WN: I still have an issue with formatting, so it's going to stay pretty plain, text wise. But at least the paragraphs are seperated.
Quatre looked around at all the cheerless faces. His friends had not looked so grim since before the end of the war. That is, all except for Heero, and even the stone faced wonder seemed more dismal than usual.
"You've all heard about the attacks on the colonies." Duo began, taking the initiative. "Well, they've gotten worse." With a sigh, he shuffled through the small pile of papers that were in front of him. He glanced at Heero, leaning against the wall behind him, looking for moral support. Duo found none. "A lot worse then they should, considering the military's explanation of a 'weak radical group'." Duo bit his lip, pausing to look over the papers in his hand.
Heero took up the silence. "The group is strong. Whoever they are. We are being sent to stop them. No press, no civilians. We will live out of Howard's ship." Once the few sentences that had to be spoken were done, Heero let his head fall forward and his eyes close. He didn't want to see his more pacifistic companions react to the news.
"We leave in two days. Wing Zero and Death Scythe are already in orbit. Sand Rock is being launched in a few hours; Shenlong and Heavy Arms will be up before we are. They'll all be kept in carriers so civilians, and the enemy, don't know we're coming." Duo's frown became more apparent as he stuffed the papers back into their folder.
Duo stumbled into the small, private galley the gundam pilots were sharing on Howard's ship, and headed straight for the coffee pot. Through half closed eyes he was able to see the digital readout of the clock. "I just fell asleep..." He muttered to himself, managing to catch a mug out of the cabinet and pour himself some of the life giving black fluid. "Mmm, caffeine."
While Duo was pursuing his morning drink, Heero had seated himself at the table. The braided boy nearly lost his coffee and his head when he tried to sit in the chair Heero already occupied.
"Sorry!"
"Hn..."
Heero scowled at Duo, but it didn't keep the small smile off the American boy's face. Be it from the coffee or the thought of irritating Heero, one could not be sure.
A miraculously alert Wufei was the next to take a seat at the table, followed closely by an equally awake Trowa. Duo simply sat in a morning stupor, waiting for someone else to talk for a change.
Quatre was only a few minutes behind his friends, with Howard in tow. Acquiring his own mug of dark roast, the blonde let the ship's owner do the talking.
"G'morning boys. Nice to see you all up so early."
Howard was just to cheerful for Duo's groggy mind. "It's not even two in the morning. Why am I awake?"
Howard laughed. "That's two in the afternoon on my time, my friend." Duo managed to mutter something about rocket-lag before Howard went on. "To business. A few unforeseen technical complications have put us a touch behind schedule. So, this is going to be quick. The enemy has managed to block communications with a transport shuttle that was headed our way."
"What was on the shuttle?" Quatre asked, face in the steam rising from his mug.
A small muscle in Howard's lip twitched, giving away his otherwise intangible hesitation. "Some supplies we need. There won't be another chance to replace them for weeks...We need you guys to get the shuttle back."
Heero narrowed his eyes at the old man, considering for a second how necessary it was that the pilots knew what was aboard the transport. He found it necessary enough to question command. "What exactly was aboard the freighter?"
Avoiding eye contact, Howard ecohed his initial explanation.
"What was aboard the freighter?" Heero repeated coldly.
Swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat, Howard met Heero's eyes. "Another Gundam. One that wasn't finished in time to be of any use during the war. The systems were too advanced for even the good doctors to finish it on schedule."
"Is the pilot with it?" Trowa asked.
Nodding, Howard looked troubled. "Dannie's aboard. Taken by surprise. Probably captive or still unconscious in the carrier. They obviously haven't realized what is in the cargo bay, or it would have been moved already."
"How long has he been out there?" Duo was instantly awake. Sleep deprived or not, it was time to take action. "And when do we leave?"
"We lost communications an hour ago, and just pinpointed the location. You leave in ten minutes, or as soon as we get you suited up. Whichever is faster."
In complete silence, the newest pilot lay in the cockpit of the newest Gundam suit, within the confines of the freighter's cargo bay. There was barely enough evidence of life to think a mouse was aboard. The suit prevented a heat signature from escaping. The whisper of breath was almost nonexistent. The heart beat was slowed as far as the body could bear. It would only be time before a single red light indicated the company of the other Gundam pilots. Only then would it be safe to move.
There was a crackle of static before Wufei adjusted the radio frequency. Heero's steady, calculating voice came through without visual.
"...Sixteen suits. Three rings of decreasing number, with one alone in the center on the freighter itself. Pilot most likely inside the freighter. We cannot risk damage to..."
Duo's voice cut in. "And that means that we have to draw them out rather than attacking full on."
"Perhaps you should tell us something we do not already know." Wufei said sharply.
"We do not have time to argue. Trowa will stay back until we have them away from the center. The rest of you, let's go." An audible click punctuated the conversation as Heero turned off his radio manually.
It was almost time. There had been talking on the frequency the suit's radio was set to monitor. The other Gundams were close now; the new pilot could feel it. The carefully suppressed heart rate began to climb and shallow breathing became deeper as the pilot took themselves out of their nearly comatose state.
Quatre was so surprised by the sudden life signature on his display that he forgot to dodge the attack of the suit he was engaging. The bean sword's strike, thankfully, was caught by the edge of Sand Rock's shield. "There's someone alive!" He called over the radio to his friends, pushing away from his opponent to find a moment of peace. "In the cargo bay, they're alive."
With a triumphant laugh, Duo finished off the last of the suits that had formed the center ring of five. "I'm going in!" He declared, disregarding a warning from Trowa. The Death Scythe flew past the guard of the inner ring of suits, Duo's determined face almost plastered to the view screen in his cockpit.
Something unexpected happened before he had come close enough to try and board the ship. The blade of a beam saber pierced the armor of the freighter, from the inside. Duo had only a split second to dodge before the contents of the cargo bay were blown into space. Along with a few barrels of miscellaneous junk and building supplies was the Gundam Howard had mentioned. All things considered, it looked rather plain. It held a beam saber that, when unused, docked in the left shoulder. The pilot was in the process of drawing the weapon's twin from the right. There were guns mounted on the shoulders as well, and a panel on each leg that possibly held a number of projectiles. Nothing Duo saw would warrant its production taking half again the time of the other suits. There was a split second where the Gundam itself turned to face Death Scythe, as if staring down a rival, before Duo's trajectory took him out of range for such a thing.
A radio link was established between the new suit and the boys' existing network. It was faulty though, carrying only a degraded and broken audio signal. "Thank...for help...But we...get out...trap... box..."
"Did anyone ever stop to consider the situation's potential as a trap?" Trowa asked over the static coming from the new link.
A grim, "No," was the only answer Trowa received.
"I think we should think about getting out of here..." Duo said warily, eyeing the fresh set of statistics on his read out.
"There's a solid wall of suits coming this way." Wufei did not sound pleased.
"Retreat." Came through clearly from the new suit.
"I have to agree on this one..." Quatre said, already backing himself away from the approaching force.
"The mission is a success. Pull out."