in height.

After the look around, Lucian sat down in the piloets seat, pulling the helmet over his head. Automatically the airseal door shut with a hiss of air. As Lucian switched on the systems, the walls of the Facility broke down, one by one, falling beneath the ground so that the concrete surface of the hangar became a small platform. The night had enshrouded the plains of flowing grass in the Omaha Gundam Development Facility. Ten miles by ten miles of nothing but plains lay in every single direction.

"Hey Doc." Lucian said, switching the communications systems for short range. He tried vainly to blow a bothersome chunk of ruddy red hair out of his eyes. "What's with this helmet? It's crushing my hair. From what I see it's not even needed."

"When you're the full time pilot and you know how to control this thing, ONLY then you can think about taking it off. What would the use of this whole thing be if you were to kill yourself by not wearing that 'Useless' helmet?" Doc Windstrom replied. "Now. I'm going to have you preform some relatively simple maneuvers, Lucian. First, unfold the wings and Turn on the Neo-thermal Lance." Within two seconds, the light blue jet from the lance flared out ten feet, the wings streamed out section by section until they both stood, fully unfurled in the wind.

"That was too easy! Give me a challenge!" Lucian chuckled, gripping the dual flight sticks. The Gundam had adopted a menacing lower stance, legs bent, head lowered, Lance held in both hands(which appeared more like sharp mishappened clawed paws then hands, while the wings fluttered back and forth rather unforgivingly. "Hey Doc, before ya give me anything else to do, what'd you call this monstrocity?"

Doc Windstrom thought for a minute before replying "It's called the Icelance"

"That's so weak," Lucian mumbled. "I woulda called it something different, like Dragoneer, Gargoyle, or something really screwy like Goofy-sumo-wrestling-robot-that-steps-on-small-japanese-cities"

"It stays as is, boy," Doc sneered, his displeasure obvious through the tone of his voice. "The next thing I want you to do is set the communications level to full and identify the farthest distance it can reach at the clearest reception."

"I'm right on it boss," Lucian smiled. "Though I still think the name sucks."

* * *

Kyoto, Japan

"Crack". The loud bone crunching sound drew Garou's attention back to the fight. Of course he didn't see it as that much of a fight. A new tough transfer student arrived last week and made it his business to generally make Garou's life hell. So this time around when he took the first hit, he thought it better to just lie their and curl up, hoping Kazami would finish soon. He was surprised to say the least when the beating stopped. "Humph". Kazami landed right in front of Garou, his face smeared in blood and his eyes glazed in anger.

"Get up!" said a voice from above Garou. He immediately recognized it.

"Eji?!" said Garou as he glanced up to the voice of his friend.

There stood Eji, his long blonde hair a bright contrast to his school uniform, not to mention the veritable sea of Asian faces around them. Kazami spat as he stood up and swore in a northern Dialect. His spit mingled with the blood as it hit the ground making it seem like a scarlet tear. Kazami smiled a blood smeared smile.

"I hardly think my mothers affairs are any concern of yours." Replied Eji stepping between the bully and Garou.

"I'm sorry to have upset you long haired fagot" replied Kazami. "Don't like me beating up on your girlfriend?!" added Kazami as he sneered at Garou.

Eji stood unblinking letting his rage boil just below the surface. Garou jumped up and cursed at Kazami.

"Fuck You Kazami!!" shouted Garou as he stood behind Eji. Garou held his wrist and glared across at Kazami. Eji glared back and let his hands drop. Eji walked away with Garou behind him. The people parted from them and Eji walked through the crowd, his hair blowing quietly across his face. Garou stalked behind Eji and ignored the taunts and stares.

Kazami watched the two leave and then laughed. He looked around and then walked off himself still laughing, as the crowd slowly dispersed like an insubstantial fog.

* * *

Eji blankly stared at Garou. His friend nodded his head in affirmation.

"He said what ?" asked Eji. He walked around the garden table and turned his back to his friend.

"He invited you, us, to his party. I know it's hard to believe but he told me personally." Said Garou shaking his head as if to assure himself of that fact.

Eji thought for a moment, then briskly turned back around. "Tell him I won't be there then. I'm not getting involved in his affairs." Said Eji as he turned around to walk farther into the gardens.

Garou face faulted. He turned back and walked behind Eji. "What the hell. You'd just leave me on the spot like that !" said Garou mildly angry. He stood behind Eji and covered his chest with his crossed arms. "Come on Kazami is different now. He's not the complete ass he was before." Added Garou as Eji turned to face his friend.

"I suppose he's a perfect gentleman now." Eji said sarcastically.

"Oh, ha ha. Seriously though Eji , it will be THE celebration of the year." Garou said as he shook his arms in the air, as if praising some God. "And we've been invited !" added Garou with a slight arm flourish. Eji let out a small laugh.

"That is exactly why I don't want to go." Eji said as he walked away from his friend.

Garou grumbled then left without another word. Eji turned back and was not surprised to find a small white invitation on the table. Eji eyed the card then promptly placed it in his pocket. Turning he headed into the house.

"I wonder what Kazami is up to…" thought Eji as he walked up the stairs of the back porch balcony. Eji's thoughts wandered back to the past couple weeks as he climbed the stairs to his room. Kazami was a constant thorn in his side since the first moment he met him. He was a Kendo champion at his old school and tried to assert his superiority in Kendo class with Eji. The lesson of humility Eji taught him that day was not well received. Since then he attacked him subtlety throughout the school. His labs were tampered with, and Phys Ed class became increasingly physical around Kazami. He even went so far as to trash Eji's locker. Eji let this all slide however, his grades had already slipped and he didn't care much for any more negative class performances. Yet the harassment suddenly stopped last week. Kazami was far from being kind yet he was no longer the annoyance he once was.

"And now this." Eji said aloud as he opened the door to his room. The room looked like any other guest room in the mansion. You could barely discern that any certain person lived here. Except three items. Next to the bed stand stood Eji's kendo practice swords, his ring sat on the bed stand right next to an ancient looking picture frame. Inside was an old picture, the edges frayed by fire of some sort and the picture holding a yellowish tint to it. The picture itself was of a beautiful woman holding a small child with the father behind her in a hug.

Eji pulled out the invitation and looked at it. He glanced out the window to the setting sun on the horizon. He let out a slight sigh and grabbed the ring of the table. Putting it on he grabbed the invitation and headed downstairs. A couple minutes later the ancient picture frame watched out the bay window as Eji sped off the estate on his motorcycle.

* * *

Colony 12

Dacota's eyes slowly closed. Instantly they snapped back open with renewed energy in them. o0(I can't fall asleep now. Not now.) Quickly, he focussed all of his will into what he was doing. His tools moved swifty across the wiring panel, small sparks coming off of the wires as he connected and reconnected wires. His eyes were glazy with lack of sleep.

"Dacota." It was her. He could tell, even from this far away, and even though it was only a whisper, that it was her voice. He knew it that well.

"Nadia." He said her name under his breath. He unhooked his harness, and began dropping quickly. A seventy-foot drop later, he landed on a small building platform. Jumping off the edge, he travled another seventy feet to another. Yet one more seventy foot drop, and he landed on one knee on the metal floor by the foot of his Gundam.

"Thats the third time you've come down like that today. That has to hurt." Her smile was warm, although seemingly full of worry.

"It's starting to tingle." He managed a half smile which disappeared as fast as it came. "Is there something you need, Nadia?"

"I'm starting to worry for you. You've been working on this thing for four days straight now, with no sleep. You can't handle that." Nadia reached behind her to a back-pack and pulled out a small brown sack. "And you haven't eaten either. Here, take this." She handed the bag full with a cold lunch to him. "Why don't you take a break from this, huh? Come with me. I'll clean you up, let you have a few hours sleep and then we'll have a short language lesson. We havn't had one since you started this....don't you remember how much you enjoyed them?"

Dacota sighed and lowered his head. Nadia was his language instructor. Well, his language instructor for the past four years. Up untill then, Nadia's mother had been his instructor.

Nadia had been schooled in language since she was a very small child, and she had taken to it very quickly. She had mastered almost all human languages by age 12, which was about the same time her mother had fallen ill. She took over her mothers duties as Dacota's language instructor when she died, and has been so ever since.

"I can't stop now. Not when I'm so close." Dacota turned back to his mecha, determined to finish it before the night was over. As he reached the rope ladder on the leg of his Gundam, a wave of weakness shot through him. His head went light, and he nearly blacked out. He turned back to Nadia. "Maybe....maybe I do need a rest."

It didn't take long for him to devour several large plates of food, and then fall fast asleep on Nadia's bed.

o0(He doesn't even realize that he's killing himself.) She almost laughed. o0(His whole life has been here. With me, and my mother. He's never been so fanatical about anything as he is about this Gundam thing. Why?) She pondered the situation for a few moments more before falling asleep in the small chair next to the sleeping Dacota.

~6:30 a.m.~

Dacota's eyes snapped open the second the alarm went off. "WHAT TIME IS IT!?" He jumped at the clock and nearly ripped it off the wall. "Six thirty!? DAMN!" He dashed at the door, but his way was blocked by Nadia.

"Where are you going so early in the morning?" She knew, but asked anyway.

"Do you realize that I slept ALL NIGHT LONG? I'm almost eight hours behind now!" He pushed by her and stepped into the hall.

"WAIT! ...I want to ask you something..." She had a troubled look in her eye.

Dacota turned around and stopped. He hesitated for a moment. He nodded, as he walked slowly back down the hall to where she stood. He knew what question was coming.

"Why are you obsessed with this mobile suit?" She looked confused and upset.

"Nadia. I remember when I was little. Your mother would read me stories. Of far away places, where kings ruled and heros sought out evil. I remember one story the most...

*....she looked at her lover with tears in her eyes. "If you leave, you'll find your death. I know you will."

He shook his head no. "When I leave, I will find myself. In battle, I will find myself. I will find the being inside me that cries to be heard, but can never quite seem to find its way to the front of my mind. He erges me to destroy my enemy, and promises me that killing is not wrong when the ones you kill are evil. The dreams will become reality, and all falsehoods will be gone. I'll know myself then. I'll know what blackness lies in the depths of my heart, and I will find the will to conquer it. And when I find myself, I will return to you. And we will be happy."*

....Nadia. The Devils Cause will show me who I am. I will find myself. Through it, I will learn my past. I will find out my deepest fears, and learn to conquer them. I will know my reason for being. I've always had this empty space...where something is missing. I know the Devils Cause will show me my future and why I am here. And...I may even become a hero. And when I find myself, I will come back. I promise." He began walking towards the Level 3 hangar.

"WAIT!" She grabbed his arm and spun him around. Looking deep into his eyes, she held back tears. "Tell me....how did the story end?"

He looked towards the ground. "He....he was killed. He never returned." He tore away from her grip then, and moved quickly to the Level 3 hangar.

Nadia cried.....

Howard sat looking over a computer read-out. o0(Hmmm....interesting. It looks like the modifications that Dacota did to the engines increased performance by 23%....Doc J will never beleive that.) He continued looking at the papers, intrigued at what he found. Dacota approached him quietly.

"It's finished." The young mans voice came. Howard turned around to look at the grease covered youth.

"Finished?" Howard blinked. "How? It's only been a week..."

"It's finished." Dacota repeated. "Ready for land, air, or space (AUTHORS NOTE: the Devils Cause isn't water freindly...it probably wont be untill it's dunked in water and Dacota finds out it doesn't handle well ^_^;). And I'd like to thank you for helping me modify the engines to my specifications. I saw that they could be made to run cooler on less power, and produce more speed."

"No problem." Howard smiled. "Doc J said I couldn't help you BUILD the gundam...he never said I couldn't help you UPGRADE the gundam. And besides...he told me, and I quote, ' The Devils Cause is the fasted moble suit EVER...the engines were designed for speed never seen before in any mobile suit.' When I tell him that you were able to redesign his best engines, and make them 23% better, I can only picture how far his jaw will drop. Your simply amazing kid..."

Dacota smiled. He trusted Howard. Perhaps, he trusted howard more than anyone else he knew. Howard had tought him everything he knew about technology and especially mobile suits.

"Lets have a look at it..." Howard said with excitement. He quickly hurried to the Level 3 hangar. It would be his first look at the completed Gundam, and he could only imagine how spectactular it would be.

The smooth polished gundanium armor covered every inch of the massive behemoth...it's blood red and black paint making it's dark visage even darker. The engines stood out right away as the first thing Howard noticed. They were huge...so big that they almost looked like gigantic metal wings, mounted on the back of the gundam. Following the right arm up from the wrist, a massive blade....extending even taller than the head of the gundam.... protruded from the elbow. The left arm looked just as impressive, it's huge triple claw (two on top like fingers with a third on bottom like a thumb) replaced what would have been the left hand. The left arms' claw had another feature hiden to the eye...an extender. On the command of the pilots controll, the left arms claw would shoot out...extending well farther than the entire length of the gundam to tear through armor or to grip a far away adversary and pull him in closer. The Sheild Generator could be seen mounted on the outside of the left arm, a small round object in the middle of the forearm capable of creating an energy sheild that could offer 10% coverage of the gundam, used just like any other standard sheild. Half of the energy swords' handle poked out from its mount on the left shoulder, easily in reach of the right hand. One last thing caught Howards eye....the head. It's face looked like something out of Transformers, a large metal wedge in the middle of the face replacing what should be a nose and mouth and one single red eye spanned across the face. But what really stood out about the head, was the helmet...it appeared as normal as could be....except for the large devils horns curving off of it, the base of each horn covering almost the whole side of the gundams head and then extending upward to fine points which almost met above the head.

Howards eyes looked almost as if he was afraid. "It....it looks evil."

"It's a weapon of destruction...it's not supposed to look like a Furby." Dacota joked. Howard was the only one that Dacota ever joked with...maybe he was only comfortable around him.

"True...." Howard pondered a minute. "One thing bothers me...there are no projectile weapons. No guns, no cannons, no missles of any kind."

Dacota nodded. "The Devils Cause is built for my abilties...and I show extrordinary reflex's and reaction time. It was built primarily for speed, utilizing my unique abilties and aptitude for speed. In short, it was made for close range battle, won with speed not firepower."

Howared grinned. "Yeah....this thing looks pretty deadly to me. But, you wont be able to fight all your battles close range. I realize that you'll be able to avoid attacks with your speed, but you'll need to fight back...and if you can't get within your weapons range, you can kiss your ass goodbye."

The youth thougth for a moment, and then nodded in agreement.

Howard smiled. "For now, don't worry about it. But I'll be working on a long range cannon for the Devils Cause...I'll let you know when it's finished. Maybe we can side-mount it or something...."

"Thanks..." Dacota turned away and started to move towards the mess hall.

"No thanks nessecary." Howard looked the gundam over again, top to bottom. Howard pondered the name of the gundam...Devils Cause... o0(Certainly looks like the devil to me....). At that moment, a cold chill ran down his spine. He recovered and turned back to Dacota. "Is there anything else about this gundam that can't be seen from the outside?"

"Well..." The youth thought for a moment. "That massive blade on the right arm, and the claw on the left, both do what Dr. J calls an "Ion Charge" ...at least I think thats what he calls it in his notes. The outside charges with energy to make them kind of like energy swords...only with a solid center. You've have to see it in action to understand. Oh, and there's the D.S.C.S."

"D.S.C.S.?" Howard raised one eyebrow.

"The Demon Shadow Cloaking System." The boy looked back to his war machine. "The D.S.C.S is probably the most complex thing about the Devils Cause. Even I don't understand how it works.... all I know, is that it was designed by Dr. J. The D.S.C.S. is capable of cloaking the Devils Cause...making it nearly invisible at times. It enables the gundam to blend in against any background to hide...or ambush an enemy, and at night it would be impossible to pick the Devils Cause out against the blackness with the D.S.C.S. engaged."

"Well, no one ever said Doc J was stupid..." Howard laughed and slapped Dacota on his back. "By the way...we had orders to move the completed Gundam onto the Peacemillion (sp?). It will become the 'homebase' for the Devils Cause, and you can come back any time for upgrades or repairs."

Dacota nodded, and turned to head to the mess hall. He hadn't eaten in three days, not since Nadia had fed him. "Now that the Devils Cause is mine, all I need now is to find out what I'm supposed to use it for."

"Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough." Howard winked and walked away, back to the main engineering office.

The engines were louder than Dacota had expected. Their roar increased gradually as he eased the throttle up, giving the enormous engines just enough power to lift the Gundams feet a few inches above the floor. He slowly moved the machine across the floor towards the airlock. He entered the airlock, and gave Howard the sign to close it behind him. As the large metal doors behind him closed, the airlock doors in front of him slowly opened to the blackness of space.

"Now take it easy." Howard spoke through the com system, looking a little worried. "It's your first time, and we don't want you killing yourself...those engines can create a lot of G's."

Dacota grinned. The engines quickly ignited into a giant blue after-burner trail as the Devils Cause exploded away from the Peacemillion.

"...figures..." Howard mumbled. He scrambled to the monitoring equipment, and was annoyed to see that the radar couldn't even get a fix on the Devils Cause. "...it's too fast...figures..." The Devils Cause came to a sudden halt right infront of Howards veiw-screen. "Enjoying the ride?" He sneered sarcastically.

The youth was breathing hard, and seemed a bit pale.

"Are you...ok..?" Howard asked, unsure of exactly what was wrong.

"It challenges me...my abilties to react and respond..." Dacota took a deep breath. "It dares me to outdo it. It calls for me to prove that I'm it's master...."

"Hmmm...I wonder if he can handle it...." Howard said to himself, looking at his read-outs. Dacota's heartbeat seemed slightly faster than normal, but nothing to worry about. "What do you want to do next?"

"Send out the mobile suits." Dacota's wide vacant eyes weren't even looking at Howard as he said it...he seemed to be staring at nothing.

Howard looked pleased. o0(He's ready to test the weapons systems already...amazing..). "Ok kid...but remember, NO DESTROYING THEM. We only have four of them...and they aren't heavily armed, and it wouldn't be good if you killed the pilots either." Howard gave a hand sign to a crew member down in the airlock, and four mobile suits resembling Leo suits moved to the airlock. As it opened, the four suits (armed with standard energy cannons) moved into space. Dacota was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did that kid go....?" Howard looked puzzeled.

Moving at speeds unclockable, the Devils Cause streaked through space. He was a good ways away from Peacemillion, getting a feel for the controls...doing various manuvuers to better his handling of the emmense speed. He could see the Peacemillion out of the corner of his eye, and watched the four mobile suits leave the craft. He flew towards them, closing the distance in seemingly no time, and stopped infront of them.

Pilot1 (no need to make up names for these guys ^_^;): "Master Dacota...what do you want to practice?"

Breathing heavily, Dacota replied. "Kill me."

Pilot1: "What!? ...thats against our orders...we're here to help you master your Gundam."

"KILL ME!" Dacota screamed, wheeling his gundam to the left (Pilot2) while drawing the energy sword with the right hand of the machine, and in one swift movement, cutting the mobile suit in two right down its center. It exploded into shrapnel, and the other three pilots were stunned. o0(Is this what you want, Devils Cause? You want a challenge? ...I can make you mine...I'll PROVE it...).

The claw and the right arms huge blade ignited into a greenish flame. The Devils Cause was now in full battle mode.

Pilot1: "No....."

Pilot3: "What do we do!?"

Pilot4, panic stricken, began firing upon the Devils Cause. "He's not killing me!" The other two pilots began firing as well.

Dacota smiled. o0(Good...they've decided to fight for their lives...) The Devils Cause began moving swifty, dodging each blast as if it was too easy. With a flash of blue, the engines ignited into full power again and Dacota was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Pilot3 looked around his veiw-screens. His radar showed nothing, and nothing was visible. Suddenly, the Devils Cause became a blip on the radar...directly behind him. He realized it too late, as the Gundams' claw was buried in the back of the suit...ripping deeper inside.

As quickly as Pilot4's suit exploded, the Devils Cause spun right...ripping the right arms blade up the entire length of Pilot3's suit. There was a short delay before that suit exploded as well.

Pilot1 brought his gun up to point at the gundam, fear in his eyes. "Please...don't..." It was too late as Dacota brought the menacing claw of the Devils Cause smashing down into the head and upperbody of the suit, and in a brilliant flash, Pilot1 was gone.

Howard was going crazy. "What is he doing!? ...he's crazy....he's freakin CRAZY!" Howard grabbed two handfulls of his hair and kept cursing at Dacota as he watched the carnage unfold.

Dacota sat in the silence of space. Around him drifted the remaining parts of the four mobile suits that had been there only seconds before. He breathed heavily as his face showed an expression of satisfaction, while still having that vacant look in his eye. o0(I see now that I was wrong to try and prove that I am your master...that is not the case, is it? You knew all along...that we are one...that we were made for each other...didn't you? I can see it now...we are brothers. I am you...and you are me...)

The boy began laughing, almost insanely, filling the silence of space with his madness.

Dacota entered the main repair hall of Peacemillion. It was huge, and around him were the remains of the four suits he destroyed yesterday and many technitions trying to peice them back together. The Devils Cause stood in the far corner. He made his way across the floor, the people around him giving him looks of amazement (or I guess you could call it horror). He reached a slender door at the other end of the enormous room. He gently turned the handle, and stepped through. Closing the door behind him, he turned to his left.

There he was, just as Dacota had predicted. Howard was, of course, engulfed in some kind of plans. Hunched over his designing table, compass and ruler in hand, he worked away at some kind of blueprints...mumbling to himself as he always did.

Dacota coughed.

Howard turned around. A blue pen hung from his lips, and blue ink covered his face.

Dacota blinked twice, and broke into laughter. "You'll never learn not to stick your pens in your mouth, will you?"

"Bah...shuddap." Howard said as he turned back to his drawings.

"Any progress?" Dacota took a seat in Howards chair behind his desk (covered in coffe-stained paper-work).

Howard jumped up, and eagerly held up his drawing. "The DC-V50 Ion."

"The D-C who?" The boy started eating handfulls of hard candy from a bowl on Howards desk.

"DC for Devils Cause, V for Vulcan, 50 as in diamter of the gun, and Ion is short for Ion Particles." Howard grinned.

"Now, repeat that." Dacota raised an eyebrow. "And this time, try to make sense of it?"

"Well...in short, it's a cannon. For the Devils Cause." Howard cracked his knuckles and licked his lips. "My finest ever! I've used the traditional Vulcan Cannon design, and it has a 50 foot barrel (diameter of course)." The man grinned wider than ever, looking almost crazy. "And I've used a new Ion source. It's an Ion cannon. Highly charged paritcles of atoms, condensed and concentrated into a beam capable of incredible damage! Only one problem with it....it'll take me a while to finish it."

"Sooooo...what do I do till it's done?" Dacota scooped another handfull of candy.

"Glad you asked." Howard kept on grinning like a little boy with a new toy. "I've added a gun to the left arm...actually, to the left hand. It's in the claw...appearing as only a small hole in the palm. It's a standard rapid fire cannon, standard issue to most battle units...but one thing sets it apart. When you use the extender to shoot the claw out to destroy and enemy, the gun goes with it."

"COOL!" Dacota said excitedly, spitting small chunks of candy all over Howards desk.

Howard wrinkled his nose, but didn't say anything. Howard got a concerned look on his face. "Uh....I need to talk to you...about yesterday. What happened out there? Why did you destroy those suits and kill those pilots? If your having problems controlling the Devils Cause, we can make adjustments and perhaps fix the problem..."

"I did what was required. The Devils Cause demanded that I do what was done, and now I see perfectly how he and I interlock...like peices of a puzzle." Dacota got a serious look to his face. "I can handle the Devils Cause perfectly. I am him. He's a kindred spirit... my brother. We understand each other."

Blinking twice, Howard looked dumbfounded. "Oooookay."

"His speed is only for me." Dacota grinned. "He is the body, and I am the soul. Together we are one being, and he and I will find our destiny together."

o0(What is WRONG with him? ...) Howard shook his head, and pointed to a small holo-disk on his desk. "Dr. J was here. He left that for you."

The youth picked up the disk and nodded, leaving the same way he had came.

"Dacota...if Howard has given you this disk, that means that you have completed Devils Cause." Dr. J's voice game from the small holo-image of him, projected onto the screen in front of Dacota. "My boy...I need to tell you something."

The youth sat in a chair a few feet away from the screen. He nodded, as if Dr. J could actually see him.

"Your Gundam is not the only one. There are four more. The Ice Lancer, the Artemis, the Dark Angel and the Deaths Head." The small holo-image of Dr. J paced back and forth across the screen. "They were built by OMLAN. Their power is incredible...and we have no idea what purpose OMLAN has for these weapons of SEVERE destruction."

"What does that have to do with the Colonies?" Dacota asked the question more to himself than anything.

"I bet your wondering what that has to do with the Colonies." Dr. J continued pacing. "Well, OMLAN has already been expanding into space...first building the Lunar Base, and then constructing the mobile suit production factories in Colonies 224 and 617. We do not know exactly what OMLAN plans to do with these other Gundams, but we predict that their goal is to gain complete control of Earth, and if that happens, then the Colonies will surely be the next to be taken by the greedy, power hungry organization. The Devils Cause was designed by me for the Colonies, to be piloted by the best of the best....which is you. It was created to destroy the other four Gundams before OMLAN can use them to gain complete rule. Your mission, Gundam XX0TF-02A-666 Devils Cause, is to make sure that these machines are never used against the Colonies. Destroy them. The Ice Lancer is the first one completed, other than the Devils Cause. It is now your target. You will find it in the Gundam Development Facility in Omaha, Nebraska."

Dacota stared into space for a moment. He calmly stood, and turned to leave the room. He turned back to the screen suddenly, and looked directly at the now stationary image of Dr. J.

"Mission accepted."

***

Greensboro, North Carolina

Aramith looked up from his reading. :Slammed door……loud laughter……mom must be home. : He sighed and looked to the fluffy white cat curled upon his chest. "Whatcha say, puss? Think she''ll go to bed right away?" He reached out to scratch beneath the cat's chin, and smiled as his fingers were batted at.

A few slammed doors later, Aramith heard the distinctive sounds of his mother's radio. "Well, seems she's gone to bed, luck must be with me tonight, eh, puss?" The cat regarded him quietly before he gently lifted it from his chest. "You sure shed a lot, puss. Good thing I'm wearin' the white tank today, ne?" He hopped up onto his bed and quickly tied his boots. Opening his worn, patch covered book bag, he allowed the cat to step inside. He never knew why the cat followed him so much, but to be honest, he was glad for the company. After sliding his arms through the straps, he opened his window and jumped out, landing on the damp turf with a soft thud.

Aramith started off on a collected jog, heading through the sparse "woods" just behind his house. "Dunno why they call these woods." He pushed some branches out of the way and continued. "All this place is really is a dumping ground for unwanted shit and a drinking and fucking place." He chuckled softly. "Perfect little place for a slasher film, ne?" He abruptly reached a high chainlink fence and pulled out his wire cutters from the front pocket of his book bag.

"Nyoooow."

"It's ok, puss. I'm not creating TOO much damage." He snipped up along one side quickly and pulled the chainlink to the side, allowing himself enough room to crawl through the opening. Once on the other side, he made a note of where he'd come in and once again put on his backpack. "Now let's see…….where to go, where to go……."

The cat promptly jumped out of the back pack and scampered off towards a large hanger.

"Shit. Well, guess I'm goin' there…….." Watching for guards, and finding the base pitifully low on them, Aramith sprinted over to the hangar in time to spot the cat slide underneath one of the massive doors. The boy sighed and looked for a door, finding only one, and a locked one at that, a few minutes later. "Didn't expect to be breaking so many laws tonight, but…….." He pulled out a security card lifted from his simulator instructor only 5 hours earlier and swiped it through the sensor. The red light blinked 3 times before turning off, a green one lighting up in it's place. Wearing a soft smirk, Aramith entered the hangar, making sure to close the door quickly after himself.

Soft, hazy lights were strung across the floor in a grid pattern, and inside each was a mobile suit. Aramith strolled among them, craning his neck to see their massive heads.

"Nyow."

"THERE you are." Aramith wagged a finger at the white cat, now purring and rubbing against his legs. "You naughty kitty." He set the bag down, holding it open so the cat could jump back in, but the fluff ball merely sniffed it and skittered off farther into the hangar.

"What? First you love me, then you run off, then ya love me……." Aramith looked at his watch and winced. 3am. :I gotta get back soon, with or without the cat.: Deciding to make one more try, he trotted towards the back of the hangar, ducking underneath a red "Authorized Personnel Only" sign.

"Fuckin A……." His blue eyes widened and his jaw went slack. "What the hell is THIS?!" Incessant mewling finally drew his attention to a workstation where he spotted a skematic printout and an instruction manual.

"Artemis……." His eyes raised once again, now full of reverance towards the massive new suit. Shaking his head, he snatched the manual, plopped onto the floor and thumbed through it.

"Nyow." The cat wriggled its way onto the boy's lap and looked at him expectantly.

The boy gave a small lopsided smile and absently stroked the cat's head. "Goooood kitty. Now let me read this and get outta here before someone finds me and hangs me up by my sack, ok?" Obediently, the cat flopped down and closed it's yellow eyes, wrapping it's tail around it's body, gently purring as it drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Near Cape Hatteras, Virginia

Dorje lay half in half out of the waves, letting the gentle hands of the ocean wash over his skin. The sun struck his chest, turning the soft expanse of skin a faint pink that would grow deeper in time.

Beep beep!

The brunette sighed and sat up, sand cascading from his back. "Can't I ever get a little sleep on the beach?" He lazily turned half onto his side and reached into the woven bag he usually carried with him. Pulling out a cell phone he laid it between his ear and his shoulder. "Dorje Stavros speaking, how may I help you?"

"You're late, Master Dorje. It's not like you to be late," came the deep, accented voice of his instructor.

"Can't I just have a few more minutes?"

"A minute is an hour is a day is a week is-"

"I know, I know." Dorje sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll be there right away." Beep! With a swift movement of his fingers, he pressed the off button and stowed the cell phone in the bag. Climbing to his feet, the boy brushed sand off his knees and stared out across the sea. His sad eyes reflected the waves. Slowly, Dorje put on his "mask" of happiness, smiling winningly. He cloaked his heart in happiness and hid the darkness deep inside him.

Pressing a small button on a device in his bag, he turned towards the dunes behind him. Suddenly, a door opened in the hill, allowing sunlight and sand to penetrate what had previously been a hidden entrance. Quickly, Dorje dashed in and pressed a blinking yellow button on the left. The doors closed again, mechanically pouring sand over itself to hide from watchful eyes.

Dorje panted a bit and wiped his brow. The air was cool, dry, and faintly musty. Like books. In fact, there were books, he knew. Not too far down the tunnel there was a library which was one of his favorite spots away from home. Suddenly, in the duskiness, a metal circle was pressed to his neck. Click!

"State your name and business."

"Dorje Stavros. I'm here for my Gundam."

"Oh! Master Dorje! My apologies." The circular nub of the gun was withdrawn from his neck. A round face with curly hair appeared over his shoulder. Through the dim lighting, he could see a wide white grin on the man's face. "Did I scare you?"

"Of course!" laughed Dorje. "I wasn't expecting you this time."

"This time?" the guard took the lead as the two of them followed the tunnel towards an elevator door with flashing lights over it. "You mean you weren't scared the other times?" He pressed a button to the side of the door and waited for it to open. Once it did, he gestured the brunette inside before himself. "That makes you a liar, you know."

Dorje flushed slightly. "I didn't lie. . . I just never assented."

The doors closed and the elevator began to descend into the ground. "You never denied it, either." He smiled down at the boy. "My evidence would hold up in court. . . but. . . if you like"

The guard's laughter boomed off the walls. "Hold up in court??"

"My mom watches Judge Judy."

The burly guard ruffled Dorje's hair slightly. If Dorje was annoyed by the belittling gesture, he didn't show it. "You're a good lad, Master Dorje."

"And you're a good friend, Misha."

With a slight lurch, the elevator came to a halt. Then, slowly at first, it began to move sideways- out to sea. Soon it was going so fast that neither occupant could feel the movement. They settled down to enjoy the 5 minute ride.

The doors opened onto a world that's only parallel must have been the famous Atlantis. In fact, it was commonly called Atlantis 02 by its inhabitants. Those who did not live here usually never saw it. Or never lived after seeing it.

Streets wound between buildings and people wound around the streets. Most of the buildings were simple block shapes, but at the top of a hill in the center of town, there was a Greek temple that rose benevolently above all else. All. . . except a dome of gundanium enforced glass that allowed light to filter down in rippling patterns and illuminate the city.

Dorje smiled at the serene city and turned left. Some of these people had never seen the blue sky before. They were practically mer people. Most learned how to swim before they could walk and families had pet dolphins instead of dogs. It was surreal and so utterly like science fiction that one had to blink several times to assure oneself that it was actually there.

Misha gestured towards a large warehouse type building that housed the defense force's mobile suits. Mostly, they were used to warn divers or other unauthorized mobile suit forces to keep their distance. Sometimes, however, they had to be used to kill. Dorje stepped inside.

"Master Dorje." It was his instructor, Dr. Papaiuano. The man was tall and slender. His curly dark hair was thinning at the crest of his forehead and his temples. "DarkAngel is ready." He started off down a hallway.

"Did you know that there is an anime show called Dark Angel?" the boy trotted along at his side, looking, for all his usual grace, like a child of no more than ten. "I've never seen it, but. . . did you know that?"

"No, I did not. Did you know that seven more plates were unearthed at that dig in Athens?" Dr. Papaiuano raised one eyebrow. "Or do you no longer keep up with the news from your roots?"

"Of course I knew about it! Isn't it wonderful?" Dorje sighed happily. "The past is being discovered and the future is being made."

The doctor's face grew grim. "Yes, and you are going to be the one making it."

"Me?"

"You and DarkAngel are the tools for the new world. Your business of shaping the clay of humanity is about to begin soon."

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I mean that there is . . . . . . . . dark area. . . . . a. . . . . . what do you call. . . . ."

"A blight?"

"Yes. A blight on the pottery of the world. You are being called to fix it."

Dorje squeaked slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean today is the day that you step into your Gundam and practice."

"To. . . . to. . . . today?"

"Yes. Today. Now."

The boy and the doctor came out of the long hallway and into a hanger where chatter reigned supreme. As soon as they entered, however, the other technicians fell silent. They wanted to see what he would say.

Dorje stared in awe at the creation before him. He had seen it before, but now, he was truly meeting it as a companion. As always, he walked up and put one hand on the Gundam's foot.

"Hello, DarkAngel," he whispered lovingly.

"Today. . .today is the day." The entire hanger burst out with wild cheers. A boy about his own age slipped off the back of a sleek 224Neptune and walked over to Dorje.

"Are you flying him today?" He had red hair that hung beautifully down to his chin and was constantly perfect, despite any roughhousing. His sparkling green eyes smiled at the brunette. " 's gotta be nerve wracking, eh?" "A little,"

Dorje's face was pink. "I'm gonna do it, though. I've been studying, Oren."

The red head grinned. "I bet ya have. Probably the way you do your homework- while watching anime."

Dorje chuckled. "Hey, at least I have good grades!"

Oren pretended to be offended. "And you're saying I don't?"

Dr. Papaiuano threw a shirt at the boy. "Put one of these on. You should at least be wearing clothes in case someone has to pry you out of there later. Who knows? You might even be. . . oh gasp. . . naked!!"

Dorje's face turned a brilliant scarlet. Dr. P. . . not in front of Oren. . . "I have pants on!"

The doctor seemed to catch the unspoken thought. "Just put it on."

Once inside the Gundam, Dorje relaxed. "Helmet!!!" Misha bellowed at him from below. "So you can talk to us!!!"

Dorje slipped the light helmet on.

"Can you hear us?" It was the doctor.

"Yes. I can hear you."

"Good. Now close the hatch."

"How? Wait, aren't you supposed to do that?"

"No. Press that button. . . no.. not the blue one."

"How did you know I was going for the blue?"

"I'm psychic," he snorted, rolling his eyes. "The Psychic Friends Network just hired me. I work for Psi-core. I'm half Betazoid. I used to read palms at fairs in a previous life."

Dorje coughed slightly. "Um.. which button?"

He couldn't keep the grin out of his voice. "The red one on your right."

Pressing it, Dorje watched, fascinated, as the door closed softly, smoothly. "Now what? The LCL? The neural interphasers? The plugsuit? How's my synch-rate? Where's my progressor knife?"

The doctor growled mock-menacingly through his microphone. "This is not Eva. . . Eva. . . whatever you want to call it. This is real life. Now hold on to your little ass, okay?"

"Wait! Don't I even get to say goodbye to the depressed blue haired girl?"

"Mika! Press the button!"

Mika's sturdy finger connected with a yellow button on the control panel and Dorje found himself rocketed into the water.

"How are you? No leaks?"

"Glub," answered Dorje, blithely.

Dr. Papaiuano cursed lightly in Greek. "Now. . . I want to see you go over to the rocks over to your right and touch them. Then return. Use your jets."

Dorje skillfully did as he was told. He had never known something to respond so wonderfully. It seemed to tremble underneath him when he stopped, like a nervous stallion. Dorje stroked the soft interior. "DarkAngel. . ."

"Enough talking with your Gundam. I want you to go over to those rocks again. This time, destroy them."

The brunette bit his lip.

"Did you hear what I said?"

Do I have to blow anything up?

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Acknowledged."

DarkAngel's large feet made muffled booming thuds on the seafloor. It stood in front of the rocks, staring at them.

"What should I use?"

"SheerStryke."

"SheerStryke. . . The feathers?"

"Yes."

DarkAngel unfurled its wings with a swish and a bleep. Dorje bent his Gundam, ready to attack, ready to fire. . . ready to kill.

Misha and the doctor bent over the viewscreen anxiously, unaware of Oren peering over their shoulders. Suddenly, the pinfeathers seemed to erupt from its wings. Bolts of feather-shaped energy slashed into the boulders, blowing them to the sand from which they had come. But it didn't stop there. The firing continued, pounding relentlessly into the sea floor. Barrage after barrage of energy was directed at the sand. Muddy water swirled around the viewscreen, blocking off any sight. . . now. . . just the sound. The sound. . . the sound. . .

"Dorje! Dorje! Stop it, now!!"

Instantly, the firing ceased. They could hear Dorje panting softly. Then. . . slowly, he came back under control.

He swallowed audibly. "I'm sorry, Dr. P. I just. . .. "

"I know. You liked it, didn't you."

A little, breathy "Yeah" came from the other side of the line.

"Come back, Dorje."

Another miniscule "Yeah" sounded and the thump thump thump of DarkAngel's return sounded again in the ocean.

Oren cleared his throat and laughed weakly. "How did you like the feather effects? I came up with that myself."

Dorje practically fell out of the Gundam. It had been a struggle all the way. Not against DarkAngel, but against the feelings that arose inside of him. He liked it. He LIKED it. Wrapping his arms around himself, Dorje huddled at the feet of his Gundam, trying to calm his swiftly beating heart.

* * *

OMLAN MOON BASE

*tap tap tap*

The clicking of the fine steel toed boots on the marble floor of the dimly lit office sent a small chill up the spine of the lieutenant as he waited for Commander Lolakan to acknowledge his presence. Eventually his nerves got the best of him and he gave a little cough to get the commanders attention

"Yes Lieutenant"?

"I uh, Well Sir Ive been ordered to deliver a couple of pieces of um…. Bad news for you Si"….

"Stop stuttering you idiot, it shows bad form, annunciate and get on with your message or get out of my sight"

Now visually a bit shaken, the young man shifted his weight from one leg to the other before he began to speak again

"Very sorry Sir, but reports from our engineers on earth have reported a set of plans for Operation Apocalypse missing sir…. Numbers 03…And 02"

The sound of tapping boots became began to accelerate and the commanders face, half hidden under a shadow, turned beet red for just an instant before a heavy sigh was heard and the figure rose from his chair. Striding casually over to the Lieutenant, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him clear off of the floor, and with a mighty heave, sent him back out into the hallway

*sigh* "This is not an acceptable outcome this late in the first stage of operations I TOLD the elders to increase security, but once again for their own selfish purposes they ignored me….soon however that will all change"…….

Walking down the hallway another young Lieutenant passed the man coming from Commander Lolakans office, His face almost a pale white.

Approaching and entering the Door, H saw the Commander pacing the room silently

"You know you didn't have to scare him like that Kimo, he IS only human you know"

Looking up with distressed eyes, Kimo looked at the new arrival to his office

"Ah Koa, my friend, and yes Im sorry, but we have news that could hinder our take over, the planSfor your Gundanium Mobile Suit were stolen last night"

"WHAT?! HOW?!"

"That's what I intend to find out as soon as I return to Earth, I would appreciate it if you and Ane came back with me, then we can oversee the final construction of the last few suits and set the second phase into motion"

*smiling* Id be honored Sir, when do we leave?

"Soon my friend, By the way, is there any actual good news to report today to balance out the bad"?

Koa's grin grew wider as he stuck his head out the door...looked both waysto ensure the coast was clear, and slid the door shut, locking it behind him

"Well Kimo, the Ice Lancer is fully operational and is undergoing field tests now, fully 3 weeks ahead of shedual, and Vendetta is close behind, and the others not far behind that.......

Leaning close Koa began to whisper at an almost inaudable tone

"...And I was talking to Ane..and she reports that she may have actually found where the organisations Elders Meet so we can finally put faces to the orders"

"HA! Excellent work, soon the universe will be ours"

* * *

Outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska

Switch after glowing button, after lever, Lucian manually switched the Communications and detection levels to full. On the exterior, The radar slats unfurled to their full level, tightly straining the mesh of Gundanium coated input/output sensor laden mesh, the "cloak" glowing benieth its vilot blue exterior a radient light red.

"Hey doc, it's on. . . ." Lucian said, taking a long look at what seemed to be a complicated control system.

"There was an easier way to do that, boy." Doc unfurled the blueprints upon the hangar contol panel and began to map the engine/thruster system. "Now that that's operational, Why don't you try to find the farthest detectable flight?"

"Heh. Gotcha ." Lucian chuckled. He depressed a single button, the overhead map blinked on, illustrating a 3D model of the scan area and all inbound/outboun flights from that point." Well, I'm seeing a couple mobile suits around Colony 3. . .and about 12 cargo shuttles heading in fleet formation for the Lunar base." A sudden beeping of the targeting system identified an unknown launch. "Doc, I just picked up an unregestered launch from the rebuilt Peacemillion

"Peacemillion? Unregestered flight? How do you know that it's unregestered?"

Lucian thought for a second, adjusting the helmet to lay better. "I dunno, I just thought since it was beeping, kinda calling my attention to it, that it was unregestered . . .or something like that. "

"Beeping? What sort of beeping?"

"I dunno, three short but shrill blasts in my eardrums constitute a 'beep' to me"

"Are you sure that there were three?"

"What's with all the Questions doc? It was probably nothing. See? It's off my screen, so don't even worry." Lucian then turned his attention to the lance. "What is this thing? Some sort of Light sabre on a stick?"

"Not even that. If it wasn't classified, I'd give you the first hand introduction upon how to fight in that so called 'monstrocity' ."

"Oh well. . .today wasn't meant for me to become a jedi anyways. " After a quick delve into his pocket, Lucian came up with a pack of cards. "Hey doc? Ever play poker?"

"No, pay attent. . ."

"Well. . .It's just like life, if you pull just the right cards, ya win, otherwise you're left with a big hole in your pockets, or even without clothes. And that depends upon which rendition of the game you play. Tell me doc, what version do you prefer? Strip or standard?"

Doc silently fumed, waiting for Lucians inevitable comment.

"I'd hope standard. I'd never wanna play strip poker with you, scrawny little buttmonkey."

" Now listen here, Boy."

"OH! Look who's talking up to the big nasty pilot in the Mobile suit! Do you know how easy it'll be for me to squash you? From up here, you look like an ant."

Suddenly one of the OMLAN radar technicians shouted out a warning. "Everyone on alert! There's a report of a singular incoming unidentified Mobile suit headed this way. The soonest the nearest patrol can be here is within 7 minutes. The estimated time the Mobile suit will reach us is within the next two minutes."

Doc regarded the Technician. "Is there enough time to raise the hangar?"

"No" The technician replied, going back to his work.

"Get outta there, boy!!" Doc shouted. "We've got incoming!"

"Incomming what? And how exactly do you expect me to get outta this thing? Jump?"

"Yes! Out now!"

"I'm not crazy, you old coot! I'm not going to kill myself just because of your unethical fear. I bet its nothing but a large flock of birds!"

"I'm not going to repeat myself again, Lucian! Get the hell out of that suit!"

"Why don't you just shut the hell up?" Lucian screamed back. "How the hell do you use the engines?" He fiddled with a couple of buttons until a faint hum reached his hears. "There we go. I'm getting a handle on this thing. " With a firm grip, he held the controls and gently pushed forward. The Icelancer lifted off of the ground at a slight angle, floating just above the ground. "Whoa! This thing handles like a dream, Doc! Too bad all you guys down there are freaking over nothing. I mean, if there was something there, I would see it by now."

Suddenly, the Icelancers communications system blazed with a warning, a direct firing lock had been established. The overhead switched automatically into battle mode, the suit skyrocketing on autopilot, attempting to avoid a line of fire.

"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!!!" Lucian grunted against the extreme g's that the Mobile Suit created due to the close turns and loops it made in attempt to avaid an unseen enemy. The cards that had been previously resting in his lap scattered across the cockpit, the Ace of hearts lodging in his hair un-noticed. From the left side what looked like a clawed Suit hand attached to an extender barely missed the Icelance, and only at a fraction of an inch. Just as soon as it had appeared, it seemed to fade into the air. "No wonder I couldn't see it! It's got some sort of cloaking device." Though the Icelancer continued to avade an attack on its own, Lucian fumbled around with the controls, trying to disengage the Autopilot. "Comeon, COMEON! This isn't gonna keep me alive!!! I need the control!" With a swift punch to the console, the autopilot suddenly switched off. No sooner had the shield and Autopilot deactivated, then the hull came underfire by projectiles, most likely cannon fodder. "WHO THE HELL IS OUT THERE?!?" Once again, Lucian gripped the controls, wheeling the massive Mobile suit around to face his adversary. From what seemed to be nothing, the shape of a demonly entity appeared. It was a mobile suit, but not exactly, appearing more like a devilish figure then anything manmade.

Then it happened, even faster then he could see, the clawed hand ripped through the right arm, tearing the vunerable, still exposed power couplets into shreads.

"Shit. . . ." Lucian mumbled as all the power systems except for environmental control, short range comm, righting thrusters, and external view system shut down, one by one. With a disabled Mobile Suit, there was nothing he could do but sit and wait for the enemy to do something, Already, the enemy Suit was aiming for another shot. But then he thought about it again, short range communications wasn't going to reach Doc. That was a little too far. The only hope he had was the invisable. "Whoever you are," Lucian spoke in gulps, afeared that he wouldn't be able to finish his sentence."Whoever you are. . . .There's one thing I want you to know before you try and kill me. . . I am of NO threat to you! I have NO Idea how this thing works! If you want to destroy this suit, do so, but whats the point? I mean, it is very unwise for a pilot to go into battle unless he is moved by necessity or by the knowledge that he has a great advantage, for a battle is very subject to fortune; and defeat is too important a matter to ever risk. You must have seen this point before attacking me. If you got my point, respond." lucian fell silent, waiting for a reply. Comeon! You just got to reply! There is no way I'm gonna die right here, right now, in this thing for gods sake. he thought, resting his chin on his knuckles. Wedged in between the controls and the overhead viewer, the joker leered back, its cruel smile seemingly taunting the situation.

* * *

Kyoto, Japan

From the moment he arrived Eji felt slightly perturbed. The others were obviously surprised at his appearance. When he parked his motorcycle and took off his helmet he was surprised to see all the festivities outside. He was led through the house and outback where he passed through the talkative crowds. People seemed to hold in their breath around him and the talking hushed around him. Ignoring the silence Eji walked through until he came to the main group. The laughter he heard from them died down except for two individuals. Eji recognized Garou's laugh in the center and next to him Kazami. Garou perked up as he saw Eji and waved him over. Kazami nodded and moved forward to greet Eji. He held out his arm in a handshake. Eji coldly stared at it before he slowly moved his hand to meet Kazami's. Taking it Kazami gave Eji a hearty handshake and turned back to the others. The partygoers seemed eased by this act and continued on again, as if nothing had happened.

"Glad tosee you came Eji." Kazami said as he put a drink into Eji's hand. His

eyes met Eji's and they betrayed his smiling features. They were cold, full of hatred and malice. Eji remained silent as he took the glass. Seemingly satisfied Kazami turned back to the others. With a small announcement everyone began to head toward the beach behind his house.

Eji quickly spotted the piles of stacked wood on the beach. However before he could ask Kazami let out a commanding cheer. As everyone listened to Kazami go on about his party, Eji let his mind wander. Thinking over to the wood he watched as the servants doused them with some gasoline. Eji's stomach churned. The prospect of fire was menacing enough to cause him to stumble back a little. Garou looked back to his friend and waved him forward just as Kazami shouted out his name.

"And Eji. As a symbol of our new friendship I ask you to light the first bonfire of the night with me." Kazami said as Garou pushed him forward. Kazami held a sly grin on his face as he extended Eji a book of matches.

Eji's mind raced and his heart pounded with anxiety as he pulled the first match from the pack. He smoothly pulled the match out and held it up before his eyes. The partygoers were quite mystified by this act but Kazami just patted his back. Eji looked blankly down at the wood, his eyes betrayed him with horrifying images. Flames licking at his family's house screams. Eji cursed as the match fell out of his hands when he took a small step back. He looked around bringing him back to the present and a murmuring crowd. Kazami grinned evilly.

"Don't worry I wont take this as an affront to our friendship" said Kazami as he pulled out a match and lit it. The match transfixed Eji's eyes. Kazami laughed as he tossed the match into the wood. "Since we aren't really friends anyway. . ." said Kazami as Eji fell back into the sand as the wood flared up into flames almost 10 feet high. Kazami then took a burning ember and walked to Eji. "It's a good thing you didn't light that huh. . ." Kazami said laughing. Quickly enough Kazami grabbed a flaming ember and brandished it in front of Eji. Eji's eyes were glazed in fear and small flashes of horrible memory.

The entire party was stunned at the actions. The partygoers' murmered in shocked and frightened voices as Kazami moved the flame closer to Eji. Eji stared forward and backed up avoiding the flame, which so held his gaze. Garou finally broke the shocked almost quiet as he dashed forward at Kazami. With a vicious backhand from the torch Kazami sent Garou back, and unconscious. The crowd gasped and finally went into full-blown panic, but that moment was all Eji needed. With almost superhuman speed Eji leapt forward and smashed the board into two with his elbow. Just as quickly he spun around and delivered a roundhouse to Kazami sending him flying across the sand.

"You haven't changed at all. . ." Eji said his eyes as hard as flint. He barely finished his words, when he jumped backwards avoiding the two thugs who tried to tackle him from behind. Eji punched one in the jaw and deflected the others hand away from his jacket, probably towards some weapon. The crowd was screaming now as more men came forward, urging the crowd back and off the property.

"Ha ha, Party's over folks. I hope you had a nice

evening. . .HA HA HA HA HA." Shouted Kazami as he pulled a gun from one of

his thug's holsters. Eji saw Garou being carried away by some of the same men; before he was lurched at by two gorillas sized men. The first man caught Eji by surprise and delivered a uppercut which sent Eji falling back. Rolling with the punch as he learned long ago, Eji rolled to a stop and delivered a speedy elbow to the mans groin. As he fell forward Eji leapt up delivering a knee to his face. Bone snapped as Eji jumped back and the man grabbed his nose gushing with blood. Without waiting for the other man to attack Eji, dashed towards the front lawn. Jumping over the balcony, and speeding forward Eji drop kicked a man with his back turned. As he landed he tripped another thug, and then dropped him with an uppercut as he fell. Hearing some gunshots and screaming, Eji jumped on his motorcycle. Turning on the bike Eji, sped off with bullets grazing around him. Flesh tore as he had a bullet graze his arm. Turning out of the driveway, Eji sped off the estate and into Kazami's plans into motion.

Eji found his home in a wreck. Through the front gate he could already

see the shattered windows, and glass littering the yard. As Eji dismounted he thought against going through the gate. Instead Eji jumped the perimeter fence and headed around the yard. Searching the grounds Eji found the same M.O everywhere. Shattered glass, broken everything, and a seeming search for something. After being sure that no one was left on the grounds, he headed inside.

Looking around Eji shook his head. More of the same. The floor was littered with broken glass, and vases, picture frames and splintered wood from broken doors. It was a good thing the servants were given the night off. Eji was about to call the police when he noticed a small blood trail. Following it closely, Eji found himself in the remains of the living room. On the wall in large flaming letters was the words "Deju Vu". Eji's mind tried to encompass the massive collection of events that had happened tonight, when he heard a voice behind him.

"You. . .you're unharmed Eji?" said his father as he looked at his son. Eji blankly nodded into his father's bruised face. Coughing up a combination of phlegm and blood, his father leaned on Eji for support. "Eji I'm glad you're unharmed. They came back for us, back from the past, tryingto steal the future. . ." said Eji's father.

"What do you mean?" Eji said as he led his father to a seat. His dad sat down and reached into his pocket. Slowly he pulled out a little locket. "Father. . . .what, WHO did this?" said Eji as he looked around the room.

"The Nanaktu clan. They are the ones responsible for this, they came for revenge, and this. . ." Said Eji's father holding up the metal to the light. Eji stared at it and his father in shock and confusion.

"What the hell is going on father." Said Eji his mind recoiling from the information. Eji sat down next to his father and set his face in his hands. "How the hell is Kazami connected to this? Who is the Nanaktu clan, what the hell were they looking for?" he said after a moment.

His father sighed a deep sigh of pain. He placed the locket in Eji's hands and began the story of how he and his mother first met, busting up a drug ring. He explained how the Nanaktu clan was the biggest investor and thus the worst hit crime lords from the drug bust. He explained how later they had come back for revenge, how he was weak and away while they. . ..

"What..?!" said Eji on the verge of breaking up. "What are you saying. . .is . . .is" started Eji.

"Yes, they are the same ones who destroyed our life so many years ago. They are the same ones who took your mothers life." Said Eji's father sadly.

Eji's long held dam of emotion burst. With a scream to shake the heavens he punched the wall of burning letters. Crashing through the whitewall, he spun around and threw a chair into the already broken glass hutch. He spun around his eyes those of a crazy man, before they heard motors outside. His father turned to the shattered window as five cars pulled up, all of them flashing the lights on the house.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" shouted Eji as he lurched to the lights. His father reached out and grabbed him as a hail of gunfire tore the couch to shreds. Diving to the ground, all thoughts of revenge gone for the instant, Eji and his father looked at each other. Shouting above the gunfire his father told Eji to run behind the bar. An instant later they both whirled and dove through the hail of bullets, to get behind the bar. His father pointed to a single bottle of port, unshattered despite a lodged bullet in its body. Pulling it forward a hatch slid open and Eji followed his father inside. The hatch closed a second later and they were drowned in blessed silence.

They walked for a few moments of silence, before reaching a metallic

door. Motioning for Eji to hold out the locket he took it from his hand and placed it before the door. A little beep was heard before a green light came on and the door opened. They stepped inside and into an unimaginable destiny. Lining the massive walls stood four mobile suits.

"Leo's. . ." Eji mumbled as he recalled his mobile suit lessons.

"Variations on the basic Leo, but yes, Leo's." replied his father with a nod of his hand. It obviously pained him to talk yet he did so anyway. "And now you know what they were looking for." he added, stopping at the far end.

Eji looked around. He knew his father too be a government agent, but

he thought him nothing more than a ambassador. Now he seemed more like..like "James Bond." Eji thought out loud, looking around. His father stifled a small laugh with a cough.

" I would hardly say that, but it is more than you thought of your old man huh?" his father opened a previously hidden door. As he did so he leaned forward the pain obviously overcoming him. Eji stepped forward but his father held up his hand. "I can do for now. Follow me. . ." he said as he walked through the door. Eji followed slowly as his father hit a red button. The outer doors closed down and together they walked through the corridor under the emergency lights.

Meanwhile, Kazami Nantaku, the son of the head of the Nantaku clan, ordered his men to stop firing. Two minutes later his men found the secret entrance and were working on the door. Gloating in his apparent victory Kazami had ordered the rest of the mansion and surrounding buildings burned. We will smoke them out like rats. And then the vengeance of the clan shall be complete. Kazami thought to himself as the buildings were set ablaze. A tap on the shoulder brought him away from his thoughts, and he turned to face one of his men.

"Your father wants a update Sir. What should I tell him?" asked the subordinate.

"Tell him it is all going fine, by tonight the mobile suits will be in our capable hands, and the Nanataku clan will be glorious once again." Kazami turned back to the burning buildings.

The subordinate nodded and went off to report. As soon as he left two men came back telling him the door to the lab was open. With a smile Kazami ordered his men to follow him into the lab.

Eji and his father were rocked by a slight jolt from behind them. Cursing his father hit a small button on one of the walls. A display of the lab popped up and showed the mobile room. Kazami's men were already inside and a minute later Kazami himself walked in. His father hit the screen and curses his lack of foresight. "I knew I should have armed those self det charges." He said as the men tore apart the lab.

"What are they searching for?" Eji.asked.

"Anything else they could use to further there ill gotten goals. Probably looking for some of my personal upgrades for the mobile suits." His father said as they turned the bend.

Eji went to speak again, but was cut off by the sight before him. There stood the biggest, most awesome mobile suit he had ever seen. His experience with Custom Leos were nothing compared to this beast. He was frightened by the appearance of armor plates and the wing like appendages.

"Here we are. . .this is what I was working at." His father said as he turned on the lights. A massive overhanging of lights suddenly lighted up the room. The Mobile suit shone, yet still under the light looked dark and menacing. Looking over the blood red

colors and black on the suit you couldn\rquote t help but get a chill up your spine.

"It's. . ." started Eji.

"My lifes work. . .and now your legacy." Eji's father said as he stepped over to a control counsel and flicked on some switches.

"But. . .I. . .I've only used custom Leo corsairs. . .they didn't even have weapon systems for god sake!" Eji shouted as he looked back to his father.

His father was overcome with another fit of coughing and blood, and this time Eji did help support him. His father looked back to his son with pain and grief in his eyes.

"I don't care what you've done. It was practically made for you boy. I knew someday you would have it. Now you're going to get in it or were both dead." His Father returned to the counsel. Eji looked down at the blood of his father covering his hand. He nodded and quickly ran up to the lift.

Outside the burning estate Kazami and the others reveled in the suits. The Leos were fitted with a new Vulcan gun, lightweight and carrying more ammo. The men were happy to test them out. As Kazami looked on they rained fire into the burning house, whereupon it crashed into cinders. Kazami did not join in the fun, since he was still bothered by the disappearance of Eji and his father. He had the men search the whole underground labs they found, and although much mobile technology was taken the two evaded

capture somehow. Suddenly a loud explosion was heard behind the men. Kazami didn't turn right away since he expected the men's laughter to follow. However the horrible scream of one of the dying men caused him to spin around. Turning he saw a demonesque Mobile suit standing over the fiery remains of one of his men. The Mobile suit had one had outstretched with five glowing talons coming from it's fingers. In a flash they disappeared and the gun was brought forth onto the second mobile suit. The men fired wildly and the larger mobile suit lifted its arm in a defensive motion. The third pilot flanked the larger mobile suit, when it turned and fired upon the second. The second one exploded in a hail of gunfire from the Mobile suit and the third one moved in for the kill. Meanwhile Kazami stood shocked by the sudden appearance of this larger far more hostile mobile suit. He motioned for a retreat and blazed off. The third suit turned to leave and the larger one attempted its claws again. However this time its steps were awkward, and it clumsily tripped on some debris. Falling to the ground with a thud, the rest of Kazami's men took off following the last two Leos. As Kazami sped to the safety of his home he heard an anguished cry over his communications a saw a blurred image of Eji in his HUD. Eji stood up in the mobile suit and looked after his adversaries. As the sun rose over his smoldering estate Eji settled back down into the mobile suit dock to check on his father.

* * *

Dacota smiled as he whirled the Devils Cause quickly to the right, lineing the extender claw up with IceLancer. Instantly, the claw shot out and was back again...and IceLancers right arm was destroyed near the shoulder.

(AUTHORS NOTE: from now on, when a character is thinking it will be in Italics.) Either this pilot has exceptionally slow response time, or he has no clue what he's doing... The thought flashed through Dacota's mind breifly. He saw the light in the eyes of IceLancer go dim, and then quickly cut out. The main power core? I disabled the main power core? Who would route the main power core through the right arm!? Dacota smirked at the thought and raised the blade of his energy sword high above the Devils Cause's head, preparing to deal the finishing blow.

Suddenly, the communications panel to his left exploded into sparks and fire. "SHIT!" Dacota yelled in surprise, momentarily dropping the Gundam controls to grab a nearbye fire extinquisher and put out the small fire that was growing from the communication panel. Through the commotion, Dacota heard something very garbled coming through....he made out only a few words before his comm. system totally quit..."I am of NO threat to you...."

CHRIST! ...the power that suits' communication system puts out is incredible....it blew my comm. system to peieces.... Dacota scrambled to regain controll of his Gundam, which had stalled when he had dropped the crontrolls. He readied the final blow once more, and prepared to deal IceLance it's death....but then the words of the pilot flashed through his mind. 'I am no threat to you' ...obviously not.... Dacota let the sword drop to the gundams side. The beam of the sword retracted, and he placed it back in it's conceled spot on the left shoulder. My mission is to "make sure the gundams are never used against the colonies" ...if I take this one prisoner...wouldn't that be as good as destroying it?

His thought process was interupted by a blip on his radar. Eight large mobile suit carriers, no doubt loaded with manned Virgo suits, appeared far to the right. Reinforcements....I can either destroy them all, and risk losing IceLancer....or retreat now.... Dacota's decision was quick, and he immediately grabbed ahold of IceLancer with the clawed appendage.

Lucian sat in his dark cockpit. The lights had gone out, and nothing seemed to be working now except the environmental control. Well...at least I have oxygen.

After a few short moments of wondering what his fate would be, the pilot of the mysterious mobile suit began speaking over an external P.A. system.

"You fried my comm. system so I hope my P.A. system reaches you through your suit. I'm spareing your life, but IceLancer is mine now...and you're coming with it." The pilot's voice echoed off the hull of the Gundam, just barely reaching Lucians ear.

"WHAT!?" Lucian fumed. "Just let me ou--"

Before Lucian could finish his sentence, the EXTREME g-force of the Devils Cause's Vernier engines hit him full force as Devils Cause exploded away from Nebraska, bearing directly for Peacemillion.

"Someones...gonna die ....for this ..." Lucian began cursing and screaming as loud as he could...but no one could hear him, and they were already going through earths atomosphere....into space.

Dacota shook his head. I hope Howard see's me coming and opens up the airlock...otherwise, I'll have to knock...that'll seem REAL professional. The airlock opened just as the Devils Cause neared Peacemillion. Good...now if only he could send out work suits to help dock the IceLancer. Dacota's eyes grew wide as four work suits emerged from Peacemillion, and went directly to IceLancer...hooking onto it and beginning to pull it to the Peacemillion. When did he learn to read minds!?

The boy quickly piloted the Devils Cause ahead of the work suits, and through the hangar doors. He turned off the huge engines, and moved the Gundam into it's dock. Opening the cockpit door, he took off his helmet and quickly jumped off the suit...flipping gently through the gravity-less room untill reaching the floor. It didn't take long for Howard to catch up to him.

"Lemme guess...it followed you home, right?" Howard smirked. "You know that if you keep it, you'll have to feed it and water it and give it baths...and if it poops on my carpet, you are DEAD."

Dacota laughed. "Yeah yeah...I know I wasn't supposed to bring it back. But I figured it would be a lot more usefull if we took it prisoner....maybe we can use it against them?"

Howard thought for a moment and then nodded his approval. "But who can pilot it? I know that none of the second rate hacks I have onboard can handle that machine...except you, and you have Devils Cause."

The youth shrugged, and started unzipping his space suit. "I figure we have lots of time to figure that one out." Dacota said as he stepped out of his space suit.

"What about the pilot?" Howard said, looking back at the IceLancer. "Where is he at?"

Dacota pointed as three of the work crew pulled Lucian out of the IceLancer, kicking and screaming to beat hell. "He's not happy, to say the least." He thought back to the battle with IceLancer. "I don't think he's a trained pilot...his reaction time was far too slow and he didn't seem to know how to use the weapon or defense systems."

Howard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting...that OMLAN would put a novice behind the controls of a Gundam..."

About that time, the three men carrying Lucian approached Dacota and Howard. Lucian tore free, and ran up to Dacota.

"Where you the crazy bastard in that thing!?" Lucian said wildly, pointing at Devils Cause.

Dacota nodded.

"You almost killed me!" Lucian started ranting, throwing his hands in the air. "Look what you did to the IceLancer...that windbag Doc Windstrom will NEVER shut up about this one! And you owe me a deck of cards too!!!" Lucian said, pulling the ace of spades from his hair (it had been there for a while ^_^) and shook it in Dacota's face.

Howard turned to Dacota. "What do we do about him? Lock him up?"

"Nah...he's no threat. The IceLancer is in no condition to leave here, and Devils Cause would probably kill him....he'd be stupid to try and leave." Dacota looked back to IceLancer.

Lucian crossed his arms and fumed. "So I'm stuck here!? ...great...just great...."

"The Devils Cause doesn't look damaged." Howard remarked, turning back to Dacota. "Anything need repaired?"

"Well...nothing is damaged at all, except for the communication system." Dacota shook his head and pointed at Lucian. "He blew it up. The power his gundam's comm. system puts out is HUGE...I think he had his range set to max, and his power all the way up ....and he tried to send me a message. We were only a few hundred feet away from each other."

Howard slapped his forehead while sighing. "The IceLancer is COVERED from head to toe in transceivers! It's one huge walking radio antennae and power booster! It's made to be able to send and receive messages from all over the world and through space too....even farther than the furthest colony. I'm not surprised the comm. system exploded!"

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd fix it. And maybe beef it up a little, eh?" Dacota shook his head. "I don't want it exploding every time someone tries to talk to me."

"Yeah..sure." Howard pointed to IceLancer again. "Should we fix it too?"

At about that time, what was left of the demolished right arm of IceLancer fell from it's holdings...crashing to the ground and nearly smashing a few men. As if on cue, two large peices of amor (one from the chest area and another from the left leg) came loose from the hull and also smashed to the ground.

"Uhmmm....yeah. Fix it." Dacota nodded.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Howard looked confused, and turned to Lucian. "It's not supposed to do that, right? The amor was untouched...why'd it come loose?"

Lucian shrugged. "It shouldn't have happened...I put it together myself."

Howard and Dacota looked at each other and nodded.

Lucian face faulted. "WHAAAAAAAT?"

They didn't say a word, as one of the work crew came running up. "That gundam is a mess! Parts are missing, lots of wires are mixed up or not connected, the power core was routed through the right arm of all places and we can't disarm the self destruct mechanism ...somebody used all red wires! Who in GODS name would use all red wires!?!? ...whoever put this thing together was a real nutcase, I'll say that much..." The crew member left quickly after giving his report.

"Uh.." Lucian sweatdroped. "Nevermind."

The dinner had gone quietly. It was nothing special, but both young men concentrated on eating the warm meal of ham and beans with cornbread as if it was the best they'd ever had. Conversation had been slim to none, and it didn't look like anything would change soon.

Nadia appeared. She put her tray on the table and sat down. "Don't look so happy guys...you should calm down, or both of you will probably die of over excitement."

Her sarcasm earned her two cold glares and five more minutes of pure silence.

Tired of the quiet, she tried again. "You said your name was Lucian...right?"

"Hmmpf." Lucian grunted inbetween bites.

"I'll...uh...take that as a yes." Nadia kept quiet the rest of dinner, and afterwards she left...tired of hanging around the anti-social pair.

Night came quickly, but Lucian couldn't sleep. He was left free...able to roam about the Peacemillion as he chose. He had clearance to everything but the bridge and engine rooms, and nobody tried to stop him from doing anything he wanted. And yet...he was a prisoner. He couldn't leave Peacemillion. He was trapped, and the feeling made him somewhat ill. Sleep was impossible.

Lucian found himself in the repair hangar...looking upon IceLancer. The Gundam had been torn apart, down to the very frame and many piles of parts and wires. He sat down on a large hunk of amor, and smiled ironically. "I don't know what you were built for...but it wasn't worth it." He shook his head and sighed. "What a complete waste of my time....and my life...."

"You're wrong." A familiar voice spoke from behind him. Dacota sat down a good twenty feet away from Lucian. "You know....I've been watching you. You don't act like any trained pilot I've ever met. I'm so confused...I thought that any pilot that belonged to OMLAN would be ruthless, and very willing to die to keep the IceLancer from falling into the 'wrong' hands. I need to know, or it's going to kill me...who are you? And why did they choose you to pilot IceLancer?"

Lucian laughed. "OMLAN has nothing to do with me. They just supplied the parts and payed the Doc. I'm just the test pilot. I apprenticed for Doc Windstrom, that dirty old bastard. He had me build IceLancer for him, and I just happened to be testing it when you attacked. What could I do?" He thought for a second. "And what do mean, I'm wrong?"

"Hmm...that does explain things." Said Dacota, slightly grinning. "And...you're wrong about the IceLancer being a waste of your life."

Dacota looked into space for a second, thinking deeply about the words he was going to say. "How would you like to master IceLancer?"

Lucian looked skeptical. "What do you mean?"

"I can teach you. Howard can help. You have the potential." Dacota still looked deep in thought. "I can see it in you. You and IceLancer were made for each other...like me and Devils Cause."

"But why teach me?" Lucian looked confused. "Aren't I the 'enemy'?"

"You're not from OMLAN. And OMLAN is the enemy." Dacota got a far off look in his eye. "OMLAN is killing innocents. Destorying countries and seizing control of military forces...controlling the Earth as if it was a play thing to be toyed with. They start war after war...and kill all who stand in their way. And why? For 'the sake of peace' they say." Dacota laughed. "Lies! All of it! OMLAN seeths with greed...it seeps through every poor of every member of the organization. Their only goal is total control of Earth...and eventually space. The IceLancer was created to destroy the colonies...along with three other suits. Devils Cause was built to destroy those four suits before they could be used against the colonies. And I guess....what I want to ask is....will you help me? IceLancer needs a pilot...you are it. And if we don't stop OMLAN...who will?"

Lucian was surprised. He'd never expected such a powerfull speech to come from someone as silent and solitary as Dacota. "Why? Why should I get invovled?"

Dacota pulled out a pen and a peice of paper, and wrote something down on it. He folded it up very small. "If you really want to know, this is the only reason I can give you." He handed it to Lucian and walked away, leaving Lucian alone again in the huge repair hangar.

He slowly unfolded the paper, and read Dacota's final argument.

"The only people who die with shame, are those who die without fighting."

Dacota woke early, and went straight to Howards office. He didn't bother looking for Lucian....Lucian would approach him when he made his decision. Howard was waiting, as usual, with a large pile or readouts.

"Whats the news?" Dacota seemed anxious.

"Well...give me about 48 more hours and lots of luck, and the IceLancer will be 100% opperational again." Howard handed Dacota several estimation documents, and readouts on the IceLancers specifications. "Also, the Devils Cause's new cannon should be ready in a few days...and the comm. system is fixed too."

"Great." Dacota smiled breifly, and started to leave.

"AND..." Howard said smiling. "...I've heard from Doc J..."

"Oh?" Dacota sat down for this one.

"He's not happy. He said 'the instructions were to destroy the gundam! not bring it back!' ...but I told him that as of now, it looks like we'll have two Gundams on our side instead of one and he seemed to feel better after that." Howard thought for a second. "Although I don't know who's gonna pilot IceLancer."

Dacota smiled to himself. "Anything else?"

"Ohhh yeah...nearly forgot." Howard scrambled to find a paper on his messy desk. He found what he was looking for, and handed it to Dacota. "Mission breifing."

The boy snatched the paper out of his hand, and scrambled to the Devils Cause.

"Dacota....I hear you've brought back a souvenier from Nebraska. DON'T DO IT AGAIN!!! The second Gundam has been completed....it is the suit Artemis. It can be found at the GDF in Greensboro, North Carolina. Destroy it."

The message was barely read before Dacota had left the hanger.

"Mission accepted."

* * *

OMLAN GDF: Greensboro, North Carolina

"So this is for the arm….lessee here…." Aramith moved one of the joysticks towards him and the suit raised it's left arm. After a little playing around Aramith grinned and began moving the arms in a particular pattern. "HEEEEEEY MACARENA!" He laughed huskily to himself until the cat meyowed loudly and dug it's claws into his thigh.

"SHIT! The hell was that for, p-" Aramith's eyes bulged as he spotted two armed guards entering his part of the hangar. :oh I'm done for now….oh man….oh this just isn't good…:

The taller of the two guards looked up at the suit, while his companion flopped into a chair. "Whatcha make of this thing?"

The tall guard shrugged his shoulders. "The hell'm I supposed to make of it? 'S'not like they let us know shit about this thing."

"Mmm…" The smaller guard fiddled with the skematic still lying on the table. "Hey…. where's the manual?"

"Huh?"

Aramith looked to his feet and the open manual, mouthing "shit" over and over again.

"It's not there?"

"No, look for yourself, man." The smaller man looked up towards the suit and squinted his eyes.

"Well someone musta taken it home then. Don't worry about it."

"Mmm…kay." The two soldiers grabbed a cup of coffee each from a nearby vending machine and exited the hangar.

"Thank the gods." Aramith wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled slowly. "Well, I think that's m'cue to get the hell outta here, ne, puss?" He smiled and grabbed the instruction manual. "Now, lessee how to open that hatch and get that line to come back down…"

After 10 minutes Aramith frowned. "Goddamned…..can't find it anywhere! He threw the book down, unintentionally stomping on the foot pedals as he did so. A harness instantly wrapped around his chest and hips and the suit shuddered once before shooting upwards, through the hangar roof and into the air above the base. Sirens instantly began screaming and lights flashing madly while a steady

stream of soldiers flowed out of their barracks.

Aramith blinked, looked to the cat, and then blinked again. "...whoops?"

* * *

Atlantis02

Sirens screeched their warning in the peaceful dome of air. Dorje looked up from where he was huddled on the floor. What … what was happening? He struggled to his feet and watched dazedly as pilots ran amok, jumping in and out of Neptunes and WaterCats. "Misha… Misha… what's going on?" The dark haired pilot leaned heavily on DarkAngel's black foot, heedless of the salt water that dripped off it.

Misha's lips were pressed tightly together. "Air attack."

"From where to… where? How big?"

The broad shouldered guard shrugged slightly. "Who else? Where else? It's big enough. Two pilots."

Dorje's heart stopped beating. For a minute, he was spinning upside down in a whirlpool of conflicting emotions. "It…" He looked up at Misha. "My mother."

A thousand words would not be enough to describe the conflict Heleni Stavros and her family had been involved in. However, it will suffice to say that her father was involved in several wars in Greece. Now fragmented into several warring factions, they had been tossing bombs around in the Balkans for several years. Heleni's father was the head of one of these factions, but had sent his family off to America to try and survive.

Dr. Papaiuano bent his head over a microphone, yelling orders to the Mobile Suit troops. Glancing quickly at Dorje, he motioned the boy to stay back.

"Doctor P, why … why …"

The doctor whirled around. "Because she is your mother," he snapped, his face red. "She is your mother."

"I want-"

"NO! Your display a few minutes ago proves that you shouldn't be allow-"

"DOCTOR! THEY'RE CLOSER THAN WE THOUGHT!!" a sweating pilot yelled, connected to Atlantis by a viewscreen. "I DON'T THINK WE'LL MAKE IT!"

"Give it all you've got!!!"

An explosion sounded through the auditory link and the pilot's wild eyes disappeared through the blinding flash of fire. Instantly, Oren's attractive face filled the screen. "Doctor, they're firing on us!"

"I gathered that! FIRE BACK!"

Dorje's breath came in pants.

"Misha, switch to aerial view on camera four."

There were four enemy fighters against three Neptunes and a WaterCat. The two enemy pilots first detected were close to their target- a red car buzzing down the highway by itself. With enough magnification, he knew they would see his mother in the car. He knew. The other two enemy pilots were behind, firing on the Neptunes and the WaterCat. Suddenly, one of the Neptunes burst into flames and careened into one of the forerunning enemy's Mobile Suits. Both of them tumbled to the ground.

Oren grimaced slightly, then, with a determined but grim smile, he switched off the viewscreen. However, he didn't leave the audio off. "Dorje, I know you can hear me. I know you're there. We've had some great times together. Great times, Do-dear."

"No!! OREN!!!"

"Dorje, please, don't try to stop me. My Neptune is almost… gone. I can't hold out even if they weren't attacking. Doctor, I'm going to self destruct. Mission… accomplished."

Dorje's mouth was open, but no scream issued forth.

Suddenly, on aerial view, several things happened at once. One of the enemy pilots fired, exploding something on the ground. Something smaller than a Mobile Suit. Probably the size of a car. Then, one of the Neptunes exploded, taking out two enemy pilots. However, the WaterCat also was caught in the blast and burst into flames.

It was at this point that Dorje shut his eyes and covered his ears, tears streaming from behind his eyelids. The day was lost.