Author's Note: The idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and 00 has actually been a plot-bunny that I've kicked around since the start of the second season of 00. Lately, said plot bunny has wound up having big sharp pointy teeth. It started, as it often does, with a simple question: if I were to remake the five Gundams from Wing using 00 technology how would I do it? At least for me, 00 was the spiritual successor to Gundam Wing. Both involved dropping pretty boys to Earth in machines that were vastly superior to any technology that was available to the other side in an attempt to stop war. Enough was changed that 00 is not a direct rip-off of Wing, but it's fair to say that they share similarities in the same vein that Gundam SEED was similar to the original MSG. At least 00 didn't take the machines name for name (I'm looking at you GINN, ZAKU, GOUF)

So without further ado, let's let the fun begin.

[AD 2312]

Marina Ismail shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat. She was a skilled politician and had kept her poverty and violence stricken country together these four years. She had needed to make several choices that had been unsavory to her people to keep them alive. The young man in front of her was one of those choices.

"Assalamu alaikum." The young man began with, bowing before taking the seat that she offered to him, extending her hand. "It is good to see you again Princess Ismail."

It was always somewhat unexpected to be greeted in the same manner as he would other dignitaries in the region. He had explained to her that his father had been a follower of the word of prophet, and had raised him as a Muslim.

"I wish that I could say the exact same to you Mr. Winner." Marina did her best to keep her tone level. If the young man seemed snubbed, he chose not to show it, continuing with a serene expression. He gratefully accepted a cup of tea one of the servants poured, holding it close to his lips. It suddenly dawned upon her that throughout all of their meetings, he never took a sip before she did. It was a curious thought. "The Earth Sphere Federation is once again demanding that we allow them to search your facilities. If they choose to force our hand, my control over this country will be lost. And then there was the way that your men have been dealing with civilians."

Rather than seem offended, Winner gave an apologetic smile. "I truly am sorry about that Princess. But we have the lives of our employees to worry about, who are your own people. We promised that we would bring you safe, clean nuclear power, but if a single misguided individual was to bypass our security and overload the reactor we would have a disaster. We take attacks such as that very seriously."

Winner took a log sip of his tea before continuing. "Furthermore, you are under no obligation to acquiesce to any demands of the Federation. They have not offered Azadistan a position as a member state and have isolated it from the world by spraying GN particles across the entire region. Due to our extranational status, we are the only ones providing lifelines to the outside world, along with stabilizing your economy. Azadistan does not need to rely upon any other nations Orbital Pillar to survive. All we have asked in return is the right to sell our power to you at a reasonable rate and to allow our research and development lab to remain top secret. Surely, we have proven ourselves useful in spite of all the trouble?"

It was a cheerful question, but it accurately described the difficulty: The Winner Foundation provided work, energy and some degree of independence to Azadistan. While they were distrusted by the moderates and downright hated by traditionalists the Foundation offered a chance to the most desperate and refused to give in after repeated attacks on their facilities. Their men were extremely competent, if a bit eccentric and fully willing to use lethal force when threatened. People had commented that their compound's security was superior to that of the palace.

They were also vital to the economy.

"So you wouldn't know anything at all about their claims that the parts to make an artificial GN drive are being shipped into the country."

There it was, the slightest furrowing of the brow. It was gone a moment later, skillfully hidden by years of practice at statecraft. Practice that she had at least as much with, gained swiftly in recent years where she had needed to walk the razor's edge when dealing with the new super-government which had formed around her small country.

Winner slowly set his teacup back into the saucer. "Princess Ismail…I believe you had the chance to see a Gundam in action, yes?"

"I don't know how this is relev-"

"Please." There was a pleading tone in Winner's voice. "I promise the question has a point."

Marina opened her mouth, paused and then shut it wordlessly, offering a simple nod.

"As best as we are able to tell, the original four Gundams were able to run without ever needing to visibly recharge. Now, this may have been a case of cleverly hiding their resupply points, but that would not explain their ability to continue operations over the course of 15 hours battle in the Taklamakan desert. The Federation has not even begun to approach that…which leads me to believe that they have discovered a perpetual motion machine, or something approaching it."

"A…perpetual motion machine?" It was Marina's turn to be caught off guard. "I don't think I've ever heard of that."

Winner gave a gentle smile, apparently feeling more comfortable as he settled into a more advantageous position once again. "It was very commonly sought after in the 19th century. People believed that they could make systems that produced more energy than they put in. In reality, we can only create something which seems to work that way: solar panels or systems that use the tides to turn turbines. If we could figure out what those drives would consume-"

"We'd make a fortune." Marina's eyes suddenly shot up to Mr. Winner's bodyguard who had been standing away from the main door; discreetly out of the discussion but still close enough to act. She had heard rumors of this one, stories of what had happened when someone had chosen to make an assassination attempt on Winner. "But sadly not without making a few enemies. Quat, we've got company."

Winner scowled. "They must have been watching the palace and figured that they could kill two birds with one stone. Princess, I would recommend that you get down behind the couch with me." Winner immediately got down to the floor, obscuring his position.

"Mr. Winner, there's no need to be worried. I do have guards of my own." As Marina finished speaking the sound of gunshots rang out in the hallway.

"That's a three round burst. Federation." The bodyguard twisted his head, a long braid coming loose as he pulled a pistol from a holster. "This is going to suck."

The door burst open, soldiers with rifles pointing at her. "Marina Ismail and Quatre Rebabba Winner: you are both wanted for questioning by the Earth Sphere Federation. Stand down immediately!"

The bodyguard was already moving, even as Winner let out a strangled cry of "Duo!" The soldiers had been expecting the majority of resistance to be outside of the room and couldn't randomly shoot without the risk of damaging their targets.

Duo's angle away from the door gave him a split second advantage when it came time to react. Amateurs. Didn't even bother with a gas grenade or a flashbang. The first man into the room went down like a sack of bricks. Handguns never had the preternatural accuracy that they seemed to possess in movies but that didn't mean that a trained shot like Duo easily missed at a range like this. The second was a bit quicker than his friend and, taking Quatre's shot as a warning turned to aim his gun at Duo before Duo had the chance to line up a clean shot. Yep…definitely going to suck. How they hell did things wind up like this?

[AC Timeline]

"What do you mean, "No contact"?" Duo slammed his hands down on the table. "Come on, four Preventers don't just vanish for a month without something being a big deal."

Lady Une shut her eyes. This had not been a discussion that she had been looking forward too. "What it means is that they are out of contact. It could be that they've had an equipment malfunction. It could mean that they are in a situation is too dangerous to risk a message." The possibility of capture and death went unsaid, but remained in the forefront of everybody's mind.

"What are the specifics Commander Une?" Heero asked neutrally, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

Une inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Duo Maxwell could be a handful, especially if his friends were in danger, but Heero Yuy was a consummate professional and could be counted on to be a voice of reason.

"In the months before the Barton Foundation prepared their invasion, there were a number of sites that had suspicious activity. In this case, we registered a power spike at an abandoned natural resource satellite at L4. With our forces spread so thin, and no solid leads we focused on where we suspected weapon shipments to be headed. There were never any signs of shipments, so it dropped in priority. After the invasion, we had our hands full and all signs of activity ceased. We suspected that it had been a Barton outpost abandoned after the failed invasion. Once again, we wrote it off. However, about two months ago the power spiked once again after years of inactivity, and the facility seemed to be active once more."

"And that's when you asked Quatre, Trowa and Wufei to snoop around for you?" Duo snarled, still upset from the news.

"Wufei and Colonel Po were ordered to go." Une responded carefully. "I recommended that he consult Quatre because of his familiarity with the area…"

"And Quatre would not turn down a friend in need." Heero finished. "And Trowa would never allow Quatre to go anywhere dangerous without him. While you did not order all of them to go, you certainly manipulated them all so that they would. So tell me, what warrants sending three Gundam pilots?"

Une have Heero a guilty look. "It's scary how much better at this you've gotten." Une sat back and let out a long sigh. "The location was where we found Instructor H back when OZ was hunting the Gundam Engineers."

A look of understanding dawned on Duo's face. "Which means no one knows what a team would find there. Tech specs on a Gundam?"

Une nodded. "Or maybe just Quatre's name. If it became known he was a Gundam pilot, we could have a revolt in L4 on our hands. And if someone got it into their heads that he should simply vanish…or could be persuaded to talk about the others…" Une let the words hang in the air. "I judged that discretion would be wise in this case. And why I should send you and Yuy. Trust me; coming up next is the entirety of the Maganac. To find Quatre they would tear that satellite to shreds…"

[A.D. Timeline]

"Shots fired! Shots fired!" The second ESF team swarmed into the room. Crumpled on the floor in the corner was a figure in black a gun just out of reach.

"Stand down!" The survivor of the first group called out. "Hostile has been neutralized. The packages are ready for delivery."

Their targets, arms dealer Quatre Rebabba Winner and suspected Celestial Being had surrendered, dropping to their knees with their hands behind their heads. The second team relaxed, pointing their weapons down and slowly walking over to subdue the prisoner.

"There were others too who ran for backup." The surviving soldier mentioned. "We just need to-"The surviving soldier suddenly turned, releasing a pair of bursts from his rifle into the chests of the second team. The ambushed soldiers barely had time to make a sound before they were cut down.

Marina made a small sound as she watched the bodies dropped. She was familiar with violence, but it had never been as close as this.

"Excellent work Rashid." Quatre offered the man a smile. "I was worried there for a moment before I knew it was you."

"You're telling me." Duo grimaced as he sat up, rubbing arm. "I appreciate just grazing me, but that still stings like a bitch." Duo looked back over at Marina. "Sorry about the language princess, but we're kind of on a deadline."

"People…people are shooting at me." Marina gasped, tears welling in her eyes.

Rashid bowed for a moment. "I'm sorry Master Quatre, but we need to get moving. The Maganac has prepared an escort for yours and Master Duo's escape."

"Thank you Rashid." Quatre's smile turned somewhat sour. "But I think that I will have to decline."

"But Master Quatre, if we don't they will certainly take you! Duo and I can get you out!"

"Ahh…but can you get her out as a well?" Quatre gestured toward Marina. "You can't fight or sneak your way out with both of us, and if you just take me they will certainly hang all of the blame on her. And then, what about the remaining three machines? Could you get them out in time?"

Rashid paused. "No, we couldn't…are you sure?"

Quatre nodded. "I'm sure. Duo?"

"Yeah Quat?" Duo pulled himself to his feet, pulling gear off of one of the deceased soldiers, disguising himself.

"I think shinigami needs to make an appearance." Marina noticed that Quatre's smile never stopped while he spoke, but had finished the transformation from delighted to grim. She didn't recognize the word, yet it filled her with a sense of dread.

Duo paused halfway putting on his gear. "Are you sure?"

Quatre nodded solemnly. "Yes."

A grin started against the edge of Duo's lips, curling practically from ear to ear. Unlike the casual one that Marina had always seen him wear, there was no mistaking the predator in that smile. It was a smile that was all teeth and no joy. "It's time to put on a show."

Duo quickly finished putting on the gear, running down the hallway with Rashid. Quatre sank back to his knees as the sound of shouting grew closer. "Maktub." It was a word that Marina recognized.

Roughly translated: "It is written."

[AC Timeline]

"Ok, 'Ro, this has officially crossed over the line to creepy." Duo looked over at his partner who, as usual, was hitting quietly in the chair in his shuttle. Upon entering the resource satellite's hanger they had found a Preventer shuttle, strikingly similar to their own, docked in place. "I mean, there power is still on. They kept life support active. It doesn't look like they left it in place for any long term storage…"

"And yet it's been running for a month." Heero looked back at his partner, his monotone never wavering. "It also tells us something very important."

"Oh?" Duo offered a puzzled look.

"It means no one has come to turn it off."

[A.D. Timeline]

The ride back to the compound was tense. This was, in part, due to the large number of roadblocks set up throughout the city but when you drove in a car with the A-LAWS symbol emblazoned on the side, that tended to deter a lot of questions. But for Rashid, the most disconcerting part of the drive was Duo.

He wouldn't stop smiling.

That was one of the most wonderful and terrifying things about the Gundam pilots: they had been made for war. Even Master Quatre, who hated war, transformed from the quiet diplomat and became the Desert Prince, who was as calculating and brutal as he was charismatic.

In Duo's case….

"Open the gate." Rashid called into his radio as they approached the Winner compound. The building itself had been placed next to an older nuclear power plant, which had been partially built in years past, only to be torn down. The plant had already been seized, shiny new mobile suits glinting in the sun as red GN particles sparkled in the air. Quatre's compound, though spacious and of a suspected terrorist, did not rate anywhere near the priority as the royal palace or a nuclear power plant and up to this point seemed to be left alone apart from a few deep gouges left from beam scars.

A large steel gate slid open as the uncovered jeep pulled through. Duo and Rashid raced inside, running to the basement.

"Ahmad, what is the status of the shuttles?" Rashid asked impatiently, his head on a swivel, as if he expected an attack at any moment.

"The four are loaded and ready to go." The mustachioed man replied. "They're running hot and the crews are in place to launch. Where's Master Quatre?"

Rashid said nothing for a moment, a guilty look betraying the anger and worry he was doing his best to hide. "There's been a change of plans. Can we fit everyone in three shuttles?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Ahmad offered a confused look. "But what happened to Maste-"

"We'll the launching the 02." Rashid talked over his subordinate. "Shinigami will be going out before us."

Ahmad blanched, slowly turning to look at Duo. "Oh my…it went that badly, did it?"

[AC Timeline]

Sometimes, nothing is the scariest thing of all.

When you are expected something to pop around the corner at every moment, the sight of nothing running out to meet you, no alarms blaring can simply mean that the alarms are silent and the people preparing a trap for you have the advantage of knowing exactly where you are.

It also meant that Duo needed to be absolutely silent for half an hour.

Heero counted his blessings.

The resource satellite, as best they were able to tell, had no signs of life: no recent footprints in the dust, no clatter, no food. Nothing would signify that anyone would be there at all except for the fact that the power was on.

"It's like the Mary Celeste." Duo groaned as they made their way into the control room.

Heero chose not to comment, instead sitting down at the computer terminal and began rapidly typing.

"Uh…'Ro? I just made a witty remark. Would you like to comment on it?"

"Someone checked the docking activity and expense reports about a month ago." Heero intoned, ignoring Duo. "Some minor activity a few years ago. Nothing a decade before that…" Heero paused. "There's a program." The hacker turned back toward Duo. "At the end of each long gap of inactivity, someone ran the exact same program. Also…a month ago."

Duo paused, his mouth hanging agape for a moment before shutting it. "Well there's only one way to find out."

Heero said nothing, but after a few long seconds nodded and entered a few keystrokes. Alarms began to blare as a steel doorway at the end of the hall whined in protest as it began to slide open. A brilliant blue light filled the hallway as the gap grew wider, filling the room.

"Hey Heero, what's th-"

[AD Timeline]

The first sign that anything was wrong for A-LAWS Commander Briggs was a brilliant flash of red light out of the corner of his eye.

"Stow that! We don't need anyone hitting the wrong thing and making us ground zero for the next Chernobyl."

"Sir?" A nervous voice called back. "None of us fired."

"Then who-"

Briggs turned only to be greeted by the sight of a GNX-III, commonly referred to as he "Jinx" by most frontline pilots, standing with a hole through the cockpit. The strike had been placed to take out the pilot and GN Drive in one shot, silently killing one of his men.

"There's someone here!" Briggs raised his Ahead's lance, eyes furiously looking over his sensors. How the hell had the bastard gotten so close? His question was answered seconds later when another Jinx fell, sliced diagonally with a flash of gold.

"At Five's position! Saturation doctrine!" The three remaining Jinx backed off, firing at the position of their fallen comrade. It was hard to hit an unseen opponent, but even from this range even seemed to be more blurred. The focus became clearer as crimson GN particles clashed off the figure. The blur disappeared entirely seconds later, replaced by a glow which all veterans of the Celestial Being campaign could remember as a GN field. The machine was black and gray, with what looked like a set of heavy armor protecting the torso. In its hand clutched a long beam scythe, the blade glinting gold.

"He's a beam user. Release the gas!"

It was a command that was easier said than done. All GNX-III and Ahead models carried canisters of anti-beam gas specifically in case of situations like this, but fumbling for the canister left a moment when you were vulnerable, your attention distracted. Most simulations had been against old Flag or Enact models, not a high speed GN machine. It took only a few seconds to deploy the gas, but a few seconds was all that the black machine needed. What looked like an extra cloak of armor flew open, becoming a pair of bat-like wings. The black machine grabbed the center of the handle as a second beam arched in the opposite direction. The black machine twisted, becoming a whirlwind of destruction as the final three Jinx fell to the ground in pieces, secondary explosions rocking them as the machine died.

"You bastard!" Briggs roared, raising his lance for a charge. The gas had spread now, causing the enemy's weapon to flicker and fade. The pilot seemed to realize this, moving backwards for a moment as Briggs charged. Briggs could see an arm go up, and suddenly there was something flying at his face. Out of reflex he brought his lance up, batting it to the side. It took him a moment to realize that the enemy's shield was now gone.

"Nice party trick." Briggs grinned wickedly, readying his lance for another charge. "But now you're out of th-"

His words were cut off as warning alarms screeched about damage to his rear. His Ahead shook as the cockpit was breached and the GN Drive overloaded.

Duo walked over slowly to the last of the downed machines, pulling his Buster Shield out of the back of the enemy machine. "We have a new model of mobile suit Rashid. Be sure to tell the others when you get there."

"Got it." Rashid's voice crackled over the speakers. "Are you alright for being the distraction?"

Duo grinned, a hint of his old humor back in his eyes. "Oh, why not? The new 'Scythe runs like a dream and it seems as good a time as any to announce that we're here.

Duo brought his new Gundam into the sky, positioning himself above the raging city. Toggling the controls, the black wings billowed red GN particles, pumping them into the air as they swept across the desert landscape. People in the city below watched in terror as a pair of crimson wings shot out into the sky. Moments later, the power in most of the city flickered off, and the ground forces of the ESF found themselves with a city in chaos.

Amidst all that, no one noticed three shuttles disappearing into space.

[A.D. Timeline, 2310]

"-at" Duo finished as the light faded, and the two found themselves in a completely different place that before.

"So…" The pair turned to see Quatre, sitting calmly at a desk. "You finally decided to come."