The Ball Out In Space!
"So why are you guys giving me all this stuff?" Keli asked everyone. It had been about five months since the Orion suit incident, and they had all brought her back to the PL base, and they were giving her a bunch of high-tech stuff to use. "I'm not joining PL."
"We know that," Kassy began, "this is just in case something happens in the future."
"Like the world collapsing," Keli muttered as Kassy handed over a green watch, with the PL logo in silver. Keli opened it up, and a black screen stared up at her. "Is this a watch, or a communicator?"
"Both," John said.
She glanced over at a small pocket computer, which was green, with a silver top. "Why are you wasting your money on someone who isn't even in PL, and who no longer has her Gundam?" Keli put on the watch.
"You are our ally, and should have a way to communicate with us if you need help," Emily explained, "Plus the fact that we all agreed to let you have this stuff."
Keli shrugged, and accepted all the stuff. It was nothing she didn't already know about in terms of technology, but still... it was pretty cool to be getting stuff like it.
"Well, I gotta go for now," she told the agents, "my grandfather will get a little worried."
"Okay then," Angelina said slowly, "Byebye."
Keli walked out of the base, and got onto her motor cycle--the NEW motor cycle she had gotten after she demolished her old one. This one was green, silver, and gold, instead of black, green, and silver.
She got back home, and walked inside. "Grandfather!" she yelled out. There was no answer.
"Grandfather!"
Keli walked over to the secret door, and walked down the stairs, after gaining entry. She passed through the second door, and saw something she thought was gone forever. She gawked at the sight.
"ShootingStarr," Keli muttered. She was now staring up at the Gundam, which looked almost like it had before. She hadn't been down into the lab since the Orion thing, and didn't even know about it.
It looked even more powerful this time, and instead of being green on the chest, white on the body, and silver on the wings--it had larger, gold wings; a stronger body, which was silver; and the same type of chestplate, which was still green.
She saw her grandfather, who was at the control panel across the room. He was looking at the videophone. "What the hell?" Keli asked herself. Why did he rebuild my Gundam? He should have told me about it... and why is he communicating with someone in the lab?
"I've almost completed the new ShootingStarr model. It will be ready for shipment in two weeks," he said to whomever he was talking to.
"Good. We could use the extra firepower," the other person replied. It sounded so familiar to her...
She crept closer. She was almost able to see who it was. Just a little further...
CRASH!
Keli yelled out as she tripped over a steel box in front of her. "DAMNIT!"
Grandfather looked over at the girl who was in a heap on the ground. Keli heard loud laughing.
"Owe. That hurt damnit," she muttered, still on the ground. Her grandfather walked over and helped her up.
"Why are you down here?"
"Umm...you weren't in the house so I came down here to see what you were doing," she mumbled.
The laughing ceased as Keli got a good look at the screen. "I knew you sounded familiar," she told Quatre. Trowa, Wufei, Heero, and Duo were standing behind him. Duo started laughing again.
"Shut up, damnit. Or else."
He stopped laughing, and grinned, "You can't do anything."
"Wanna bet?"
"Oh yeah, by the way, nice outfit," he smirked. Keli looked down, noticing her clothes. She was wearing the oldest pair of jeans she owned, an old black shirt, and a denim jacket that was at least three sizes too big. Her hair was messy from the ride home, and a backpack was still over her shoulder.
"Okay, enough bad-mouthing each other," Keli's grandfather muttered.
"He started it!"
"I did not!"
"Will you two stop it? We have something to explain," Heero said, looking really annoyed.
Keli nodded, "I guess..."
"Good," Quatre told her, "We are all at the natural resource satellite that my family owns. There have been a lot of recent attacks aimed at the Colonies. It could have to do with us as pilots, and we can use all the help we can get."
"That's why ShootingStarr was rebuilt, wasn't it?" she asked her grandfather.
He nodded, "Yes. Quatre contacted me four months ago, and it seems to me that they could use it. They can find a good pilot. Or get one of the PL agents to do it."
"I have an idea," Keli began, sort of sarcastically, "How about I pilot it? I do know how, and it is my Gundam, after all."
"No way," Wufei said, "we don't want to risk anyone's lives except our own."
"Well screw that. I'm the best pilot for ShootingStarr and you know it."
"You won't be safe," Heero told me. "Space is now a dangerous place."
"I don't care. I risked my life before, and I also helped in the destruction of the Orion suit, and if it weren't for Kassy shooting me, the mission would have gone off perfectly. I don't have anything else to do, and besides, the five PL agents could help too."
"If you want to come here, fine," Heero gave in, "but I refuse to be responsible for you if you get hurt."
"I won't get hurt," she insisted, "I'm not a little kid ya know. And PL could help too. Kassy told me that the technology staff just recently completed five mobile suits for them to use."
"Then contact them. If they can come, we could use their skills," Trowa told her.
"Okay. Think of it as done."
"What kind of mobile suits do they have?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know."
"I guess that's okay."
"I'll call you later," Keli said, glancing towards the door to the lab, "but right now I'm loaded with homework."
Heero nodded, "Your grandfather will fill you in on everything."
She nodded, "I'll see ya later."
"Yeah," Duo answered.
"Ja-ne," she said, walking back upstairs. Her grandfather kept talking after she had gone, to get more details.
After he was done talking, he came up to her room, "Okay, fill me in," she told him.
He nodded, "A new spaceship from an unknown origin has been attacking the colonies in space. They have been done for no reason. The group is very strong, and for once, it's not some hopeless OZ or Romeafellar rebels who haven't figured out that the war is sort of over."
"Are there any major changes to ShootingStarr that I should know about?" Keli asked.
"Quite a few, actually. I gave it a much more powerful beam saber, the speed has been increased, and its basic fighting capabilities have been in increased fifty per cent. It also has a larger fuel capacity."
"Damn. You've been busy."
"I knew that this would happen sometime soon, so I decided to be ready. And it was for a good cause. Now don't you have to contact Peace Legacy now?"
"Yeah." She called them, being careful not to say anything out of the ordinary, and they all came over quickly.
"Okay. What's this all about?" Kassy asked her, mad because she had been studying at the base while the others were working.
"Come with me," Keli instructed, leading them down into the lab.
"A Gundam?" John asked, seeing it as the group walked into the laboratory.
Keli nodded, "Yeah. It's a newer model of ShootingStarr, actually. I just found out about it today, surprising enough. Grandfather must have a credit card I don't know about. Anyway..."
Angelina butted in, "Why do I have a feeling that this involves us?"
"Because it does," Keli told her, "the Gundam pilots have been in contact with my grandfather for some time now, and they need a little help out in space. That's why I have another Gundam sitting in the lab.
"There's something else too. I was kind of wondering if you guys would come along with me," she finished, smiling innocently.
Emily pointed at Kassy, "She decides. That way, if we all get killed, she's the one to blame."
Kassy's jaw dropped, "You're evil."
She grinned, "Damn straight."
"I hope all of you agree to come," Keli told them. "Even the pilots said they could use your skills."
"As long as they don't all put their lives in my hands," Kassy muttered.
"Of course not," John began, "We'd never trust you to have that much responsibility."
She lunged at him, and started hitting him. Keli just stared, and then started laughing, along with everyone else.
Keli glanced over at Karen, Emily, and Angelina, "So you'll all do it?"
Emily nodded, "Definitely. I don't think I'd ever miss out on a piece of the action."
"Me either," Karen commented.
Angelina grinned, "As long as Kassy doesn't kill John, I'll go."
Kassy looked up. "I'll do it."
John pushed her away from him, "Me too. Just as long as crazy insane girl doesn't get near me."
Kassy glared at him, and he shrunk down, "What were you saying?" she asked in a really low voice.
"Err...nothing."
She nodded, and smiled smugly, "That's better."
Keli grinned, "I just need to call them all, and tell them." After she was done with the phone, she knew they would leave in approximately a week, as soon as spring vacation was in.
"Great, we don't even have to skip a day of school," Emily muttered sarcastically.
"It would look odd if six people stayed out of school for the exact number of days, especially if they're all best friends," Kassy commented, seeing the truth.
Keli nodded, "Yeah, so unless you want people to figure out this little circus, I suggest you do that."
They all nodded, and after she filled them in even more, they all left.
The week passed by real quick. It was now the day after they got out for vacation. Keli woke up, and immediately went to the shower, and dyed her hair back to normal again. Being blonde was beginning to affect her. She also got her hair "cut" so that it was the length it was supposed to be.
She got back out of the shower, and brushed out her new hairdo, glad to have brown hair again. She put it up in a ponytail, as always.
She walked back into her room, to find some new stuff--a new coat, which was still the same silver color, only this one went down to her ankles. With them came a pair of dark green pants, a gold shirt, a green shirt, a black shirt, a black pair of pants, a black pair of shorts, and a regular pair of jeans.
She also noticed a spacesuit, hanging on a hanger by her door. It was mostly black, but had a silver stripe going down one arm, a green, gold, and silver stripe across the chest and another silver stripe down the arm on the other side. It also had a silver helmet that was completely opaque.
Keli glanced at the clock on her wall, and saw that it was almost time to go, so she slipped on the black pants, the gold shirt, and the trenchcoat, and then put on a pair of black boots.
She walked downstairs, and saw her grandfather in the kitchen, reading the morning paper, "Thanks for the stuff," she commented.
He nodded, "I figured you would want a new coat, and the other clothes looked like things you would like. The suit was specially made."
Keli grinned, "You know me way too well."
He smiled, "Go finish getting ready. You have to meet the agents at the base in an hour."
"Right." She went back upstairs, and packed all of her stuff in a small backpack, which was all she could hope to fit inside the Gundam. When she was back down in the lab, she walked over to the elevator that would take her up to ShootingStarr's cockpit, and went up.
She managed to find a place to store the baggage, even though it was a tight squeeze. Luckily, she was going to steal a carrier, along with the other agents.
Her grandfather came down, and she sat down in the cockpit. "Ready for takeoff," she stated. The wall opened up to the tunnel, and she blasted out into broad daylight.
It was a dumb thing to do in the daytime, but it was easier than waiting till night. The group would steal the carriers from the military base, and take off. She reached the base, and saw that her friends had already done some damage.
As Keli Iooked on, a carrier took off into the sky, and was followed by another one closely. She glanced at the ground, and saw the small form of Kassy, who was working on loading her suit onto a carrier.
"I'll watch your back," Keli told her as Kassy kept loading the suit, which was covered by a large cloth now. Keli centered in on her as she nodded.
As soon as she was done, Keli landed herself, and just flew into the carrier, not worrying about loading it properly. She felt it leave the ground, opened the cockpit, and got out.
She joined Kassy in the cockpit of the plane, and Kassy glanced at her. "New jacket?" Kassy was wearing her Peace Legacy uniform, the one she had used before.
Keli nodded, "Yeah. Since you destroyed the other one."
She sighed, and put the plane on auto-pilot. "What's the location of the satellite?"
Keli gave her the coordinates, and she input them. After a long time of flying, they reached their destination, and landed in the cargo area. The suits were unloaded into a warehouse-type place. Keli laughed as the technicians uncovered Kassy's suit.
It was a purple and black Taurus suit. They placed it next to the other PL agent's suits. Keli could tell whom each one belonged to. John's was navy and white, Karen's was baby blue and white, Emily's was red and white, and Angelina's was pink and white.
They put Keli's suit by the Gundams, which were stored on the other side of the vast room. Hers was placed beside Wing Zero, which was by DeathscytheHell, Heavyarms, Sandrock, and the Altron.
"Where is Quatre?" Keli asked one of the men.
"Just go up there, and walk down the hallway. It's the last door on the right. You can't miss it," he instructed, pointing to a railing high above them.
She nodded in thanks, and pushed off, beginning to float in the gravity-deprived room. Kassy followed her to a door on an upper floor. Keli leapt over the side of a railing, and walked inside the door.
After they went down the hallway, they walked into the room. They saw the PL agents sitting around a fireplace in chairs. "What's wrong with this pic?" Keli asked Kassy sarcastically.
She laughed and they all looked in their direction. "Keri-chan! Kassy-chan!" Emily said, looking up at the two.
"Where's Quatre and everybody else?" Keli asked them.
Just as she said that, a door from across the room opened, and the five Gundam pilots walked through. "You're all here," Quatre stated, looking at them all.
Keli nodded as he sat down in another chair. Heero stayed where he was, Duo leaned against the wall, Wufei went across the room to stand in the other doorway, and Trowa walked over and stood by Quatre.
"Welcome. The Colonies are getting frightened at all of this that has been happening. Now that OZ, Romeafellar, and White Fang have been demolished, they are blaming the recent attacks on us Gundam pilots," Quatre explained. "By the way; this is Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, and Wufei-Chang. I'm Quatre Roberba Winner, and I'm sure you all know Duo, since he went to Earth awhile back."
Keli nodded, "I'm hoping that we can assist you with this little problem. And I'd like you to meet the five Peace Legacy agents; Kassy, John, Karen, Emily, and Angelina," she told them, pointing to each one in turn.
Keli grinned as she remembered something she had to do; namely revenge. She slowly began to walk towards Duo, being careful not to make herself noticeable. Quatre noticed, and smiled.
After she was close enough she lunged. Duo heard her and turned around as he got kicked. She didn't kick him as hard as she had wanted to, but he fell back.
Quatre and the agents burst out laughing. He slowly got to his feet, "I guess I kind of deserved that."
"Okay, enough fooling around," Heero began, using his everlasting monotonous voice, "There will be a major test for all of you tomorrow, one that was planned a few weeks ago, before we knew you would all be coming. Quatre had invited the main military powers of the Colonies and Earth here for a meeting to discuss these problems. A ball will be held tomorrow night before the meeting, which will be held the next day. The five of us as Gundam pilots will be expected there, and you six might as well come too."
"A ball?" Kassy, Emily, Karen, and Angelina asked at the same time.
Wufei nodded and spoke. "These attacks have been getting closer and we might have to fight. If we do, we'll need to establish total peace for at least a small time so we can fight."
"If you don't mind, you'll all be staying here tonight. I don't suppose you brought any formal wear..." Quatre trailed off.
Keli stared at him, "You've gotta be kidding."
He shook his head, and smiled. "I'll show you all to your rooms." He led them to their rooms, which were upstairs. Keli's was the first down a long corridor, with Kassy's next to hers, Emily's next to hers, Karen's next to hers, and Angelina's next to hers. John's room was situated across the hall, next to the other pilots.
Keli woke up the next morning around eight, and quickly took a shower and dressed. She walked over to Kassy's room and opened the door.
"It's nine in the morning," Kassy mumbled as she was shaken by Keli, "come back later."
"Come on and get up," Keli told her. She sat up and glared at her.
"How can you be so damned chipper?" she asked, staring at the outfit Keli was wearing, which was a pair of black pants, a green top, and black boots.
"Because I'm used to waking up early, unlike you," she explained.
"Fine. I don't think I can go back to sleep anyway."
Keli left her room, and got all the other girls up. They all got dressed, and the whole group went to John's room.
Keli walked into his room, and saw him reading something. He turned around as she walked in. "Good morning. I was about to go wake you all up."
"What 'tcha readin?" Kassy asked as she looked over his shoulder at the sheet of paper. She read the sheet of paper aloud, "I have taken the liberty of finding a few outfits for you all to wear tonight. Tell them to meet us this morning at ten-o-clock AM in the dining room. It's signed by Quatre."
"Well its about ten now," Karen stated, "maybe we should go."
They left the bedroom, and found the dining room. A large table was beside a huge window, which overlooked a small, but elegant flower garden.
"This place is classy," Angelina commented, sitting down beside John at the other side of the table.
"Yeah, but where's everyone?" Emily asked no one in particular. "Never mind."
Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei came in and sat down. "Where's Quatre," Keli asked Duo, who sat down beside her, across from Heero.
He shrugged.
"Now that you're all here, I can tell you what will happen tonight," Quatre explained, entering the room. "I have a list of everyone attending the meeting and ball." He gave the list to Duo, who glanced at it, and gave it to Keli.
She read it to herself. Lt. Noin, Sally Po, St. Une, a few people she didn't know about, Relena Darlian...there were more names, but she stopped after that, not really interested anymore. Relena, the name sounded so familiar to her. Then she remembered where she had heard of it.
It was about a year ago, when Earth and the Colonies were in open war. She was actually Relena Peaceraft.
Keli passed the note to Kassy, and she passed it to Emily. One-by-one, all of them read the list. Trowa handed it back to Quatre.
"Now that you all know who will be there, maybe you'll stay," he said, smiling.
"You wrote John something about that right?" Angelina asked him.
He nodded, "Yes I did. I found you all clothes to wear for tonight."
Keli stared at him. "I'm not wearing a dress."
He looked back at her, "You can't exactly waltz into a fancy ballroom in a pair of jeans and a shirt."
"Well, I'm not wearing a dress."
Kassy glanced at Keli, and then whispered something to Emily. She grinned, and spoke, "Keri-chan, if you go to this thing, I won't call you Baka-chan for the rest of your life."
Keli shook her head, "No."
She shrugged, "Okay, Baka-chan. Have it your way."
Keli flinched when she said that, and remembered the last time the same thing had happened. Emily had called her Baka-chan until Keli had given her three hundred dollars for her to stop.
Keli rolled her eyes, "Fine. Just don't call me that name ever again!"
They all ate breakfast, and then went up to their rooms to get their clothes altered by a few of Quatre's attendants. Keli was forced to sit still for at least an hour, which she had a hard time of doing.
When it was near time to go down, she walked into Kassy's room, and found everyone there, besides John. "Why are you guys all in here?" Keli asked them, looking around.
Kassy was wearing a long-sleeved purple dress, lighter purple gloves, along with shoes the same color as the gloves. Her hair had been curled slightly, and was left hanging down. Karen wore a baby blue sleeveless dress, and her long blonde hair had been crimped into waves. Emily was in a red dress with long sleeves, and her hair had been pulled into a bun behind her head. Angelina had on a pink sleeveless dress, and her hair was held up with chopsticks a lighter color than the dress.
They all stared at Keli, who was wearing a green spaghetti-strapped dress, with elbow-length silver gloves, and silver shoes, with nothing done with her hair. She hated people messing with her hair, except for Angelina or Kassy.
Angelina looked at her, then back at Kassy. She held out her hand, "Brush."
Keli sighed, and sat down in a chair. After Angelina was done, her hair was piled on top of her head, with a few small strands hanging down. "Now isn't that better?" she asked her, holding a mirror in front of her face.
Keli raised an eyebrow, "And the point of this was...?"
She grinned, "Much better."
Keli got up. "I'm going to get John."
They all came with her to go to his room. He opened it and came out before they could do anything. Keli almost collapsed in laughter. "Okay. Now that's funny!" she snickered. John was in a black tuxedo.
"Look at yourself," he muttered. He smiled, "The guys are supposed to escort the girls into the place. So if you don't mind, I'll take Angelina."
She nodded, "Fine by me."
Keli rolled her eyes, "When would you not agree to that?"
"Never," she replied.
Quatre came out in a white tuxedo sort of blushing, and walked up to Karen, "Mind if I take you in?"
She shook her head, "Go ahead."
Trowa came out next, with him in a black tuxedo, and went up to Emily, "Would you like for me to escort you in?"
Emily blushed, and nodded, "Sure."
Heero walked out of his room, with pretty much the same tux as John and Trowa. He did nothing. Wufei came out of his room next, and also didn't do anything.
Duo walked out of his room last, and almost fell down laughing. "There goes the universe."
"Oh shut up. You look just as bad as I do," Keli muttered, frowning her I'm-about-to-do-something-because-I'm-really-pissed-off-frown.
Heero walked over to Kassy and asked her to go with him, and she agreed, not wanting to stick around any longer. They both left along with everyone else except for Duo and Keli.
"Damnit. Not all of them think I'm weird," she mumbled.
"You are," he insisted.
She turned around and glared at him, "I am not weird. Seriously wondering what the hell I'm doing up here is another thing."
"Then why did you come up here?"
"Because I thought that we would have to fight. Not go to some messed up ball with all these people who were essential for the war. But I suppose I should go, it never hurts to have friends in high places."
"Or low places," Duo muttered so she could barely hear him.
Keli started walking, and he followed her. She had a really crappy sense of direction, so she didn't really know WHERE the place was, and it didn't help the fact that Quatre didn't even tell them.
"Umm, where are we going?" Duo asked her.
"Well, you know your way around here. YOU find the place!"
He shrugged, "Kay, I guess." He turned a different direction, and started walking that way. Without anywhere else to go, she followed him.
"Do you even know where you're going?" she muttered more to herself than to him.
"Hai, of course I do. 'S not like I haven't been to one of these damned things here."
He opened a door, and Keli saw a bunch of people either standing, sitting, or dancing a very large room. Some nice music was playing, thanks to a piano in the corner, and she could already tell that the agents were having fun.
Emily was dancing with Trowa, and they were talking as well. Karen was dancing with Quatre, smiling. John and Angelina were also dancing, which didn't surprise Keli at all. Kassy and Heero were talking to some girl with light brown hair and blue-green eyes.
Duo started pointing people out to her, "See the girl Heero's talking to? That's Relena Darlian. That girl with light blonde hair sort of near her and watching her like a hawk is Dorothy Catolonia. The woman with short blue hair is Lt. Noin. The lady with bright red lipstick, sorta blondish hair in two pigtail things, and blue eyes is Sally Po. And the woman that's got long brown hair and brown eyes over there is Lady Une."
Keli nodded, recognizing most of them from stuff that had been on the news. They had all been heavily involved with the war, and they had also been involved with the Gundam pilots--especially Noin and Po. She wasn't too sure about Relena--mostly she just seemed like one of the rich kids at her sister's private school.
As soon as the music stopped, Quatre stood in the middle of the room, where everyone could see him. He spoke as loud as he could, "I welcome you all here. I hope that we can establish some sort of way to handle these threats to the Colonies without risking the endangerment of them."
People started applauding, and he bowed, "Thank you, and have fun tonight." He walked over to where Duo and Keli were. "Why don't I introduce you around, Keli?"
She nodded, "Okay. I'm interested in meeting some of these people."
Duo shrugged, and said something about being hungry, walking off. "He isn't too fond of Relena," Quatre whispered.
Keli snickered, and followed him around. Quatre walked up to Lt. Noin, "Miss Noin, I have someone for you to meet."
She turned around, "Hello Quatre. How have you been lately."
He nodded, "Fine, thanks. Anyway, this is Keli."
"Pleased to meet you," she commented.
Keli nodded, "Same here."
"Wait a second, you're the girl who went to Mars with a Gundam, right?" she asked.
"Umm, yeah."
She smiled, "I was wondering what had happened to you. I met your mother in a meeting a few months ago by Colony L1. She still doesn't know where you are, or if you're dead or not. Your sister must have been with her."
Keli shook her head, "Stepsister."
"You mean you don't care if your own mother knows whether you're okay?"
"I never said that, but I think it would be better if she doesn't know where or how I am for the time being."
She glanced down at her, "From the looks of it you look okay. I suspect you're hiding out somewhere, under a false identity."
"Actually, I'm staying with my grandfather, and I'm going to my old school."
"But why risk something like that?"
Keli shrugged, "I guess it's my nature. Plus it was easy for me to delete my old records."
"Oh yes, that was another thing I remember hearing about you. That you're very good with computers and technology."
She nodded, "Not quite as good as Heero Yuy, but I know my way around."
She smiled, "So I've heard. I remember your mother talking about that. She really misses you, I could tell when I met her."
Keli shrugged, "I'll get in touch with her sometime in the future, but right now I don't want to risk it."
She saw the Darlian girl walking over. "Relena," Noin stated, seeing her. "I never even saw you earlier. It's good to see you again."
The girl nodded, "It's a pleasure to see you again as well. May I ask who you are talking to?"
Keli raised an eyebrow. This girl is too polite to be sane, she thought to herself. "Hi, I'm Keli," she stated before Noin could do it for her.
Keli could tell she was trying to remember where she had heard that name from, "I remember now," she commented, "you're the girl who rescued the pilots on Mars. I've wanted to meet you. I'm Relena Darlian. It's a real pleasure to meet you."
Keli raised an eyebrow again, "Umm, you too."
"I was kind of wondering what had happened to you, after everything said on the news."
"Well, umm, I guess it's safe to say my life is back to normal. People are sort of wondering why a blonde-headed fifteen year old is so good with computers that she purposely deleted everything on her system in keyboarding, especially when it's got a lock on it." Keli grinned evilly.
"I remember, they said on the news that you are excellent with computers, and to be very careful around a small city in the southern part of the old United States."
Keli grinned again, "That's me, although I think they seriously underestimated me... and I don't think they'd count on me to have some friends in high places even I didn't know about."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, you know the girl you were talking to earlier, Kassy? She's the leader of a group of specials known as the Peace Legacy organization. Five of my best friends are in the group, and they're the top five soldiers in it as of now. They're also all my age. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until Kassy shot me on accident." Keli finished with a slightly angry tone in her voice. She was still slightly pissed off about that.
"She shot you? What did you do to her?"
"Nothing. We had both invaded the base in my town, after Duo alerted me to the fact that they were trying to make a suit superior to the Gundams. He came down from space and helped me with that problem. She thought I was one of the rebels trying to destroy the whole base, or trying to kill a bunch of people at least."
She smiled slightly, "I would like it if I could meet these five agents. Can you introduce me to them?"
Keli nodded, "No prob. Just follow me. I can see Karen and Emily sitting down with Quatre and Trowa. John and Angelina are dancing, and Kassy's talking to Heero."
This girl isn't very formal in her speech, Relena thought to herself. It's not that surprising though.
Keli walked over to John and Angelina, who had just finished another dance. "Hey guys. I'd like for you all to meet Relena Darlian." Keli turned to Relena, "Meet John and Angelina."
She nodded to them "Pleasure to meet you."
They nodded back, and they walked on to see Karen, Emily, and now Kassy, who had joined them.
"Heya guys," Keli stated in her usual past-caring voice.
Really informal, Relena thought again, she talks like a young boy!
"What's up?" Karen answered.
This one too, I guess. Well, they are from the south.
Emily noticed the other girl and stood up politely, "Hello. My name is Emily."
Whew! Relena thought, at least one of them talks regularly. She smiled, "Nice to meet you all. My name is Relena Darlian."
The second she said that, a big explosion occurred, one which must have hit the satellite.
"What the hell's going on?" Keli yelled out, above the now-screaming group of people.
One of the guards came into the room, "Master Quatre! The explosion occurred approximately 800 meters from here! This satellite is being attacked!"
Keli ran for the door. "C'mon agents!"
"Wait, you guys can't pilot your suits in outfits like that, go get changed and follow us when you get done!" Duo yelled out.
"Hai!" Keli yelled back, already out the door. She saw Heero and Wufei get to the doors right behind her, and saw them run off towards the cargo bay.
As soon as she had changed, she rushed back in the space suit her grandfather had given her. Surprisingly, it was light, and the silver boots that came with it were almost as comfortable as her Nikes.
Keli saw Kassy and Angelina ahead of her, both of them in their PL uniforms. They reached the cargo bay and leapt into the air, not bothering to climb the stairs to get to their suits. They got into their suits, and blasted off out of the cargo bay area, heading for the exit to outer space.
Keli ran to the other side, to where the Gundams had been, and leapt up into the air, landing in the open cockpit of ShootingStarr. She pulled the opaque visor down, and found that she could see through it. She turned on the Gundam, and saw Karen and Angelina run out as she blasted into outer space.
Kassy came on the screen, "Mobile dolls ahead of you, along with a ship that's heavily guarded. We're already in battle. The way I calculate it, there will be at least twenty each for us to handle!"
Keli nodded, "Okay." She could see them up ahead. The dolls began to attack, and she pulled out the beam saber, to notice that it was longer, and was double-sided, with two blades on either side of the handle, which had lengthened to be long enough to twirl in the Gundam's hands. Keli grinned.
"We have to keep them as far away from the colonies as possible!" Quatre yelled.
Keli started hitting the dolls with the saber, and found it to be quite to her liking. Her sister, Jenn had been on her school's flag corps, and so she knew how to do most of the stuff. The sword was perfect for it.
She jabbed it into one of the dolls, and flung it up higher into the air, where it exploded. Three were all around her, trying to surround the suit. Keli bent the Gundam backwards, and swung the sword over its head, hitting all three of them.
The other pilots were fighting as well. She saw Emily and Angelina hit the same doll with both of their sabers. Kassy fired at another one, knocking it out. Karen used a beam cannon to hit two in her way, and John took out his beam saber and swiped one in half.
The Gundam pilots were holding their own as well. They saw Altron use a double-sided trident and slice down the middle of one. Heavyarms was busy firing the large gun on its hand, and hitting everything in sight. Sandrock used the glowing blades in his hand to throw at two suits, making them explode as well. DeathscytheHell was using the double-bladed scythe to hit a few in a circle around him, and Wing Zero was attacking with a beam saber.
Now almost all of the ships' defenses were down. Someone set up a link to Keli. It wasn't any of the other pilots. The origin came from the large ship ahead of the Gundams.
"Hello pilot of ShootingStarr. Or should I say Keli Akutenshi. I know who you are, so don't play any games." Wait a second, Keli thought, I recognize that voice! "Frere," she growled. He had obviously contacted only her so there wouldn't be any interference. She slid the silver visor up, so she could see better.
Her ex stepfather came into view. He was tall, had short black hair and brown eyes, and an evil aura that radiated around him.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
FLASH! Something went through her head quickly, an old memory, one that she had liked to have not remembered. It was back when she was only ten, and her mother and Frere had been having a fight because he didn't want her to go to Colony L5 for a government meeting concerning the Earth Federation and the Colonies, back when they were still fighting against each other.
Keli was a cute little kid, with short dark brown hair in a boys' cut, bright blue eyes, and a pair of denim overalls were on her constantly, no matter what her parents wished for her to wear.
She could still even remember the argument. "You're not going up there to get killed!"
"I have to, it's my job. And you can't tell the representative of the Americas what she can or cannot do!"
Keli ran over to her mom, not caring about the argument, with Jenn right behind her, both of them grinning from ear-to-ear. "Mommy! Guess what me and Jenn finally did! We finally got into the Microsoft system!" Keli had a Mac when she was little too. Might explain her being hooked to them...
She looked down, "Honey, now isn't the time. Mommy is busy."
Keli glanced at her face, and knew her mom was getting angry, "Mommy, did I do something wrong?"
"No Sweetie, just go on back to your room and Mommy will be up in a minute."
"But Mommy-"
Keli was interrupted by Frere, "Would you just SHUT UP and go back to your room!"
If there's anything Keli hated more than being yelled at she hadn't figured it out yet. And she already had a grudge against Frere. "Don't yell at me!"
He glared at her with a look that could kill, "Be a nice little kid and shut the fuck up, and mind your own business."
Oh yeah, there is something she hated worse than being yelled at. Being called a kid. "I'm not a little child! And you said a bad word!"
Her mother looked down at her, and then back at Frere, "Keli, Jenn, please go back to your rooms now."
Jenn walked back, but Keli shook her head, "I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with you."
Frere walked up to her and slapped her in the face, "Go to your Goddamned room right this instant!"
Oh yeah, she also couldn't stand being hit. Keli balled up her fist, and let it fly into his stomach, having had enough of him yelling at her. She also got that he was mad at her mom, and no one messed with her mom while she was around.
He doubled over for a second, and then grabbed Keli by the overalls. He held her up in the air, in the direction of my mother, "You see what your damned grandfather has pushed off on her?! She acts like she's a boy, and she walks around hitting her parents!" He slapped her face again for good measure. This time a small line of blood appeared where his ring had hit her face.
"LET HER GO NOW!" Keli's mom screamed.
Keli kicked him in the groin when she got the chance, and when his grip loosened, she used her other foot to push herself out of his grip and into the air, flipping around once, and to the ground, landing on her feet.
Her mom ran over to her, and gave her a huge hug, "Oh God, Honey!" Frere was doubled over for more than a few seconds that time. Keli had made sure to kick as hard as possible.
When he stood back up he glared at Keli and her mother. "You're taking the side of that brat?! She hit me!"
Her mom stood up, and Keli could practically feel her anger. "Get. Out. Now."
He stared at her, "What?"
"You heard me. Leave! I don't want you hurting my children!"
"Jenn isn't your child!"
"That poor child treats me more like family than she does you! I want you out now, and I know that Jenn would rather stay here with me than go with you."
He glanced down at Keli, such a nuisance to him. "Fine. I'm gone, and don't expect me to want you back."
"You? Want me back? I don't think that will be happening. Goodbye Frere."
He stormed out of the living room, and out the front door, not saying a word. Keli just stared open-mouthed at the scene, until her mom looked down at her with concern.
"Honey, let's go get you cleaned up now. Your face is cut a little bit." She walked Keli to the bathroom, and put some antiseptic on the cut. "Wow, you haven't even flinched this entire time. If I were you getting this stuff on a cut I'd be bawling my eyes out."
Keli laughed, "It doesn't hurt at all. Just a little cut, nothing to cry over."
She smiled, and put a green Band-Aid over the cut, "There we go, all better now. It might look funny if you walk into school tomorrow with a green Band-Aid, but we don't want it getting infected." At the same time, her mother thought, she's exactly like her father, not only in looks.
"Will you come see what me and Jenn did now?"
She nodded, "Happy to."
~~~~~~~~~~*****~~~~~~~~~~
FLASH! It ended as quickly as it had come.
He stared at her, "You're just a little brat that deserves to die."
Keli glared at him, "And I see that you're just an idiot who is about to die."
He laughed, "If anyone's going to die, it will be you and your friends. There is a cannon on this ship three times as powerful as the one at Barge before it was destroyed."
Is the whole world set on killing me? Keli asked herself, for no apparent reason.
The side of the ship opened up to reveal a VERY large beam cannon. Well, the good thing about that is that it'll take awhile for it to power up, she thought.
He laughed again, "Look at its trajectory course. The L1 colony, where your mother and my daughter are currently staying, and Earth."
Keli turned around, and saw where the thing was pointed, "Damn you! I'll die before I let you destroy Earth!"
She saw the end of the cannon powering up. It started glowing bright blue. She quickly contacted all ten pilots. "The ship's about to fire! Shoot everything you've got at it!" They all turned to the ship, and fired at the exact same time. With the power of Wing Zero's beam gattling, Heavyarms' gun, and everyone else's normal firepower it should be enough to sink the ship, Keli thought.
"Hahaha! You think that ten crappy suits can blow up this base? That's the best you can do?"
The cannon was glowing brighter now. He was about to fire. Then Keli remembered that ShootingStarr had had a special gun built in its wings, but it hadn't been tested yet. "Well, I hope this works," she muttered, hitting a button.
A panel slid away from the control area, and she was now at the controls to the wing cannon. She pressed a button to activate them, and the large gold wings closed in the back to make one, and slid forward, going around the right arm of the Gundam.
"Go. To. HELL!" Keli yelled out at him as she hit a red button on top of the wing controls, and the force of the shot knocked her back into the seat. The stabilizers in ShootingStarr had shorted out because of the blast all ready. The size of the shot looked bigger than most of the shots that were already being fired. The bright beam of light surrounded the cannon on the ship, and then it exploded, followed by the rest of it.
"Sayonara, Frere," Keli muttered. The explosion knocked the whole Gundam back, and some of the outside pieces ripped off due to the force. The stabilizers were already down, and the ride jolted her around. A piece of glass flew off of one of the screens, and slid through her suit at the arm, making a line of blood appear.
Once it all stopped, ShootingStarr wouldn't even move on it's own. Keli figured it had to be the most messed up, since she had gotten most of the blast, and the fact that the cannon she had used had screwed up the system very badly.
I should be lucky that the blast didn't kill me or make ShootingStarr explode, she thought slowly.
Duo came onto the broken screen. Every few seconds the image would waver, or go out for a moment. "Don't mean to alarm you or anything, but your Gundam looks like scrap metal now. And you don't look so good either."
"I know, the stabilizers shorted out, and the controls are messed up. I think I overdid it with the new gun he installed."
"Yeah. It looks like it'll take a long time to get it working again, and you have a long gash on your arm, and a bunch of bruises."
Kassy appeared on the screen, "Is everyone okay?"
Keli nodded, "I'm okay, but ShootingStarr needs some remodeling. It won't even move."
She saw DeathscytheHell out of the corner of a screen. It grabbed her Gundam and Duo appeared again, "I'll tow you back into the satellite."
Keli nodded and closed her eyes. When they got back, she got out of the Gundam and took the helmet off that was over her face. Quatre had someone find a bandage for her arm, and it was tied around the cut. People from the ball were appearing from around the corner.
"We watched everything that happened by video cameras," Noin explained, "are all of you okay?"
"I just need sleep," Keli muttered, "sleep and aspirin. Anybody got any aspirin? My head feels like shit." She absently walked back to her room, and fell down on the bed there.
Keli woke up late the next morning at the sound of voices. "Hey, she's awake now," Emily said.
She pulled a pillow from behind her head and threw it at Emily with her eyes still closed, "Yeah, because of you."
Kassy stared at her, "Keri-chan, it's like thee-o-clock now. You should be getting up."
She opened her eyes and saw that Emily, Kassy, Karen, and Angelina were all in her room, "Err... g'moring. What happened at the meeting?"
"There wasn't one," Angelina explained, "since the threat was over everyone left. You feeling better?"
"My head hurts, and I could stand to change out of this suit."
"Kay, we'll just leave for a few minutes," Karen said, walking out of the room.
After a few minutes, Keli came out of the room wearing a pair of denim jeans, a green Nike shirt, and her favorite pair of Nikes. Her hair was held up in a ponytail. All the girls were now in Kassy's room, so she walked in.
"Beautiful," Emily muttered, glancing up.
"I'm kinda hungry now," she said, disregarding what Emily told her. Keli knew she was just kidding, and didn't bother to yell at her for it.
"Now that you mention it, we didn't have lunch," Angelina answered.
"Good." Keli got herself something to eat, and walked outside followed by the other four.
"Don't you need to go look at ShootingStarr?" Kassy asked her.
Keli nodded, "Yeah, forgot about doing that." She walked back inside, and went to the cargo bay. All of the boys were there, working on their suits. Groups of people were busy working on ShootingStarr, which looked horrible.
"Damnit, it's worse than I thought it was." Most of the paint was gone, along with some of the outer parts that had come off. The wings were almost gone as well, and the hand that was used to attach to the wings was useless.
Keli leapt up in the gravity-deprived room, and landed on the shoulder of ShootingStarr. One of the workers stopped, "You the pilot of this suit?"
She nodded. "Yes. Damnit, I didn't know it was this bad. I knew the stabilizers had failed, and that it had to look bad on the outside, but that was all I could tell about it."
He glanced at the wings, "That is a powerful weapon, maybe more powerful than the gattling on Wing Zero, but it wasn't built too great. The output is all wrong, and when it was fired, the energy levels were too much for your Gundam to stand."
She nodded again, "My grandfather was in a rush to finish it. He must have accidentally messed up. I wasn't supposed to use it anyway, so I'm the one who fucked up my Gundam. How much is this gonna cost to fix?"
The guy shook his head. "It won't cost you anything. Quatre pays for all of the Gundams' repairs."
"I guess I'll have to thank him later." She turned back to the guy, "Is there anything I can do to help? It is my Gundam, after all."
"If you're willing to redo all the software."
Keli grinned, "That's what I'm good at. Have you figured out what's been messed up yet?"
He nodded, "The stabilizers, the comcall system, some of the controls need to be reconfigured..."
"Okayokayokay! I'll just start working on the comcall system now. Is there a computer I can use around here?"
He pointed at the other Gundams, "I think Heero and Duo are done with their cockpit systems' repairs, if they had to do any at all. Ask one of them for a computer."
She nodded, and jumped onto the railway that linked the Gundams and Taurus. Since Heero's Gundam was closer than Duo's she walked over to where he was.
"Hey Heero!" she yelled out to get his attention. He was busy working from a large computer console hooked up to the wing gattling. He turned around, but didn't say anything.
"You done with using the laptop? I need to start working on my cockpit."
He nodded, "It's on the pilot seat."
She nodded in thanks and found the computer laying on the seat, like he said. She unhooked it, and took it out.
"Great, this'll take me so much time to do," she muttered, walking back to ShootingStarr."
An older guy was now directing some younger people while they worked on the wings of ShootingStarr. Keli just got inside and kept the door open so she could see what was going on.
Sometime after six, John walked over to her, still busy working on the comcall unit. "Keri-chan!"
Keli glanced out at him, "Whadya need?"
"C'mon. You shouldn't be doing so much. Anyway, I'm gonna go get some food. You should get something too."
She nodded, saved her work, got out of the Gundam, and walked out of the cargo bay beside John. She knew he was going to use her as an excuse to see Angelina, but didn't really care.
Keli sighed, "This is the first real time I've had to work on the software for my Gundam, since the last time I blew it up, and this time I didn't get a chance to do anything to it."
He grinned, "You'll get used to it after awhile."
"Yeah, but I'm used to being used to everything."
He laughed, and they met up with the girls in the kitchen. They had gotten themselves some food too, and were sitting at the table. "Hey Keri-chan. Having fun working on your suit?" Kassy asked me.
Keli just stared at her, "It's hard to do. Fun is not the word."
She grinned, and went back to eating a sandwich. After making herself one, Keli walked back and sat down in between Angelina and Karen. After she ate, she went back into the cargo bay, but this time the girls came with her.
Quatre was standing by ShootingStarr when she came back, "What's wrong?" Keli asked him.
He shook his head, "Nothing. I got reports on how long it will take all of the suits to be completely repaired."
"And?"
"Well, ShootingStarr should be completed in approximately two and a half weeks."
TWO AND A HALF WEEKS?!" Keli exclaimed, although the figures weren't very surprising.
Emily glanced at her, "Hey, at least you can skip school until it's done. We've gotta go back."
Quatre spoke to them, "Since your suits have been repaired already, and since John's will be done in less than twenty-four hours, you can leave tomorrow."
They all nodded. The group had only been in space for three days, so they still had five more days of vacation. "I'm sure you will want to enjoy your last few days of vacation," Keli told them, sort of resenting it. Oh well, its not like I had any plans for the next two weeks, except for school, she thought, grinning absentmindedly, already think up a dumb excuse for her absence from the school. Just sick, took a trip, and went to a funeral in space... there are endless possibilities.
The PL agents all left the next day, in the same carriers they had stolen to get there. This time, Kassy went with John and Angelina, because Keli still needed a way to get home.
After the two weeks passed by, and her Gundam was completely repaired, along with a few additions that helped, she was ready to go.
The Gundam was now even stronger and faster, and worked better out in space. The wings had been enlarged, and the gun had been altered slightly as well, so that the high output of it wouldn't short circuit the whole Gundam the next time the wing cannon had to be fired.
"There," the old guy said as the final part of ShootingStarr's alterations was complete, "now it's all set for battles on earth and in space."
Keli nodded, "Can you go ahead and load it onto the carrier for me? I need to get my stuff."
He nodded, and she walked back up to the room she had been staying in, got all her stuff, and pulled on the trenchcoat since she didn't have much extra room.
When she walked back down, all five of the Gundam pilots were down in the cargo area.
Keli walked past them and to the carrier. The door was open, and when she was at it I turned around. "I hope we'll all meet again sometime in the future." Quatre nodded, and the rest did nothing. "Thanks for repairing my suit for me," she told the workers, who were still loading ShootingStarr.
Keli sensed something, and held up her hand to catch a small box in her hand. She kept walking.
After she was flying through space, she took the time to open the small box. She raised an eyebrow when she saw what was inside the box.
It was a silver pendant on a long chain the same color, one of a star, with two streaks coming from the edges of the star, and encircling it, which was a green gem, outlined in silver.
Keli took it out of the box and found a small note at the bottom. It read, in Quatre's elegant handwriting:
Keli,
Your help was greatly appreciated in the past days.
I sincerely hope that we will meet up with you sometime in the near future.
Quatre R. Winner
Heero Yuy
Trowa Barton
Chang Wufei
Keli smiled, and put the note away back in the box, and put the necklace on over her head. The pendant came down to where her ID card usually was during school.
The rest of the trip back to earth went by fast. She couldn't exactly land inside the lab with the carrier, so she set it on auto-pilot and opened the hatch. After ShootingStarr was ready to go out, she blasted away from the carrier, and hit the plane with the upgraded beam saber. It exploded in a large blast, too high up to do any damage.
The Gundam changed into the jet mecha, and Keli flew back home.