Chapter Two: First Blood
KA-BOOOOOOM! The green-brown Aries suit exploded as Heavyarms' missiles found their mark. Chest heaving with his deep, shuddery breaths, Trowa Barton sat up straighter in the cockpit and scanned his sensors. He picked up Heero's Wing Zero on his screen just in time to watch a beam saber impale another Aries.
"That's the last of 'em," Trowa told Heero on the comm. "Mission accomplished." Heero grinned at Trowa's image on his commscreen. Jerking his thumb in the general direction of the base, he offered, "Want to race?"
Trowa, used to accepting any challenge that came his way, blurted out, "Sure thing!" He realized his mistake and ground the heel of his palm against his forehead, as Heero's grin grew even wider.
"Ja ne!" Heero said cheerfully. Trowa watched sullenly as Wing Zero transformed into a jet and shot away to the base, probably breaking the sound barrier. Then he lifted his shoulders in a shrug (Heavyarms mimics his movement, too! =) and began to trudge back to base.
He arrived in around an hour. As he hopped down from his mecha and let the maintenance people bundle Heavyarms off, he cast his green eyes about for his best friend. He soon spotted Heero's red bandanna blazing against his dark hair and jogged up to him.
"Hey Heero!" he yelled. "Sorry I'm so late, but we can't all have disgustingly fast Gundams..." Trowa's friendly banter trailed off as he saw the serious expression on Heero's face. Trowa grabbed his arm and demanded, "What's the matter, Heero?"
In a terse voice, Heero quickly explained: "When I arrived, I decided to fool around with my computer a bit. An item on the news server caught my eye, then I started to find connected articles...followed the trail all the way to a Federation Class Blue database." Trowa was a bit startled. He knew Heero was a good hacker, but a _CLASS BLUE_ computer system?
Heero continued: "The item was about the shipment of Gundanium alloy. The Federation has their Gundams completed, too. The Specials pilots chosen have been using their Gundams for two weeks already and giving our people a beating."
Trowa breathed in sharply in dismay. He walked along the corridor in thoughtful silence. He glanced sidelong at Heero's face. "I know that look." He smiled in grim anticipation. "So, when're we going to meet them?"
Heero returned the smile. "Soon, buddy. Very soon."
*****
"Die, rebel scum! MwaHAHAHAHAHAhaaa!" cackled Duo insanely as his thermal scythe ripped through the Rebel MS. Off to one side, fighting a squad of MS in Tallgeese-and winning- Zechs asked, "Duo, HOW do you laugh like that?"
Hilde, flying back-up and not really doing anything since the two Gundams were utterly annihilating their enemies, said boredly, "He watched a Star Wars marathon last night and he's been practicing the laugh of Ayeka from Tenchi Muyo. That answer your question, Zechs?"
Zechs sweatdropped. "I _DO NOT_ need to know more, I _DO NOT_ need to think about it..." he chanted to himself.
An image blinked on in his commscreen. It was a rebel pilot, who looked straight into Zechs' eyes and proclaimed, "I am going to kill you. For the freedom of my home."
His voice didn't ring stridently and dramatically, nor was his face twisted in the expression of righteous anger that Zechs had come to expect when dealing with announcements like this; no, it was completely unimpressive and forgettable, considering the way he said it. He might as well have said, "I'm a Mac user."
Zechs killed him, of course. And in that same, utterly boring tone of voice, the rebel said: "You killed me. But someone very much like me is going to come along, and he'll be all the things I'm not. He'll defeat you, for the freedom of my home. He'll be..."
And the man, still preternaturally serious but calm, was enveloped in a raging fireball. And Zechs cast his words out of his memory.
"Oi, Zechs!" Duo's face popped up on screen just where the boring rebel had been. "That's the last one!" he reported. "Can we go home now?"
As ranking officer, Zechs had to be the one to order the mission's objectives finished and allow them to return to base. He was just about to do so when...
"Colonel!" yelled Hilde. "Two mobile suits coming this way...fast! They're configured different from an Aries or a Taurus..." her voice trailed off. "Oh no... they're like..."
"_WHAT_ are they like?" demanded Zechs. Hilde didn't need to answer, for at that moment the Mobile Suits arrived.
A large red-white-and-blue jet, built rather like a mechanical eagle, swooped out from the blue noonday sky. Its 'talons' were clenched around a large, heavily armored mecha, who was dropped right in the middle of the battlefield.
It landed, creating a small crater. The eagle pulled up into the sky and dove down again, rapidly reconfiguring so a mecha with a longer-limbed build than its counterpart landed next to the first one.
"Run a scan!" Zechs snapped to both his subordinates.
"Running, sir," Hilde replied. "Gundanium alloy; bears a striking resemblance to Dr. H and Dr. I's blueprints..."
Zechs sucked in his breath. The other Gundams! Here for the duel that Zechs had always known would come, ever since he received his Tallgeese...but which he tried to avoid thinking about.
An image flickered on in the corner of Zechs' screen. A boy with a red bandanna around his spiky brown hair stared at Zechs. After a moment of pregnant silence, the boy spoke. "Zechs Marquise, colonel in the Specials forces. I should have guessed they'd pick you. So then..." He turned his head slightly to one side. "You must be Lieutenant Duo Maxwell piloting the other Gundam."
Zechs could imagine Duo's surprised expression on the unnamed boy's screen. How had he identified them with just a quick glance at their faces?
More disturbingly, why couldn't he identify HIM? A pilot of high enough caliber to be entrusted a Gundam should have shown up in the Intelligence files somewhere, but Zechs couldn't remember that face. And Zechs had a photographic memory, as did Duo.
He keyed a private link to his second-in-command. "Duo! Have you seen that face before?"
Duo shook his head in the negative. "Nah-uh. And where's the pilot of the other one? This image is linked back to the white-and-blue Gundam."
Another image blinked on in Zechs' screen. Now there were three images filling Zechs' commscreen: Duo and the unnamed boys.
The newest one had a pale, sharp-featured face, with light brown hair obscuring one dark green eye. "You can call me Trowa Barton," offered the boy. A smirk curved his mouth. "Well, while you're still alive to call anyone anything."
Duo bristled angrily. "Wanna back that up, tough guy?" he yelled at Trowa. Trowa shot back: "Anytime, braid-boy!" The two Gundams, black and orange, started to move into combat position, trading insults and threats at a furious rate.
The other boy stared unblinkingly at Zechs. "Well, I guess that leaves us to fight."
"Wait!" said Zechs. "What's your name? I'm not going to fight someone whose name I don't know." The boy's lips twitched, just slightly. Zechs had the feeling that was as close to a smile as he would probably get.
"My assigned codename is Heero Yuy," the boy told him. Zechs's sea blue eyes narrowed as he began to move his Gundam. He didn't miss the significance of the name, and he was sure the boy knew it.
*******
Duo jerked the joystick forward to make the Gundam Deathscythe slide to the right, out of the way of the speeding missiles. "That all you can do, spiky?" Duo taunted the colonial pilot.
"Watch out for the bullets, loud mouth!" Trowa snapped as his breastplate opened to reveal several gattling guns. "Maybe this will shut you up!" He loosed a barrage of missiles and bullets.
"YAAAH!" yelled Duo. Only his quick reflexes saved him. Gulping in some oxygen, he turned wide eyes onto the orange Gundam that had nearly roasted Deathscythe. He noticed that its gattling gun had run out of ammo.
The orange Gundam threw the guns away, revealing a knife that could withstand the thermal blades of the other Gundams. It charged at Duo. Duo jerked his joysticks to one side, causing Trowa to miss giving the killer blow.
Trowa could only watch as Shinigami's brilliant green scythe sprang up to claim its victim.
****
Heero had never fought a person who was so good a pilot. Zechs Marquise was awesome as he attacked the younger Gundam pilot, who had barely dodged Tallgeese's thermal blade.
Under the layer of titanium alloy which was Tallgeese, Zechs grinned. 'This will be a real good fight...' he thought as he charged for his Rebel counterpart. Wing Zero activated its jets and vaulted over the white Gundam charging at it.
Wing Zero pulled out its thermal blade and held it before its abdomen part defensively. As soon as Zechs saw this, he stopped his charging procedure and put on an attacking stance. His jet boosters softened their noise, a signal that they were being set on low power.
Now it was a sudden death situation. Equal odds, no holds barred. Just the way Heero liked it.
***
Trowa sprang out of the way just in time to see the scythe brush against his Gundam's arm. It tore open a gash that sparked angrily.
"URGH! You'll pay for that!" Trowa cried as he fired more rounds of bullets from his chest plate. Duo grinned as he easily dodged the bullets, which were shot from Heavyarms' guns.
Duo spoke to the former circus star. "Ready to die?" Deathscythe propelled itself towards the other Gundam who was again firing rounds of bullets at the dodging Deathscythe.
Duo smirked, he knew that this procedure would tire the other pilot down. Insulting and taunting had their effects in pilots who didn't know how to control their anger and pride. It didn't work with Zechs because of his many mock battles with Duo. But...
'This guy has yet to learn how to defeat Duo Maxwell...' he thought as he swung his scythe towards the vulnerable portion of Heavyarms' humanoid figure-its head.
***
Heero grunted as the shock of blocking a fierce blow from the thermal blade reached him. Wing Zero's engines roared like a jungle cat as they propelled its user above the white behemoth beneath.
He tapped a few keys on the panels. "Wanna play rough, eh?" he said to himself, trying to boost his confidence by talking tough, even if he was the only one who heard it. Hey, wasn't talking to yourself one of the first signs of insanity?
Wing Zero stabbed its thermal blade forward, but was blocked by a shrewd parry from Zechs. The younger pilot was getting frustrated, yet intrigued; it was rare that he should encounter a person whom he could really challenge. This would be one hell of a fight; one to remember, to put it mildly. But Heero still had a lot of options. After all, sudden death was his element.
From his memory, Zechs called up the features of this obviously experienced pilot that he was facing. He had looked as young as his buddy, Duo. Maybe he was even younger, and yet his skill was astounding. Like Heero, he had never fought someone who could square off toe-to-toe with him. Zechs had no idea of what this boy was capable of...
Their thermal blades clashed against each other, hissing and causing sparks. The battle, like a dance of two steel gods, raged for an indeterminable amount of time... until Heero saw something out of the corner of his eye.
"What the hell?!" He glanced to his side to see Trowa being beaten by the partner of his enemy. The thermal scythe, which seemed suitable for the Gundam that was attacking his friend, was pulled back and about to slice off Heavyarms' head.
"NO!!" Heero ignored his present battle and, reacting rather than thinking, began to fly towards his partner...
***
Zechs couldn't believe that Heero Yuy had just turned his back on him and flew towards Duo and that weird hair guy.
He took the opportunity to come up behind Wing Zero and slice his abdomen part off; but not before Duo's scythe sliced off Wing Zero's head, which had flown into the line of fire and stopped the blow intended for Heavyarms.
Time stopped.