Author's note: In my opinion, a lot of people seem to think that Heero is a cold, ruthless individual. If you watch him carefully throughout the series, that really isn't the case. The closest he comes to that is in the first couple of episodes, what with threatening to kill Relena (and ripping up her birthday invitation!). While he suppresses his emotions in battle and focuses entirely on the mission, outside of combat he's actually a kind-hearted, if withdrawn, individual. After all, he's the one that tells Trowa that "The best way to live a good life is to act on your emotions." Also, if you've seen Endless Waltz, then you know that Heero is deeply haunted by some of his past actions, hardly the trait of an emotionless killer. While reading this, please try to keep in mind that this all takes place after the main series (well, after Wing, anyway!), so all of his 'character development' as we might call it still applies here, and he will continue to grow through his experiences in the Cosmic Era.

Well, I've said my bit. Enjoy!

Episode Two: Cosmic Era 71

Heero Yuy struggled back to consciousness, vaguely aware of a beeping coming from his machine's sensors. Shaking his head, he could feel a slight throbbing in it, but as he regained awareness and looked himself over, he found that he had no real injuries anywhere. Well, apart from a bump to the head, apparently, he thought, but he could tell that it wasn't a concussion, and examining his reflection on the visor of the helmet that lay next to the pilot's chair, he could see that there was no blood. I got lucky, it seems. Perhaps I should actually start wearing that thing again. He didn't particularly like it, he knew that they tended to get stuffy and hot after a while, but he was also aware of the safety advantages.

He was jarred from his thoughts as the beeping from his Gundam's sensors increased in both pace and volume. Checking them, he noticed that three vessels were approaching. Two were smaller than the other, about 130 meters in length, and looked like chisels with four boxy protrusions coming out of it diagonally. Missile pods by the looks of it, he thought. The larger vessel in between them was more robust, with a blocky structure and a point dividing the bow into two launch bays. The vessel was 250 meters in length. All three craft were bristling with weapons.

Wing Zero's sensors also picked up high levels of background energy, of an unknown type. It appears to be scrambling surrounding neutrons. Even space has some free floating atoms. But why… Suddenly Heero realized what the purpose of the energy was; to disrupt nuclear reactions. Bringing up his Gundam's fusion reactor status display, he was relieved to note that it was functioning normally. I guess the Gundanium alloy of the suit and the reactor casing are blocking the energy. Knowing he could fight if need be, he returned his attention to the incoming vessels.

The two escorts were moving to flanking positions on either side of him. The two smaller craft had launched four mobile armors each, while the central warship had launched fourteen. They're moving into an attack position without even opening communications? What's up with these guys? Zooming his main cameras in on one of the smaller craft, he noted that it appeared to be a small fighter-like ship. It had a delta shaped main fuselage, with bulky side pods with engines installed. Two forty millimeter machine guns framed the cockpit section, while slung below was a linear magnetic rail gun. The vessels all shared a dark violet color scheme, similar to OZ's space Leos.

Wanting to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Heero opened up an unencrypted communications channel. "Attention incoming vessels, I have no intention of fighting you."

Before he could continue, another voice immediately got on the line. "Liar!" it yelled, obviously male, "Everyone knows that only Coordinators use mobile suits. Surrender or die."

Coordinators?, he thought, What the hell is he talking about?

Checking his sensors, he noted that in addition to standard radio waves, the main warship was using a wireless network to help coordinate its squadron. "Good," he said to himself, "I can use that. Zero, patch into their network and download all the files you can. We need information."

The cockpit's main screen flashed green in acknowledgement as the Gundam's highly sophisticated system began to hack into the enemy's primary database. Meanwhile, Heero drew and ignited one of his beam sabers. The Twin Buster Rifle is overkill for this situation, and I'll need to conserve the ammo for the shoulder gatlings until I can find a reliable supply source. The green blade came to life in the Gundam's right hand, and Heero charged forward.

He started by slicing through the right engine block on one of the mobile armors, sending it spinning out of control, away from the fighting. Knowing that it would be recovered later, Heero began to attack the other fighters in a similar matter. Killing them will make me enemies that I really don't need right now. Maybe if I fight this way they'll see reason and stop attacking. However, the enemy did not seem to get his message, and he was forced to continue fighting. Rail cannons and missiles filled the space around him, but to the Gundam pilot the attacks were easily avoidable. Wing Zero maneuvered faster than its enemies could track, and in a flurry of green slashes, Heero quickly disabled the remaining fighters.

However, the warships were still attacking, filling space around him with high explosive shells. "You're next," he snarled. Charging towards one of the smaller escorts, he slashed its main turret completely in two, and then proceeded to disarm the missile launchers that had been trying to get a lock on him. Soon smoke was coming from where the weapon emplacements had once been on the ship, although there were very few flames. "Should be only minimal casualties," he muttered.

Switching his attention to the other escort, he soon had that vessel disabled as well. He was about to get started on the main warship when a white flare shot up from it. "Enough! We surrender," said a deep voice, most likely the ship's captain.

Heero was about to reply when the Zero system sent him a message on his main screen. "Download complete," it read. "No need to stick around here then," Heero said. Gunning his engines, he blasted away from the battlefield, soon well out of the enemy's radar range.

Checking his own radar, he saw that he was clear of any other vessels. He also noted his own position for the first time since he had arrived in this strange new universe. He could see the Earth in the distance, though he was quite a considerable ways out from it. Adjusting the zoom of his main cameras as much as he could, he noted several colony clusters, although all of them lacked the wheel-like structure he was used to. Some of them looked like giant cigars that had been stuck into asteroids, probably for resource mining purposes. Others in different locations had an hourglass shape to them, with large, disk-like shapes protruding from each side, which he soon made out to be solar panels.

He sighed, taking stock of his situation. "Well, Zero, we're not in the Earth Sphere we once knew, that's for damn sure." Turning his attention towards the files his Gundam had retrieved during the brief battle, he settled in and began to read.

….

A few hours later, Heero leaned back in his chair, took a sip of water from his canteen, and sighed. Well, that answered a few questions, but brought up more in their place.

The files had given him a rough idea of where, and more importantly, when he had wound up. I knew from the designs of those ships and mobile armors that they were not of OZ manufacture, but still…

To think that he had travelled to an alternate universe….

Well, that was quite a lot to take in, to say the least.

Apparently, he had wound up back in the Earth Sphere, but the timeline had diverged considerably from his own. Rather than switch to After Colony, the A.D. calendar system had switched to Cosmic Era, or C.E. Right now it was early February, year C.E. 71. Nearly a year ago, on February 14th, forces of one of the Earth Alliance's primary member nations, the Atlantic Federation, had launched a nuclear strike on the agricultural colony of Junius Seven. The death toll was almost a quarter of a million people, nearly all civilians. This incident became known as the Bloody Valentine Tragedy. This colony was one of many that belonged to the Coordinators, a new race of genetically engineered humans, who had recently declared their independence from the Earth Alliance. Tensions had been building between Coordinators and Naturals, unmodified humans, for quite some time before hand, but all attempts at mediation had failed.

Still, a nuclear attack on a civilian colony… Heero did not like the implications inherent in that strike. Junius Seven had been one of the Coordinators' few major agricultural centers. The fact that it had been targeted first suggested that more than simple military strategy had been behind the attack.

The colonies, collectively known as the PLANT, quickly acted. Their military force, known as ZAFT, standing for the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, used new devices called N-Jammers, which made nuclear reactions impossible under most circumstances, to prevent another nuclear strike. Good thing Wing Zero's Gundanium alloy blocks its energy, Heero thought. He also noted that the jammers severely hampered long range communications, making such contact sporadic at best. ZAFT had first seeded outer space throughout the Earth Sphere with the N-Jammers, which was a move that Heero could certainly approve of, but their next plan left him with decidedly more negative feelings.

Operation Uroboros, Phase One… That had involved seeding the Earth itself with N-Jammers. Since much of the world's energy had, at the time, come from nuclear power, the result was an unprecedented energy crisis. Hundreds of thousands died from a combination of exposure and starvation, and again, like Junius Seven, the deaths were primarily of civilians. Both sides seem to have little sense of discretion. Even the Earth Sphere Alliance and OZ weren't this bad, at least not at first. What followed afterward did not improve his mood.

The second part of Operation Uroboros involved a full-scale invasion of the Earth, signaling ZAFT's decision to fight an offensive war, rather than simply stay behind the N-Jammers and attempt to bring the Earth Alliance to the bargaining table. Since then fighting had raged on both the surface and in space, with heavy losses on both sides.

"As of right now," Heero muttered, "ZAFT controls its own colonies at Lagrange Point Five, and has gained control of North Africa, Taiwan and some of mainland China, and Australia on Earth. Both sides now appear to be in a stalemate, at least on the ground." In space, however, it appeared that ZAFT had an advantage, primarily due to the GINN series mobile suit, which was the mainstay of the ZAFT space forces. Apparently, the Coordinators were the only ones in the Cosmic Era capable of piloting mobile suits, due to their enhanced mental capabilities and physical reflexes. As Heero had read, it had become apparent that the Earth Alliance was lagging behind the U.E.S.A. and OZ from his own world in that respect.

"Looks like they're stuck on the software," he said. The first mobile suit ever developed by OZ, the Tallgeese, was originally considered to be far too sophisticated for most pilots to handle, due to a combination of design complexity and the fact that the sheer acceleration could kill the pilot if they couldn't handle it in a very precise manner. Just like the Gundams that had come afterwards, very few people had ever been able to pilot the suit and take it to its maximum potential. However, OZ had managed to create a greatly simplified operating system, which was installed on the mass produced Leo mobile suit. This became the basis for all other mobile suits, although the software developed by OZ would never be compatible with the far more complicated Gundams and the Tallgeese, meaning that those units would only ever be used by the greatest pilots of the era. The Earth Alliance of the Cosmic Era had obviously failed to make the key breakthroughs on the operating system, meaning that they were stuck with mobile armors and other older model vehicles until they could overcome that obstacle.

Even with the ability to produce and operate mobile suits, however, ZAFT had thus far been unable to press its advantage due to the sheer numbers available to the Earth Alliance. Heero had noticed in the files a trend; the Earth forces tended to win, or at least, fight to a draw, with the ZAFT units only win they outnumbered the enemy at least five to one, and even then they took heavy casualties. After the initial advances of ZAFT in the early weeks of the fighting, the struggle had clearly become a war of attrition.

However, Heero had more important things to worry about than the weapons and strategies used by the two combatants, although the latter did trouble him. While Wing Zero's fusion reactor would produce an unlimited supply of energy, it would not be able to give Heero food, water and, most importantly, oxygen. I didn't think the Barge operation would take very long, so I went light on supplies. Now that's biting me in the ass. He had enough air to last for the next 24 hours, but he would eventually have to find a place to resupply. And this time, he mentally added, make sure my air tanks are filled to maximum. Also, it would have to be nearby, and the only groups in the general area at the moment were, unfortunately, ZAFT and Earth Alliance units. Heero would have preferred to go to Orb, a neutral nation that had shown up several times in the files, but he had a feeling that a mobile suit unseen by any other power in the Cosmic Era would draw some major unwanted attention to the island country.

Unfortunately for Heero, he would have to choose a side in the conflict, at least temporarily. While the actions of both nations left him with decidedly mixed feelings, particularly their actions at the start of the conflict, joining one or the other would give him access to all the materials he would need in order to survive for the immediate future, and would give him somewhere to get some much needed rest and plan his next move.

"My best choice would be the Earth Forces," he murmured. Although ZAFT had superiority in space, the Earth Alliance still controlled the majority of the planet, which meant that they had access to the most resources. Also, the fact that he was a Natural who could pilot a mobile suit might rub some Coordinators the wrong way, although Heero knew that it was only due to the intensive training he had undergone since a young age that had allowed him to master the Wing Gundam and eventually Wing Zero. However, he didn't want to just join any particular base; in fact he couldn't because, due to his limited air supply, he wouldn't be able to reach any of the terrestrial bases. The best choice would be a warship, and the ones he had encountered earlier were not equipped to provide maintenance to mobile suits.

He leaned forward, did some typing, and pulled up a file on the main screen. In fact, there was only one ship in the entire Earth Alliance with the facilities and technical support he would need to operate from; the battleship Archangel. A new model warship, it had recently been completed and launched from the Heliopolis colony. "Strange though," Heero mused, "Heliopolis is an Orb colony. Does this mean they're reconsidering their position of neutrality?" In addition to the Archangel, five prototype mobile suits had also been built. However, before the Earth Forces could take possession, a ZAFT strike team attacked the colony, and managed to steal four of the prototypes. The fifth, however, remained in Alliance hands. More importantly, Heero noted, it had actually been able to fight against the ZAFT forces, along with the Archangel. "Have they solved the software problem?" he wondered.

He concluded that the Archangel represented the best possible option available to him under the circumstances. She must be nearby, Heero thought. According to the files, the squadron that had attacked him was part of a vanguard of the Earth Alliance's 8th fleet, which was trying to link up with the new warship. Pulling up their maps of the Earth Sphere, Heero was able to use the data compiled on the Archangel since her escape from ZAFT at Heliopolis to track a rough course of the ship. According to Alliance communiqués, the ship had made her way to the Eurasian Federation fortress of Artemis. However, shortly after their arrival, ZAFT forces had attacked and destroyed the base. An Alliance patrol recovered survivors who reported that the Archangel had survived and escaped, along with the fifth prototype mobile suit, the GAT-X105 Strike. From there, the ship had had sporadic communications with the Alliance, due mainly to N-Jammer interference.

Apparently they made their way to the Junius Seven debris field, he noted, most likely to try and salvage some usable supplies. I doubt they launched from Heliopolis with a full load-out, considering ZAFT's surprise attack. The last communication in the files stated that they had left the debris field and were making their way towards the Earth. The 8th fleet had been ordered to link up with them and escort them to the Alliance's Alaska base.

Pulling up his own maps, he input all the navigation data he could find, and managed a decent recreation of the new environment he had found himself in. I'll have to update it once I reach the Archangel. Soon he had a rough idea of where the ship should be.

"Well, Zero," he said, powering up the Gundam's engines, "let's move." As the mobile suit picked up speed, it transformed into its fighter mode. Soon it was at maximum acceleration, racing across the stars towards a rendezvous with destiny.

….

Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, commanding officer of the Earth Alliance battleship Archangel, was having a bad day. A beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, with long, flowing brown hair and gentle brown eyes, she let out a string of uncharacteristically vehement swear words. Murrue was normally a kind and polite lady. She was currently wearing the white uniform of an Alliance officer that did nothing to divert attention from her tall, curvaceous figure, particularly her rather ample breasts. The fact that she was using such coarse language underlined the seriousness of her situation.

She braced herself against the arms of her command chair as the ship was rocked by another hit. Damn it, she thought, there's just too many of them.

ZAFT GINN series mobile suits, gray and green units sporting heavy machine guns and missile launchers, were all over the place, and the Archangel's close-in weapons could only handle so many. The massive white warship, at 420 meters in length, was truly an imposing sight even when it was swarmed by the enemy. It had a large central fuselage, above which towered the bridge, behind which were mounted row upon row of Helldart anti-air missile launchers. A broad wing ran under the main body, along with a U-shaped structure just aft of the bridge which came up into two tall fins, on which were mounted the Valiant Mk.8 Linear Cannons. Jutting out from the tail edge of the fins were two rounded-rectangle-like protrusions, which housed the warship's heavy missile launchers. From the front of the ship jutted two large leg-like structures, which housed both the linear catapults for launching mobile suits and the vessels incredibly powerful Lohengrin Positron Cannons. The ship was coated in thick Laminated Armor, designed to not only withstand physical rounds and missiles but also disperse and reduce the power of beam weapons.

However, for all her powerful weapons and tough armor, the Archangel was taking a pounding. The Gottfried Heavy Beam Cannons, mounted at the joints of where the 'legs' of the two pronged bow attached to the central part of the ship, were spewing out emerald death, though they couldn't fire the heavy Lohengrin Positron Cannons at the end of the 'bows' due to the risk of hitting their allies. The close-in-weapons were sending forth steady streams of 75 millimeter shells, but the GINNs were highly maneuverable, and only a few were hit by the barrage. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga in his advanced mobile armor, the Moebius Zero, was doing his best, and indeed several of the machines had already fallen to his linear cannon and four wire-guided gun pods, but he was just overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers. Kira Yamato, the young Coordinator who had volunteered to pilot the Strike in order to protect his friends aboard the warship, was similarly engaged with two of the stolen GAT-X series machines now being wielded by ZAFT, the Aegis and the Blitz. The blue and white machine was strong, but it was outnumbered, and its pilot was an inexperienced teenager. The other two stolen machines, the Duel and the Buster, were savaging what remained of the vanguard sent by the 8th fleet that was supposed to be their escort. In the distance up ahead of the fighting were ZAFT warships, an azure Nazca-class destroyer, shaped like a bird with up-turned wings, flanked by five green T-shaped Laurasia-class frigates, hanging back like sharks waiting to strike a large wounded whale.

As if that weren't enough, she fumed, now I have another mess to deal with. Before the battle had begun, while they were in the Junius Seven debris field scrounging for supplies, Kira had recovered a small life pod with a teenage girl inside. Apparently, there had been a memorial delegation sent to the area by the PLANT to mark the one year anniversary of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy. The group had come across an Earth Forces patrol, and there had been a fight. The girl had been put into the pod just in time, as the ship had been heavily damaged, and the crew killed. Having a survivor from such a mission aboard the Archangel was troublesome enough, but what really made the situation complicated was that she was none other than Lacus Clyne, daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne.

Now she had been brought to the bridge by Flay Allster, the red-headed daughter of Alliance Vice-Foreign Minister George Allster, who had come out with the vanguard group aboard the Montgomery, most likely to see his daughter, since a civilian politician did not, in Murrue's opinion, have any business being in a warzone. The girl was in a state of near-panic, shouting that they should use Lacus as a hostage in order to get ZAFT to withdraw. This was in stark contrast to Lacus herself. The lovely pink haired girl was a picture of calm and grace, hands clasped in front of her. Clad in a simple white dress, her light-blue eyes expressed nothing but pity for the girl who was trying to use her as a bargaining chip.

Murrue didn't have time for this. We're being shot to pieces, she thought.

"Incoming GINNs dead ahead!" shouted the radar operator.

Murrue looked up towards the main viewport, where indeed the two suits had made it past the ship's point defenses.

"No…" she whispered, "It can't end here." As the two machines leveled their weapons at the ship's upraised bridge, it seemed as if all was lost. However, just before they could fire, two spears of yellow light pierced them, causing both to detonate.

"Radar," she yelled, "where did that come from?!"

The man at the post responded, "Unidentified craft approaching from three o'clock!"

"On screen!" she ordered.

A strange fighter-like ship appeared, with a yellow and red bow which flowed back into an oddly shaped white fuselage, with blue and white wings. Two large canons framed the bow. Suddenly the craft started to shift and contort strangely.

"It's transforming…" she said, her voice hushed, not quite able to believe what she was seeing.

It became a large white and blue mobile suit, with the two cannons combining into one massive beam rifle in its left hand, and a green beam saber appeared in its right.

"Whose machine is that?!" she cried out.

"Unknown," came the reply from radar, "there are no matches in the database."

The bridge crew looked on as the new mobile suit moved quickly into the thick of the swarm of GINNs harassing the Archangel. It hacked into one with its saber, then leveled its rifle and fired, sending forth a large blast that took out three more suits.

"In a single shot…" she whispered, still hardly able to believe what was happening. Two more fell to its saber, and another went down under a withering barrage from two gatling canons that were mounted on its shoulders.

Suddenly the radar man shouted out, "The Montgomery!" Murrue turned to see the 250 meter long Nelson-class battleship take two large emerald beams fired by the main guns of the Nazca-class destroyer. The hit resulted in a spectacular fireball, tearing the vessel in two.

"What… daddy…" said Flay numbly, unable to believe what had just happened. She then sank to the deck, letting go of her hostage, and started shrieking hysterically, tears flowing.

"Flay," said Sai as he came up to her, the blond haired young man taking the girl in his arms. Like her, he was a civilian from Heliopolis who had been taken aboard the Archangel just before the colony had been destroyed. Due to some of the crew being killed before they could board the ship, he and some of his friends had volunteered to help out on the bridge.

"No! Let go! Let me go to daddy!" she cried out, trying desperately to shake him off before fainting.

"Get her off my bridge!" Murrue yelled, hating how harsh she sounded, but she had no time for politeness.

She was startled to see Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, her black haired second in command, suddenly grab Lacus and bring her towards the communications console. Before Murrue could say anything, she was broadcasting on an open channel.

"Attention ZAFT forces!" she began, "We have Chairman Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne, on board." All fighting suddenly ceased. Even the mysterious new mobile suit, which had just destroyed its tenth GINN of the day, ceased fighting and turned toward the Archangel. "By chance we came across her life pod and brought her aboard for humanitarian purposes. However, should you continue attacking us, her safety cannot be guaranteed." Natarle took a breath, and then continued. "We are willing to trade her in return for a cease-fire."

There was a pause, and then the image of a man with long blond hair and a mask, wearing the white uniform of a ZAFT commander, appeared on the main screen. "Your terms are reasonable. Do I have your word that the girl will not be harmed?"

At this, Murrue stepped forward and forced Natarle to stand aside. "Yes," she replied, "I give you my word as commander of the ship."

The man nodded, "Very well. We will recall our remaining units. We'll send the Aegis to retrieve her when you're ready."

"Understood," replied Murrue, "Let us recall our own craft. We'll have the Strike's pilot take her to the Aegis after it's recharged."

The man nodded again, "Fine." With that he cut the communication.

Murrue looked at Natarle, who returned her stare without flinching. "I won't apologize," said Natarle, "I was acting in the interest of this ship."

Murrue nodded. "I know, but I still don't approve of using hostages. However, I'll overlook your actions this time. Recall Kira and Mu La Flaga, and have both of their machines repaired A.S.A.P. Also, try to open a channel with the new mobile suit."

However, before they could do that, the communications officer chimed in. "Lieutenant Ramius, we're being hailed by the new mobile suit."

Looks like they beat us to the punch, she mused. "Put them onscreen."

She was surprised to see a young man appear on the screen. He looks about the same age as Kira! He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. However, unlike Kira, whose face was always a beacon of gentleness, this young man seemed to have a cool edge about him. Murrue would have pegged him as a cold individual, except for what she saw in his eyes. There seemed to be a sense of weariness, and more than that, of sorrow, the kind that came from a lifetime of battles.

The young man spoke, and while cool, his voice didn't strike her as hostile, but simply calm and up-front. "Everything ok over there?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes… thanks to you. We appreciate your assistance."

"Don't mention it," he replied.

Murrue hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "I hope you won't find this to be rude, but… who are you?"

The young man shook his head. "Not at all, but that's something I'd prefer not to discuss over an open channel. May I come aboard?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes, we'll open the bay doors immediately. Please come inside."

He nodded. "Roger that," he said, then cut the link.

She stood up and looked at her second-in-command. "Natarle, you have the bridge."

"What?" she said, clearly surprised, "Where are you going, Lieutenant?"

Murrue smiled as she headed for the door. "Why, to welcome our guest, of course. It would be rude not to greet him myself. After all, he did save our lives, remember?" With that she was out the door.

….

The tech crews were swarming over the Strike and Moebius Zero when she arrived in the hanger. However, she noted that several others were looking upon the new mobile suit in awe. Can't say I blame them, she thought. The machine was unlike any she had ever seen. Unlike the Strike, which had reverted to its dull gray form now that it was out of combat and its Phase Shift Armor, which gave it its distinctive coloring, was inactive, this suit retained its color. This suggested that the machine did not use that type of armor, but there was something about it that gave her the feeling that it didn't need it, that whatever material was used in it was far more potent than the system the scientists at Heliopolis had come up with. The machine was far more massive than the Strike, and it seemed to exude a sense of power and majesty that the Earth Forces' new prototype just couldn't measure up to.

Noticing Mu La Flaga amongst the onlookers, she made her way towards him. The tall blond mobile armor ace turned and waved. "Quite a sight, eh Lieutenant?" he said.

She nodded, and looked up at the suit. "Is the pilot still inside?"

He nodded. "Yeah… no wait, the hatch is opening."

Indeed it was, and the young man she had talked to stepped out, typed on a small keypad next to the hatch, which closed it up, and floated down towards the onlookers in the low gravity. He was clad in a black pilot's suit, and had a pistol holstered at his waist.

He gently touched down on the deck with quiet grace, and looked at the crowd. Before Murrue could come forward, he spoke. "I'll say this just once; if any of you tamper with that mobile suit without my supervision, the self-detonation device will activate. The entire ship will go up in flames." All the techs who had previously been drooling over the machine now stepped back in apprehension.

Murrue took this as her cue to step forward. "I'll have them keep their distance. However, I'm assuming you will want maintenance done on it eventually, at least to reload your shoulder gatlings."

He nodded. "If that wouldn't be too much trouble. I'll supervise the process. No offense, but I'm cautious when it comes to this suit. It's not something I want falling into the wrong hands, whether it be the whole thing or the technology behind it."

"I understand," she replied.

She held out her hand. "My name is Murrue Ramius, Lieutenant, Earth Alliance armed forces, and commanding officer of this ship. On behalf of all of us, welcome aboard the Archangel."

He took her hand in a gentle yet firm grip and shook it. "I'm Heero Yuy. It's nice to meet you."

She nodded. "Thank you for your help earlier. We'd be dead without you."

"No problem," he replied, "but before you get the wrong idea, I had my own motives for saving you guys."

She smiled. He's an honest guy, at least. "I'm sure you did. Would you like to continue this conversation in the officer's lounge? As I'm sure you understand, there's a lot I need to ask you about."

He nodded. "Fine by me, but don't you have a hostage to release?"

She winced. "That wasn't my idea, but unfortunately it's now the plan we're operating under, at least until we get some distance between us and ZAFT. My second-in-command will supervise the transfer as soon as the Strike is ready. We can talk in the meanwhile. Right this way." She headed towards one of the doors, Heero following suit.

….

When they arrived, they found that the room was not unoccupied. Kira Yamato, the young, gentle, brown-haired pilot of the Strike was in there, along with Lacus Clyne. That's right, I gave him permission to use this room. It was the least she could do, considering the danger he put himself in on their behalf. As for the girl, Kira had likely brought her here to keep her away from the Allster girl.

The two looked up as Murrue and Heero entered, and she noticed that Kira's violet eyes were lined with red. Was he crying? She knew he didn't like fighting, and now his friend Flay had lost her father… the poor kid was probably wracked with guilt. She was relieved to see that Lacus at least appeared to be comforting him, with a pale, slender hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, we'll leave if you want us to," said Kira, and both he and Lacus turned towards the door. However, Murrue shook her head. Though she was sure that Lacus would be good comfort to him, she still didn't want him to leave her sight, at least for right now. This is all my fault. If I hadn't talked him into piloting the Strike, then maybe… But she knew that there had been no other choice. He had been then only person available who was able to handle the machine in battle, and the Archangel would have been lost were it not for him.

"No, it's alright. I'd like you two to stay. You don't mind, do you Heero?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

The four of them sat down at a nearby table. Murrue took it upon herself to make introductions. "Kira, Lacus, I'd like you to meet Heero Yuy. He's the pilot of the mobile suit that helped save this ship earlier."

Kira held out his hand. "Nice to meet you… and thanks for the help."

Heero nodded and shook it. "Don't mention it."

Lacus held hers out as well. "Yes," she said, "I too would like to thank you. I am most grateful for your efforts."

Heero took hers as well. "You sure about that? Those were your countrymen I killed."

She sighed. "Yes, I'm aware of that. It's sad, but if you had not fought them I would have been killed, along with the others aboard this ship. They are good people, and I would not wish for any harm to come to them. Of course, the ZAFT soldiers are good people too, but…" She paused for a moment, and sighed. "War can be so cruel."

He nodded. "Believe me, I know what you mean."

Murrue decided to speak up. "We're all grateful for your help. However, there are some things I need to ask you." He nodded. Encouraged, she continued. "First of all, who are you working for?"

"No one… at least not at the moment," he replied.

Murrue was surprised. "Then how did you come by that suit?"

"I took it," he said, "simple as that."

"From whom?" she pressed, "Who built that suit? Where was it made?"

Heero was quiet for a moment, then said, "That's… complicated." He then stood up. "It'd be easier to show you than to explain. Come with me, all of you." The other three stood up and followed him out of the lounge and back to the hangar. He floated up towards the mobile suit's cockpit hatch, opened it, and motioned for them to come along. It was a tight fit, as the three of them stood on the open hatch peering into the cockpit as Heero's hands flew over the keyboard.

He looked up at them. "What I'm about to show you is a recording of my last assignment. No doubt you will find this to be… shocking." With that, one of the screens came to life. The three of them watched as footage of Barge's debris came into view. Murrue noted the date on the bottom left corner. February, A.C. 196… wait a minute! Shouldn't it be C.E. 71?! Looking on, she saw the reactor block begin its descent towards the atmosphere, and witnessed the massive power of Wing Zero's Twin Buster Rifle as it blasted the large piece of debris.

She saw the explosion, saw the rift that had been created…

Saw Wing Zero enter it…

The monitor went crazy with light, and then there was static for a few seconds. When the next image appeared on the screen, there was a blank line where the date should have been. Then she saw his brief skirmish with the Earth Alliance squadron. She, Kira, and Lacus watched in amazement as he quickly disabled all of the mobile armors and two of the three warships before the third surrendered. Heero then touched a key, and the screen went blank.

….

Heero looked up and smirked as he saw the three of them look first at the blank screen, then each other, and then finally at him. The look of shock on their faces was priceless. I should do this more often, he thought.

He chuckled quietly, and then looked at them. "Yes," he began, "I, and my mobile suit, Gundam Wing Zero… are not of this world."

….

Murrue entered the bridge, Heero right behind her. There were some questioning looks as she took her seat while he stood right behind her, but they soon turned their attention back to the monitors as the Strike launched out of the hangar and headed towards the waiting crimson Aegis mobile suit with Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne aboard.

As her bridge crew focused on the hostage release, Murrue turned towards Heero. "So, you're sure you want to stay with us?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure why, but Zero thought that I should come to this world." He had briefly explained to her earlier about the complex system that helped make the suit so deadly, but she had had a hard time wrapping her head around it.

Heero continued. "I'll stay aboard the Archangel for the time being. You can consider me a mercenary if you like. I'll fight to protect this ship… and to find out what my purpose in this world is." He looked on as the transfer was completed and the Strike began to head back towards the ship, then turned to Murrue. "Is that acceptable to you?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'll have one of the officer's quarters readied for you. It shouldn't be much of an issue, since we're pretty much traveling with a near-skeleton crew. You can transfer your belongings there when you're ready." She paused, and then smiled. "Welcome to the crew. I'm sure we'll need your help in the days to come."

Preview for next time!

As Heero settles in and meets some of his new shipmates, he encounters a new set of problems. Flay Allster holds both him and Kira responsible for her father's death, and lashes out at the earliest opportunity. Meanwhile, ZAFT forces still pursue the Archangel, and Murrue is going to need all the help she can get in order to get her ship and crew to the relative safety of the 8th fleet. Will Heero and Wing Zero be the salvation she so desperately desires? Next time, on "Journey to a New Battlefield", Episode Three: Gauntlet.

Hope you guys enjoyed that. As I noted last chapter, my updates will be much slower from this point onward, due to my rather detail intensive writing style, as well as other stuff (hey, I have a life outside of this, you know!).

Until next time! Please review!