DISCLAIMER: Kumi Yuy and Sette Devion are mine, but nothing else belongs to me! There I said it!
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 17: Face-off at L4
by SkyLark
also: Traci 14, Snodin, Stormy, Sam, and Sky0
Quatre and Sette were flying towards L4 to carry out the mission intended for the Colony. Most of the long trip was spent in silence. Quatre was trying not to think of what awaited them at the Colony where he lived before becoming a Gundam pilot. There was no telling how the people would react to him being a Gundam pilot. In the back of his mind, the young pilot knew that there was a chance that they would find out after this mission. It was just something that would come out eventually, whether he liked it or not.
The blonde pilot's identity had been hidden especially because of this...L4 was a Colony that stood in great turmoil when it came to the beliefs of the people there...Many praised the fact that the Winner family was so devoted to their stand on Pacifism. Still many others were firm in their beliefs that the only way to remain strong was to take matters into one's own hands, fighting was something that needed to be done.
The Arabian shuddered inwardly as he thought of the time his father was killed. Even while there were countless people who protested his father's beliefs, Quatre knew that there were just as many people who remained silent. Now, there was no telling what would happen if his identity as the pilot of Gundam Unit 04 was revealed. He just silently hoped and prayed that this would not have to happen and time soon.
The silence was broken as Sette's voice and image came over his transmitter. The tomboy asked quietly, "Quatre?" Hearing the other pilot's voice and seeing her on the screen helped him forget his concerns for a moment. With a small smile of relief, he replied, "Yes, Sette?" The ex-princess replied, "I've been meaning to ask you something that's been bothering me." Quatre nodded, "What's that?" Sette asked, "If Heero and Duo get married, who will take who's name?"
The Arabian laughed at the question. The blue-haired pilot's eyes widened as she shook her head, "I'm serious. This is really bothering me ...Will Heero Yuy by Heero Maxwell or will Duo Maxwell be Duo Yuy?...Or are they going to hyphenate the names? The possibilities are endless with that." Quatre smiled and shook his head, "I never thought about it. I guess there are a lot of options with their names...You would have to ask one of them." Sette sighed deeply and replied, "I figured." With a sternness in her voice, she vowed, "One of these days, I am going to find out." Quatre chuckled and shook his head.
At this, the pilots watched as they could see Colony L4 just before them. Sette's eyes widened as she gasped quietly, "Wow." Quatre looked to the Colony with sadness mixed with concern. "There it is," he said numbly. The ex-princess asked gently, "Are you going to be okay?" The blonde nodded, "I'll be okay. Thank you." "Well then," Sette smiled, "Let's chalk up another mission for the good guys." Mason shot off before Quatre, who took a brief moment to take a deep breath before flying behind the ex-princess.
* * * * * *
Back at the base that Heero had invaded, several higher ranked soldiers were concerned since two of their comrades had disappeared when they concluded their last meeting the night before. It had been hours since then, sne there was no sight of either soldier. The officers were now searching all of the gathering rooms as the new recruits were exercising.
It was not long before two of the generals made their way to a door that had been locked. The soldiers became alarmed at this when they attempted to open the door. "None of rooms in this hall are to be locked," the younger general said to his partner. The two men removed their guns and stood at either side of the door.
The older general kicked the door opened as they flew in the room. Their eyes widened along with their mouths as they looked to the dead bodies of their missing comrades in the middle of the room. The pools of blood around them had dried since the soldiers were left like that for several hours now.
The officers lowered their guns as their faces paled. "Who the hell did this?" the older of the two asked as his eyes remained locked on the bodies. His partner shook his head as he walked to the table that the corpses lied in front of. On the table was a disk similar to a CD. He took up the disk and replied, "Whoever left this behind." He looked to the bodies closely. "One bullet in the head each. Whoever it was, they're an excellent marksman." Without saying anything further, the two men went to the lecture room where they would meet with their fellow officers that night. They would see what the disk held when they were together then.
* * * * * *
Back on the craft carrying Wing Zero and a small handful of other mobile suits, Heero and Sera Makato were flying to a colony not far from the one where the base was that Heero had infiltrated the night prior. They had been in silence since they left the base. Sera was following some coordinates that Heero had given her after he said that there was something he needed to take care of at that location.
The silence was finally bothering the Preventer and she decided to begin a conversation. "So," Sera began, as she looked to the young man in the seat beside her, "What is it that you have to handle at this place we're heading?" Heero turned to her with an empty expression. He shrugged, "I have some friends coming to meet me there." Seeing that she wouldn't get anything more from the 'Perfect Soldier' in regards to this question, Sera nodded and looked ahead again.
Heero looked to Sera for a moment. He couldn't help but ask, "How long have you been a Preventer?" Sera looked back to him and answered, "About five years now. I joined the Preventers after the Marimaya incident. That war along with the first just showed me how much I wanted to fight for what I believe in." As she turned her head forward again, Makato continued, "Knowing that I am helping others by living this way is the best feeling I could ever ask for."
The Wing pilot nodded. This Sera Makato was obviously a noble person. He had to respect that. Then he heard her ask, "How did you ever become a Gundam pilot?" He looked back to her and paused before answering, "I was fashioned to pilot Wing Zero since I was five-years-old." The brown eyes of the young woman beside his widened. "Five-years-old?" she whispered sadly. Heero gave a simple nod. "That's so young," Sera whispered as she lowered her head.
Looking back to Heero, Sera sighed, "You must have missed some much in life." The Wing pilot shrugged, not really wanting to think of that. There was a long pause of silence between them before the Preventer asked, "Isn't it lonely...Living the way that you do?" This question brought Heero's cobalt eyes to lock with her brown eyes. He nodded and answered, "It was lonely." The word 'was' had been stressed.
Before she could ask the next apparent question, Heero explained, "I met someone who taught me that there's more to life than fighting and missions." Sera's curiosity had peeked again. Heero smiled as he closed his eyes and lied back in his seat. "His name's Duo Maxwell," he said with the first bit of gentleness in his voice that Sera ever heard from him. "Pilot 02," she said aloud, recognizing the name. Heero nodded, his eyes never opening and the small smile never fading.
Sere turned to the pilot again. Just then, she thought of something that had been bothering her. "I'm surprised that you didn't take out everyone in that base last night." The Wing pilot chuckled deeply and replied in monotone, "Those soldiers have a much grimmer fate now that I've kept then alive." Makato shook her head, "I don't understand. What fate could possibly be worse than death?" Heero answered, "Knowing that you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it."
* * * * * *
Sette and Quatre reached the point that they could see the surface of L4 now. Before they could blink, they were attacked by a large swarm of OZ soldiers left and right. The tomboy pounded two Aires suits with Mason's laser mallet. She shouted as she was soon surrounded by more mobile suits, "There's a hell of a lot more of them than I thought that there was going to be." Quatre cut through several more soldiers as he looked down to see a massive army in the air and on the ground just waiting for them.
"I can't believe that OZ has all of these soldiers. There's just no end to them," the Arabian said in awe as he prepared to strike against more opponents. Sette grunted as she fought off more troops. "We have to get out of the sky. We'll be able to handle the forces better on the ground," she suggested. Quatre nodded, "You're right about that." The pair shot to the ground, taking several soldiers out in their path.
On the ground, their visuals of the soldiers were much better. "We should be able to cut them down to size before long," the ex-princess stated as she stabbed a Virgo with the spear-like handle of her Gundam's mallet. Quatre caused Sandrock to spin like a top, the suit's arms outstretched as the long blades chopped up the Virgos and Leos surrounding him. "Let's hope so," he replied, wiping some of the huge sweat drops that were running down his face.
After ten minutes, the Gundam pilots were beginning to see a small light at the end of the tunnel for this struggle as they continued to wipe out soldiers. "I can hold off these soldiers while you go and reach the Colony's heart," Sette called to Quatre as she shot an Aires down with a missile from her suit's arm. Quatre shook his head as he cut down two Leos. "I'm not leaving you to fight all of them alone. There's almost too many for the two of us to handle."
The monitors in Sandrock were going crazy. The same was happening in Mason. Sette groaned, "What now?" Quatre looked up while to the sky. His eyes widened as far as they could get as he shook his head and breathed, "No...Not this." Sette killed two more soldiers before replying, "What is it, Quatre?" She looked up to the sky as well and froze. The OZ soldiers backed up from Sandrock and Mason, making a huge circle around them. A red streak was flying towards the ground as the your pilots watched in shock and terror.
When the streak was close enough, Quatre made out what he was afraid of. The 'comet' landed as the pilots looked on. It was another Gundam suit. This one was colored different shades of red with a Scorpion tail and long pointed arms and legs. The pilot was Stacy Stanton. Looking to her foes, she sneered, "We're just full of surprises, aren't we?" Sette whispered, "God, please not another one." Stanton laughed, "You didn't think that we only had three Gundam suits did you?" Quatre licked his dry lips and tried to calm his rapid breathing as the woman continued, "This is Scorpio. And my name is Stacy Stanton. Before I destroy you, I'll give you both the chance to surrender now."
Sette growled and screamed as she charged Scorpio, "GO TO HELL!"
The two suits battled as the Arabian finally broke through his state of shock. The red Gundam's claw arms each shot a long blade that stretched many feet. The OZ soldiers surrounding them attacked Sandrock, leaving Quatre grossly outnumbered. He struggled to keep from becoming lost in the swarm of soldiers.
Mason took a shot at Scorpio in another change, after several unsuccessful attempts to knock it down. Stacy rounded and knocked the ex-princess's suit onto its back. Sette cried out in pain and shock from the blow. Just as she looked up, she gasped loudly as she saw Scorpio standing over her, about to hurl one of the arm-blades though the cockpit as the right arm was lifted over the red Gundam's head. The tomboy reacted just in time, making her Gundam roll to the side, just barely missing the blow.
Scorpio's right arm-blade went through the ground where Stacy intended to stab Sette instead. She growled and recovered quickly, as she pulled the blade from the ground. The metal was bent pretty badly. Sette laughed hysterically as she saw the damaged weapon. Stacy simply chucked deeply and pressed a button that caused the right blade to fall to the ground. Just then, another, much longer blade with jagged edges appeared. The left blade was dropped as the same blade came from that arm. Sette's laughter stopped immediately as she gasped, "Oh shit."
The two Gundams battled again.
Quatre, in the meantime, was still fighting with everything in him to stay alive in the middle of his own personal struggle. There was no sigh that he was getting anywhere in this fight, though he was knocking out a good number of soldiers. "At this rate, I'll never be able to reach the Colony's heart without revealing what my mission is," he grunted to himself as he blocked a spray of lasers from the OZ soldiers. He went on to return the favor, shooting the bullets from Sandrock's head and wiping out an Aires and a Virgo.
Back where Stacy and Sette were fighting, the ex-princess saw the hard time that Quatre was having alone. She made a bold move to avoid the red Gundam as she flew towards the white suit of her proclaimed boyfriend. She pounded an Aires into the ground with her laser mallet, just before he managed to attack Quatre from behind. The Arabian looked to her in shock and shouted, "Sette!?!" His partner smiled and nodded, "We'll have to trade-off for now. You take care of Scorpio." Quatre nodded and flew off to where Stacy was waiting.
The young OZ pilot chuckled as she saw Sandrock making its way to her, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr. Winner, himself." Sandrock landed before the red suit. The Arabian inside did not allow any time for the young woman to have her chance to hit first. Using his curved blades, he battled with a better advantage than Sette had in the beginning against Scorpio. Still, there wasn't once that Quatre was able to get a clean hit against Stacy.
The young woman managed to get Quatre with a good shot more than a few times. Seeing that Quatre wasn't going to give in any time soon, Stanton sneered, "Time for a new approach." The bulit'in blades of the red suit's arms retracted to show the long pointed claws again. Scorpio went onto all fours as Quatre watched in uncertainly. The tail of the OZ Gundam was now sticking in mid-air and the top of the suit's head had deep green sensor eyes looking at him as it now stood on all of its legs.
Before Quatre could react, Scorpio charged towards him as great speed, on account to the extra appendages. The while Gundam was tackled and the scorpion tail extended until it wrapped several times around the waist and chest of Sandrock. Scorpio pinned Sandrock in addition to this as it straddled the Arabian's suit. The trapped Gundam was unable to break through the Gundamimun that bore a tight strangle hold around it. Quatre cried out in pain as the tail wrapped tighter still. The controls in the Arabian's cockpit were sparking everywhere as the sharp tail continued to wrap as tight as possible around his suit's waist.
Sette saw that Quatre was in grave danger and she cried out, "Quatre!" She was then knocked to the ground, herself by the outnumbering forces that surrounded her. A shout of pain left her as she looked up to see that she could not find anything but soldiers around and above her. Mason was pounded with laser beams from everywhere as the ex-princess was shown no mercy. Sette's suit was lying on its stomach as the pilot struggled with everything in her to get her suit to rise. But, there was nothing that could get Mason to move. Desperately, she begged, "Come on, Mason. We're tougher than this. Get up!" Mason, like Sandrock was now paralyzed.
Quatre was losing consciousness as the sparks around him continued. He was now bleeding from the right shoulder from a wound that was caused from the attack. He groaned weakly as his eyes began to close. Stacy laughed madly as she shouted, "YOU'RE FINISHED!" No sooner had she said this that her Gundam was tackled to the ground by an unknown attacker from the side. "WHAT THE-" was all she managed to scream as she was knocked onto her side. Looking up, there was a brown and gold mobile suit that she had seen in images of the first war. Her brown eyes widened as she gasped, "Y-You one of the-"
With the hold no longer on his suit, Quatre was able to breath deeply again and his eyes opened again. He groaned deeply as he sat up to see what saved him. His eyes, too widened as he looked to the suit standing over Scorpio, the pilot inside the red Gundam still in fear and shock. "RASHID!" Quatre shouted in elation. Sure enough, it was the tall man that guarded the Arabian countless years before Quatre went to live on Earth after the wars.
Rashid smiled warmly to him, "It's it good to see you again, Master Quatre." Stacy growled and screamed hoarsely, "YOU HAVEN'T WON THIS FIGHT YET, YOU FOOLS!" At this, she quickly got her suit to rise and attack Rashid. Quatre turned to see that Sette was in trouble as she was losing consciousness at this time. He cried out and prepared to fly after her. Before he could do this, however, the entire Maquanaut force came from their hidden tunnels and attacked the OZ soldiers that were beating Mason down. Quatre aided them and fought his way to SEtte. He pulled the fallen Gundam to its feet as he called, "Sette? ...Sette!?!"
The ex-princess rubbed her forehead, which now was bleeding from a wound there. "Quatre? What's going on?" she asked in a daze. She looked to her monitors and watched in shock at the new mobile suits fighting the OZ soldiers. The Arabian smiled warmly, "Meet the Maguanauts." Sette's look of shocked changed into elation as she shouted, "KICK ASS!" She gently broke from Sandrock's arms and joined the fight against Scorpio, alongside Rashid. As she flew towards the fight there, Sette called to Quatre, "You know what you have to do, Quatre!" The blonde pilot smiled and nodded as he took to the air.
Sette landed behind Rashid as they shared the struggle against Scorpio. Stacy Stanton was not going to give them the satisfaction of getting worked up or retreating. She was going to fight as long as she had to and that was final. Even against two opponents, Scorpio proved to be wore than a worthy challenge as a Gundam suit. The main factor to this was the pilot inside.
Back in the desolate regions of the desert of L4, Quatre plowed through the ground and reached the tubes that he needed to fly through to reach the heart of L4. With a determined look on his face and a tight grip at the controls, the Arabian sped through the maze without any fear or doubt of what he needed to accomplish.
Rashid, Sette and Stanton continued to battle each other. The ex-princess charged to the right as Rashid came from the left. When they met in the middle with Scorpio, Stacy managed to dodge their blows with her blades and swiped at them. Sette raised her mallet over her Gundam's head and prepared to whack the red suit that was now busy fighting Rashid. As if unaffected, Stacy blocked the blow even while busy fighting the Maquanaut.
Quatre finally made it to the heart of the Colony when he jumped from his cockpit and entered the small opening that led to the main system. Once there, he typed feverishly over the controls. As the Arabian typed the new orders into the database, he smiled with sweat dripping from his face, "And this takes care of the inner rings of space." He punched the last key and watched as the monitor before him blinked to reveal that he had accomplished his task.
All that was required of him now was to cover up everything he did. That would be finished in a few minutes. Quatre worked quickly as his thoughts were still on Sette and the Maquanauts. Before long, everything was finished and the Arabian ran back in his Gundam. After flying through the maze of tubes again, Quatre made his way out of the ground as he shot to the sky. From there, he flew quickly back to where the battle was raging.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, Milliardo and Noin were together in the control room with their friends. Fire was holding their son closely as she heard something come from the main monitor before all of them. The empty ring between the dark blue and light blue rings changed into gold. All of the soldiers in the room stopped what they were doing as they looked to the screen in amazement and disbelief, since there was no way they could have been informed prior to this time that Quatre even reached the colony he was sent to.
Milliardo announced with a wide smile, "We got L4's orbit!" Lady Une ran to the front of the room and placed a set of headphones with a microphone on. "General Churchill?" she called into the devise. If the communication ring was established, she could contact the general whenever she wanted now. After a long pause of silence, the general replied over the system as his men could be heard screaming and cheering in the background. "THEY DID IT!" he shouted. "WE HAVE A CONNECTION WITH EVERY COLONY BEFORE THE MILKYWAY!" The control room of Peace Million joined in the celebration as everyone jumped up and cheered with hugs, kiss and shouts all around.
Lady Une sighed deeply in relief, "I can't even say how good it is to hear your voice, General." Churchill smiled and replied, "The feeling is more than mutual, Lady Une. Your pilots are something else." Une nodded and smiled, "That they are. I'll speak to you soon, Churchill." The General replied, "Very good. I'll send the pilots back your way as soon as we repair any damages to their suits." Lady Une smiled and nodded back, "Thank you. We'll talk again later tonight to discuss the status of the colonies we have back," Churchill replied, "Copy that," and they cut the connection off.
In the midst of the celebration of the control room, Fire, Water, Wind and Lady Une stood together as they looked to the monitor. The rings of dark blue, gold and light blue spanned the whole area of space from Mercury to the Milky Way. "Thank you, God," was all Lady Une could say quietly.
Noin smiled and kissed Mirando's head. "I can't wait to see the others when they get back," she sighed in relief. Mirando nodded, "I'm sure they're anxious to get back here, themselves." Sally nodded, "I don't have any doubt about that." Looking to the celebration, she smiled, "I could get used to this." Noin laughed, "We all could."
* * * * * *
Back where the fight was still taking place on L4, the Maquanauts were more than dominating their battle as they destroyed nearly every defense. The pilot with shades laughed, "We've got them on the run, boys!" as he saw that good handfuls of the OZ troops were flying off into space. Another Maguanaut nodded, "They know that they're out matched. It would be stupid of them to stay here any longer than they have." He couldn't have spoken more truly. More soldiers were departing quickly in the midst of the fight.
Rashid and Sette were still fighting Scorpio. Stanton had done more than a great job holding her own. She saw the retreat of many of the OZ soldiers and growled, "I'll handle you cowards when we get back to headquarters." She was about to strike at her foes again when she turned to see Sandrock flying towards the battlefield. The Maquanauts cheered at the sight of their master and the last of the OZ soldiers were killed or had fled before they were wiped out.
Stacy looked to the white Gundam as it approached and hissed with narrowed eyes, "Damn it...I'll get you before long, boy." Knowing that she could handle fighting two pilots, but not risking taking on three at one time, Stanton flew off before anyone could react quickly enough to follow her. Sette and Rashid watched her retreat before they saw what it was that caused her to fly off like that. When they saw Sandrock, they shouted and cheered for the Arabian. "THAT'S MY FIANCEE!" Sette cheered over all the others. All of the cheering and shouting soldiers fell silent instantly at this and turned to Mason in their suits. Sette merely smiled brightly and waved to them in the monitors.
Quatre rejoined them as he landed his Gundam and jumped from his cockpit. Sette and the Maquanauts did the same as they all ran to him. Sette was the first to reach her partner as they embraced and cheered. Quatre picked her up and spun her again as his guards joined them. Looking up to Rashid after the embrace, Quatre felt small tears forming in his eyes. Looking to all of the Maquanauts, he smiled and said gently, "I've missed all of you so much." Rashid smiled, bent down and picked the young man so they could hug. The other Maquanauts embraced and reunited with their master with affection.
"From now on, we'll be fighting by your side no matter where you go," Rashid promised the young pilot. Quatre smiled brightly and nodded, "That means more than I could ever tell you." Rashid smiled warmly back and nodded as well. One of the Maquanauts looked to Sette and asked his master, "When were you going to tell us you were engaged, Master Quatre?" The Arabian gasped and looked to the tomboy, who was still smiling as she looked to the band of pilots and the object of her affection.
The blonde pilot blushed, "I-Well I mean-" The Maquanaut in shades smiled, "She's a looker, too!" Sette beamed and opened her arms wide as she walked to them, "My boys!" The young men laughed and introduced themselves to the blue-haired pilot. The tomboy hugged and kissed all of them as if she had known them all her life. Rashid smiled and looked to Quatre, The Arabian coughed and cleared his throat, "All right. Well we better be heading back to General Churchill's ship. The sooner we get out suits repaired, the sooner we can get back to Peace Million." The Maquanauts and Sette agreed as they headed back into their cockpits. Together, the band of pilots headed off into space.
* * * * * *
Excalibur was flying towards the colony where the newest laser was being built. Kumi slept in the cockpit as the suit flew on autopilot. Knowing that she was the only pilot closest to the site, it was her mission to destroy the weapon. Flying the last few days and nights alone was nothing that she wasn't used to. So sleeping like this wasn't anything that bothered her, either. It was the dreams she had that were different, however...
In this particular dream, Kumi was walking along a city that had been destroyed by a battle. All of her dreams had a scenery similar to this, war-ravaged towns, fire, death. They were like this most of her life and there was never any escape from it. She walked along the destruction searching for something. Finally, she looked up and saw a young man in the distance with his back to her. The blonde hair was all that Kumi needed to see to recognize the figure.
With tears instantly building in her eyes, Kumi shouted, "Matt!" The young man turned and smiled lovingly to her. With a slight gesture from his head that told the pilot to follow him, Matt walked off out of the city, Kumi followed quickly behind. When they passed the city, there was a beautiful field with flowers and nothing but peacefulness. The city was no longer in sight and Matt turned back to look to his lover.
The silver-haired pilot didn't take a moment before throwing her arms around the Preventer and they embraced tightly. "I miss you so much," she sobbed gently as she buried her head in Matt's shoulder. "Shhhh. I know, sweetheart," the young man soothed gently. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. The reunited lovers kissed deeply. When they pulled back a moment to look into each other's eyes, Matt whispered sadly, "You're back to dreaming of those terrible scenes again." Kumi lowered her head, "They went back to that after you-" She couldn't continue and shook her head.
Matt smiled warmly to her, small tears building in his own eyes. He dried Kumi's tears from her cheeks gently. "You know that I've never left you...I've been watching you all the time since then," Matt said quietly. His love smiled gently, the smile she only had for him and the gentleness in her eyes that no one else got to see.
With a small sigh, Matt asked, "Kumi, why haven't you accepted the gift that I sent to you?" the Gundam pilot gave a shocked, confused look and asked, "What gift is that?" Her love answered, "You know that you can't go through life alone, no matter how much you want believe that you can." Kumi shook her head, "No, you're the person that I love. I want to be with you." Matt smiled and nodded, "We will be together, but not at this time, Kumi. You can't go on in life the way you have been, look at how your dreams come to you."
Kumi shook her head and replied, "I don't care, Matt. I had my chance to love with you and you were taken from me. I can't love anymore." Matt quickly said, "You love Trowa." Kumi's eyes shot wide in hurt at these words. She whispered and said quietly, "No...I don't love Trowa." Her lover smiled, "Then why are you afraid to open the letter that he sent you?" His love was about to say something, but she knew that she had been caught. Kumi lowered her head only to have it lifted gently by Matt.
Matt couldn't help but chuckle, "Kumi Yuy...Of all the things for you to be afraid of, you find it terrifying to open a letter from someone that you care about." Kumi replied quietly, "I'm afraid of what my heart will say in response to his words." Her lover kissed her forehead and whispered, "Accept whatever you heart tells you, Kumi. Trowa is a great person...That's why I sent him to you." Nothing could have prepared the 'Perfect Soldier' for that as she gasped and gave a look of shock like none other that Matt found precious. He chuckled again and kissed her lips gently.
"Trowa loves you, Kumi. And I know that the feeling is mutual. I wanted things to work out between you both, since I saw how Trowa affected you even before you met...when you saved Quatre from the darkness surrounding him. I knew that if I couldn't be with you in life, Trowa was the only other person that could possibly pick up where I left off." Kumi felt tears rolling down her cheeks again as she looked to Matt with relief mixed with adoration.
The Preventer rested their foreheads together and smiled, "Now read the letter and accept whatever happens, love. I'll never leave you or stop loving you. And I know that you'll always have a special place in your heart that loves me always in return. That's more than enough. But you have to move on...No more nightmares like the ones we got away from." Kumi nodded. They kissed deeply again and when the kiss broke, Kumi whispered, "Ai shiteru, Matt...Always." Her lover dried the last tears that fell from her eyes. "And I'll love you forever, as well, Kumi," Matt replied. At that, he disappeared.
Kumi awoke and looked to her surroundings. She recognized Excalibur's cockpit immediately and fell back in her chair, thinking back to the dream she just had. As she did this, she felt the letter that Trowa had sent to her, hidden in her belt where she placed it. With a small sigh, Kumi removed the envelope from her belt and looked to it. Trowa's neat cursive writing of her name was beautiful. After a moment to gather her thoughts, the silver-haired pilot opened the envelope. After unfolding the letter, she recalled Trowa's voice and read silently as if he was reading the following note to her:
Dear Kumi,
I sometimes find it difficult to verbally express a lot of what I have in my heart. However, I am able to make up for that when I write and decided to do just that now.
I don't know everything about you, Kumi. But I can't help but feel like I've known you for years. I know that you don't feel as though you're a good person...and you couldn't be more wrong for feeling that way. You have to be one of the strongest, kindest and most beautiful people that I have the honor of knowing and calling a comrade- if nothing else. You just need to give yourself more credit.
While I don't know about your past, I do know that the training you had from Doctor J was cruel and relentless. I see proof of that through Heero as well as through you. It must hurt to constantly struggle with yourself to refrain from any feelings. Life is cruel enough with this war. Please, don't feel like you have to fight this war- or any war- alone.
I'm here for you, Kumi. I always will be. If you ever need anything, you can always call on me. I'll help anyway I can. That's what people do for the ones that they care about.
Be careful out there and come back safely. You're in my thoughts...And you can be certain that you'll always be in my heart. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely Yours,
Trowa
Kumi realized that she stopped breathing and caught her breath with a small gasp. Folding the letter, she placed it back in the security behind her silver belt.
* * * * * *
At nightfall, Stacy Stanton returned to an OZ carried not far from L4. In a desolate room, she screamed and threw a chair against the wall as she let out all her rage and frustration. There was a knock at the door as she continued to do this. "WHAT!?!" she shouted to the door. When it slowly opened, her eyes widened. She stood straight and saluted as a calm Quinze Khushrenadah entered.
The young man smiled to the pilot and chuckled deeply, "Aw, Stacy. You don't need to take out your anger on the furniture. There are much better methods of getting that out of your system." He continued to smile and walked to lift the fallen chair as he took a seat. Stanton continued to salute as sweat rolled down her face.
"Please relax, my friend," Quinze asked ever so calmly. Stanton took a deep breath and lowered her hands. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she said quietly, "I've failed you." Her leader laughed loudly. "Whatever are you talking about, my dear?" he questioned with idle curiosity. His pilot looked to him in shock as her head snapped up to lock eyes with him.
"I-I could not stop Quatre from accomplishing whatever it is that he was sent to L4 to do. He and his men along with that failure of a princess were too much to handle." She growled deeply, "And the cowards that left me behind put me in a terrible situation." Quinze nodded and replied, "I understand, Stacy. But none of that was your fault. The soldiers that fought beside you were fresh and unaware as to what they were going to have to face. They will be fully prepared for the next battle." Stanton protested, "They are easily replaced. Why not kill them and make an example of them for the next soldiers?"
Quinze shook his head firmly and said, "I will not kill them and frighten their comrades. They know what they have to do in order to perform better in the future. Leave it at that." Stanton had no choice but to nod, "Of course, sir." He leader continued, "As for the Gundam pilots and their friends, let them think that they have something working for them in this war. They'll be sadly mistaken that any good will come from their actions against us." The young woman looked gave an expression of shock mixed with relief at her leader's words.
Stanton nodded and sighed deeply, "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your understanding." Quinze smiled and replied, "You're welcome. You did a beautiful job with Scorpio. I knew that you would be the best suited for that Gundam suit. Use him well." "I will do just that, I assure you," the young pilot stated as she gave a quick salute and excused herself. Quinze chuckled deeply and leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed.
* * * * * *
Later that night, after the bodies of the killed soldiers had been removed and their blood had been cleaned, there was a large meeting to discuss what had happened the night prior to this time in the base that Heero infiltrated. In the meeting room back at the base, all of the heads there met to see what the disk held. One of the soldiers slid it into the disk player attached to a large screen. As he did this, the blank screen went to light blue. Finally, Heero's image appeared on the screen. Instantly, all of the soldiers gasped and those who were sitting rose to their feet. They eyes glued onto the young pilot.
Heero's empty expression never changed even as he said flatly, "For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Heero Yuy. And yes, I am responsible for the deaths of your comrades. This message is a warning...Every last one of you in this base is going to die."
The soldiers watching this had looks of wither terror or rage as they continued to listed to the stoic Wing pilot. "Your deaths would have been quick and painless if I simply blew up your base the way that I originally intended. But for what you and your leader- Quinze Khrushrenadah - have done, you deserve a much longer and more painful death than that."
Heero continued, "I look forward to taking all of you on single-handedly. I know that your subordinates are aching for the chance to face a Gundam pilot and I don't like leaving anyone disappointed." The shocked faces of the soldiers revealed their disbelief of the young man's courage. Heero concluded, "I have typed into your database the location of a desolate colony where you will find me at noon tomorrow, and Wing Zero."
One of the soldiers ran from the room to get that information as his comrades continued to watch the message. Finally, Heero chuckled deeply and sneered, "Omae o korosu." At this, the screen went to static. One of the sergeants growled, "That little bastard really thinks that he can take on all of us?" A captain shook his head, "It's impossible. There's three hundred soldiers in this base. There's no chance one foolish pilot will be able to stop every last one of us."
A private bit his lip before saying quietly, "This is Heero Yuy we're talking about...He's not normal." Another soldier looked to him in disgust, "He could be the frigging devil himself. That asshole is going to wish he never did this." The others all agreed, even those who were originally reluctant to face the Wing pilot.
The young soldier who left to get the information of where Heero was entered again. He informed the others, "I have the coordinates of where we'll be meeting Heero Yuy. It's a colony not far from here that has been evacuated since the start of the war. We can reach it in a few hours." The highest ranked of all of them nodded and ordered, "Inform every last soldier here that we'll be leaving first thing in the morning." All of the soldiers left as they went to do just this.
* * * * * *
On the colony that Heero had spoken of, the craft carrying him, his suit and Sera had landed just landed. The pilots were still in the cockpit. Sera shouted to the Wing pilot, after hearing his plans, "You can't possibly take on all of those soldiers alone! Let me help you!" Heero shook his head, "The soldiers want to fight a Gundam suit, nothing else. That exactly what they'll get." Makato's jaw dropped and she whispered hoarsely, "That's like asking to be killed." Heero simply replied, "Not with the Zero system in my suit. Besides, with or without that, I can take care of myself."
Heero rose and walked towards the door. Sera rose from her seat. Before Heero reached the door, she called to his back, "What about Duo? What would he think of what you're trying to do?" The Wing pilot froze in place at this. "Duo," he whispered sadly to himself. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Sera saw that she made some impact with this line of questioning.
The Wing pilot slowly turned his head back to her. "I made a promise to him that I would live through this war. I never break my word when I give it to the people that mean the most to me." The sternness in his tone caused shivers to go up the woman's spine. Knowing that there was nothing further to discuss, Heero walked through the doors as they opened before him. "Good night, Sera," was all he said before they closed behind him again.
Sera looked to the doors with concern. This expression changed to one of sadness and loss. She whispered gravely to herself, "Oh, my son. What did Doctor J do to you?"
TBC
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 17: Face-off at L4
by SkyLark
also: Traci 14, Snodin, Stormy, Sam, and Sky0
Quatre and Sette were flying towards L4 to carry out the mission intended for the Colony. Most of the long trip was spent in silence. Quatre was trying not to think of what awaited them at the Colony where he lived before becoming a Gundam pilot. There was no telling how the people would react to him being a Gundam pilot. In the back of his mind, the young pilot knew that there was a chance that they would find out after this mission. It was just something that would come out eventually, whether he liked it or not.
The blonde pilot's identity had been hidden especially because of this...L4 was a Colony that stood in great turmoil when it came to the beliefs of the people there...Many praised the fact that the Winner family was so devoted to their stand on Pacifism. Still many others were firm in their beliefs that the only way to remain strong was to take matters into one's own hands, fighting was something that needed to be done.
The Arabian shuddered inwardly as he thought of the time his father was killed. Even while there were countless people who protested his father's beliefs, Quatre knew that there were just as many people who remained silent. Now, there was no telling what would happen if his identity as the pilot of Gundam Unit 04 was revealed. He just silently hoped and prayed that this would not have to happen and time soon.
The silence was broken as Sette's voice and image came over his transmitter. The tomboy asked quietly, "Quatre?" Hearing the other pilot's voice and seeing her on the screen helped him forget his concerns for a moment. With a small smile of relief, he replied, "Yes, Sette?" The ex-princess replied, "I've been meaning to ask you something that's been bothering me." Quatre nodded, "What's that?" Sette asked, "If Heero and Duo get married, who will take who's name?"
The Arabian laughed at the question. The blue-haired pilot's eyes widened as she shook her head, "I'm serious. This is really bothering me ...Will Heero Yuy by Heero Maxwell or will Duo Maxwell be Duo Yuy?...Or are they going to hyphenate the names? The possibilities are endless with that." Quatre smiled and shook his head, "I never thought about it. I guess there are a lot of options with their names...You would have to ask one of them." Sette sighed deeply and replied, "I figured." With a sternness in her voice, she vowed, "One of these days, I am going to find out." Quatre chuckled and shook his head.
At this, the pilots watched as they could see Colony L4 just before them. Sette's eyes widened as she gasped quietly, "Wow." Quatre looked to the Colony with sadness mixed with concern. "There it is," he said numbly. The ex-princess asked gently, "Are you going to be okay?" The blonde nodded, "I'll be okay. Thank you." "Well then," Sette smiled, "Let's chalk up another mission for the good guys." Mason shot off before Quatre, who took a brief moment to take a deep breath before flying behind the ex-princess.
* * * * * *
Back at the base that Heero had invaded, several higher ranked soldiers were concerned since two of their comrades had disappeared when they concluded their last meeting the night before. It had been hours since then, sne there was no sight of either soldier. The officers were now searching all of the gathering rooms as the new recruits were exercising.
It was not long before two of the generals made their way to a door that had been locked. The soldiers became alarmed at this when they attempted to open the door. "None of rooms in this hall are to be locked," the younger general said to his partner. The two men removed their guns and stood at either side of the door.
The older general kicked the door opened as they flew in the room. Their eyes widened along with their mouths as they looked to the dead bodies of their missing comrades in the middle of the room. The pools of blood around them had dried since the soldiers were left like that for several hours now.
The officers lowered their guns as their faces paled. "Who the hell did this?" the older of the two asked as his eyes remained locked on the bodies. His partner shook his head as he walked to the table that the corpses lied in front of. On the table was a disk similar to a CD. He took up the disk and replied, "Whoever left this behind." He looked to the bodies closely. "One bullet in the head each. Whoever it was, they're an excellent marksman." Without saying anything further, the two men went to the lecture room where they would meet with their fellow officers that night. They would see what the disk held when they were together then.
* * * * * *
Back on the craft carrying Wing Zero and a small handful of other mobile suits, Heero and Sera Makato were flying to a colony not far from the one where the base was that Heero had infiltrated the night prior. They had been in silence since they left the base. Sera was following some coordinates that Heero had given her after he said that there was something he needed to take care of at that location.
The silence was finally bothering the Preventer and she decided to begin a conversation. "So," Sera began, as she looked to the young man in the seat beside her, "What is it that you have to handle at this place we're heading?" Heero turned to her with an empty expression. He shrugged, "I have some friends coming to meet me there." Seeing that she wouldn't get anything more from the 'Perfect Soldier' in regards to this question, Sera nodded and looked ahead again.
Heero looked to Sera for a moment. He couldn't help but ask, "How long have you been a Preventer?" Sera looked back to him and answered, "About five years now. I joined the Preventers after the Marimaya incident. That war along with the first just showed me how much I wanted to fight for what I believe in." As she turned her head forward again, Makato continued, "Knowing that I am helping others by living this way is the best feeling I could ever ask for."
The Wing pilot nodded. This Sera Makato was obviously a noble person. He had to respect that. Then he heard her ask, "How did you ever become a Gundam pilot?" He looked back to her and paused before answering, "I was fashioned to pilot Wing Zero since I was five-years-old." The brown eyes of the young woman beside his widened. "Five-years-old?" she whispered sadly. Heero gave a simple nod. "That's so young," Sera whispered as she lowered her head.
Looking back to Heero, Sera sighed, "You must have missed some much in life." The Wing pilot shrugged, not really wanting to think of that. There was a long pause of silence between them before the Preventer asked, "Isn't it lonely...Living the way that you do?" This question brought Heero's cobalt eyes to lock with her brown eyes. He nodded and answered, "It was lonely." The word 'was' had been stressed.
Before she could ask the next apparent question, Heero explained, "I met someone who taught me that there's more to life than fighting and missions." Sera's curiosity had peeked again. Heero smiled as he closed his eyes and lied back in his seat. "His name's Duo Maxwell," he said with the first bit of gentleness in his voice that Sera ever heard from him. "Pilot 02," she said aloud, recognizing the name. Heero nodded, his eyes never opening and the small smile never fading.
Sere turned to the pilot again. Just then, she thought of something that had been bothering her. "I'm surprised that you didn't take out everyone in that base last night." The Wing pilot chuckled deeply and replied in monotone, "Those soldiers have a much grimmer fate now that I've kept then alive." Makato shook her head, "I don't understand. What fate could possibly be worse than death?" Heero answered, "Knowing that you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it."
* * * * * *
Sette and Quatre reached the point that they could see the surface of L4 now. Before they could blink, they were attacked by a large swarm of OZ soldiers left and right. The tomboy pounded two Aires suits with Mason's laser mallet. She shouted as she was soon surrounded by more mobile suits, "There's a hell of a lot more of them than I thought that there was going to be." Quatre cut through several more soldiers as he looked down to see a massive army in the air and on the ground just waiting for them.
"I can't believe that OZ has all of these soldiers. There's just no end to them," the Arabian said in awe as he prepared to strike against more opponents. Sette grunted as she fought off more troops. "We have to get out of the sky. We'll be able to handle the forces better on the ground," she suggested. Quatre nodded, "You're right about that." The pair shot to the ground, taking several soldiers out in their path.
On the ground, their visuals of the soldiers were much better. "We should be able to cut them down to size before long," the ex-princess stated as she stabbed a Virgo with the spear-like handle of her Gundam's mallet. Quatre caused Sandrock to spin like a top, the suit's arms outstretched as the long blades chopped up the Virgos and Leos surrounding him. "Let's hope so," he replied, wiping some of the huge sweat drops that were running down his face.
After ten minutes, the Gundam pilots were beginning to see a small light at the end of the tunnel for this struggle as they continued to wipe out soldiers. "I can hold off these soldiers while you go and reach the Colony's heart," Sette called to Quatre as she shot an Aires down with a missile from her suit's arm. Quatre shook his head as he cut down two Leos. "I'm not leaving you to fight all of them alone. There's almost too many for the two of us to handle."
The monitors in Sandrock were going crazy. The same was happening in Mason. Sette groaned, "What now?" Quatre looked up while to the sky. His eyes widened as far as they could get as he shook his head and breathed, "No...Not this." Sette killed two more soldiers before replying, "What is it, Quatre?" She looked up to the sky as well and froze. The OZ soldiers backed up from Sandrock and Mason, making a huge circle around them. A red streak was flying towards the ground as the your pilots watched in shock and terror.
When the streak was close enough, Quatre made out what he was afraid of. The 'comet' landed as the pilots looked on. It was another Gundam suit. This one was colored different shades of red with a Scorpion tail and long pointed arms and legs. The pilot was Stacy Stanton. Looking to her foes, she sneered, "We're just full of surprises, aren't we?" Sette whispered, "God, please not another one." Stanton laughed, "You didn't think that we only had three Gundam suits did you?" Quatre licked his dry lips and tried to calm his rapid breathing as the woman continued, "This is Scorpio. And my name is Stacy Stanton. Before I destroy you, I'll give you both the chance to surrender now."
Sette growled and screamed as she charged Scorpio, "GO TO HELL!"
The two suits battled as the Arabian finally broke through his state of shock. The red Gundam's claw arms each shot a long blade that stretched many feet. The OZ soldiers surrounding them attacked Sandrock, leaving Quatre grossly outnumbered. He struggled to keep from becoming lost in the swarm of soldiers.
Mason took a shot at Scorpio in another change, after several unsuccessful attempts to knock it down. Stacy rounded and knocked the ex-princess's suit onto its back. Sette cried out in pain and shock from the blow. Just as she looked up, she gasped loudly as she saw Scorpio standing over her, about to hurl one of the arm-blades though the cockpit as the right arm was lifted over the red Gundam's head. The tomboy reacted just in time, making her Gundam roll to the side, just barely missing the blow.
Scorpio's right arm-blade went through the ground where Stacy intended to stab Sette instead. She growled and recovered quickly, as she pulled the blade from the ground. The metal was bent pretty badly. Sette laughed hysterically as she saw the damaged weapon. Stacy simply chucked deeply and pressed a button that caused the right blade to fall to the ground. Just then, another, much longer blade with jagged edges appeared. The left blade was dropped as the same blade came from that arm. Sette's laughter stopped immediately as she gasped, "Oh shit."
The two Gundams battled again.
Quatre, in the meantime, was still fighting with everything in him to stay alive in the middle of his own personal struggle. There was no sigh that he was getting anywhere in this fight, though he was knocking out a good number of soldiers. "At this rate, I'll never be able to reach the Colony's heart without revealing what my mission is," he grunted to himself as he blocked a spray of lasers from the OZ soldiers. He went on to return the favor, shooting the bullets from Sandrock's head and wiping out an Aires and a Virgo.
Back where Stacy and Sette were fighting, the ex-princess saw the hard time that Quatre was having alone. She made a bold move to avoid the red Gundam as she flew towards the white suit of her proclaimed boyfriend. She pounded an Aires into the ground with her laser mallet, just before he managed to attack Quatre from behind. The Arabian looked to her in shock and shouted, "Sette!?!" His partner smiled and nodded, "We'll have to trade-off for now. You take care of Scorpio." Quatre nodded and flew off to where Stacy was waiting.
The young OZ pilot chuckled as she saw Sandrock making its way to her, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr. Winner, himself." Sandrock landed before the red suit. The Arabian inside did not allow any time for the young woman to have her chance to hit first. Using his curved blades, he battled with a better advantage than Sette had in the beginning against Scorpio. Still, there wasn't once that Quatre was able to get a clean hit against Stacy.
The young woman managed to get Quatre with a good shot more than a few times. Seeing that Quatre wasn't going to give in any time soon, Stanton sneered, "Time for a new approach." The bulit'in blades of the red suit's arms retracted to show the long pointed claws again. Scorpio went onto all fours as Quatre watched in uncertainly. The tail of the OZ Gundam was now sticking in mid-air and the top of the suit's head had deep green sensor eyes looking at him as it now stood on all of its legs.
Before Quatre could react, Scorpio charged towards him as great speed, on account to the extra appendages. The while Gundam was tackled and the scorpion tail extended until it wrapped several times around the waist and chest of Sandrock. Scorpio pinned Sandrock in addition to this as it straddled the Arabian's suit. The trapped Gundam was unable to break through the Gundamimun that bore a tight strangle hold around it. Quatre cried out in pain as the tail wrapped tighter still. The controls in the Arabian's cockpit were sparking everywhere as the sharp tail continued to wrap as tight as possible around his suit's waist.
Sette saw that Quatre was in grave danger and she cried out, "Quatre!" She was then knocked to the ground, herself by the outnumbering forces that surrounded her. A shout of pain left her as she looked up to see that she could not find anything but soldiers around and above her. Mason was pounded with laser beams from everywhere as the ex-princess was shown no mercy. Sette's suit was lying on its stomach as the pilot struggled with everything in her to get her suit to rise. But, there was nothing that could get Mason to move. Desperately, she begged, "Come on, Mason. We're tougher than this. Get up!" Mason, like Sandrock was now paralyzed.
Quatre was losing consciousness as the sparks around him continued. He was now bleeding from the right shoulder from a wound that was caused from the attack. He groaned weakly as his eyes began to close. Stacy laughed madly as she shouted, "YOU'RE FINISHED!" No sooner had she said this that her Gundam was tackled to the ground by an unknown attacker from the side. "WHAT THE-" was all she managed to scream as she was knocked onto her side. Looking up, there was a brown and gold mobile suit that she had seen in images of the first war. Her brown eyes widened as she gasped, "Y-You one of the-"
With the hold no longer on his suit, Quatre was able to breath deeply again and his eyes opened again. He groaned deeply as he sat up to see what saved him. His eyes, too widened as he looked to the suit standing over Scorpio, the pilot inside the red Gundam still in fear and shock. "RASHID!" Quatre shouted in elation. Sure enough, it was the tall man that guarded the Arabian countless years before Quatre went to live on Earth after the wars.
Rashid smiled warmly to him, "It's it good to see you again, Master Quatre." Stacy growled and screamed hoarsely, "YOU HAVEN'T WON THIS FIGHT YET, YOU FOOLS!" At this, she quickly got her suit to rise and attack Rashid. Quatre turned to see that Sette was in trouble as she was losing consciousness at this time. He cried out and prepared to fly after her. Before he could do this, however, the entire Maquanaut force came from their hidden tunnels and attacked the OZ soldiers that were beating Mason down. Quatre aided them and fought his way to SEtte. He pulled the fallen Gundam to its feet as he called, "Sette? ...Sette!?!"
The ex-princess rubbed her forehead, which now was bleeding from a wound there. "Quatre? What's going on?" she asked in a daze. She looked to her monitors and watched in shock at the new mobile suits fighting the OZ soldiers. The Arabian smiled warmly, "Meet the Maguanauts." Sette's look of shocked changed into elation as she shouted, "KICK ASS!" She gently broke from Sandrock's arms and joined the fight against Scorpio, alongside Rashid. As she flew towards the fight there, Sette called to Quatre, "You know what you have to do, Quatre!" The blonde pilot smiled and nodded as he took to the air.
Sette landed behind Rashid as they shared the struggle against Scorpio. Stacy Stanton was not going to give them the satisfaction of getting worked up or retreating. She was going to fight as long as she had to and that was final. Even against two opponents, Scorpio proved to be wore than a worthy challenge as a Gundam suit. The main factor to this was the pilot inside.
Back in the desolate regions of the desert of L4, Quatre plowed through the ground and reached the tubes that he needed to fly through to reach the heart of L4. With a determined look on his face and a tight grip at the controls, the Arabian sped through the maze without any fear or doubt of what he needed to accomplish.
Rashid, Sette and Stanton continued to battle each other. The ex-princess charged to the right as Rashid came from the left. When they met in the middle with Scorpio, Stacy managed to dodge their blows with her blades and swiped at them. Sette raised her mallet over her Gundam's head and prepared to whack the red suit that was now busy fighting Rashid. As if unaffected, Stacy blocked the blow even while busy fighting the Maquanaut.
Quatre finally made it to the heart of the Colony when he jumped from his cockpit and entered the small opening that led to the main system. Once there, he typed feverishly over the controls. As the Arabian typed the new orders into the database, he smiled with sweat dripping from his face, "And this takes care of the inner rings of space." He punched the last key and watched as the monitor before him blinked to reveal that he had accomplished his task.
All that was required of him now was to cover up everything he did. That would be finished in a few minutes. Quatre worked quickly as his thoughts were still on Sette and the Maquanauts. Before long, everything was finished and the Arabian ran back in his Gundam. After flying through the maze of tubes again, Quatre made his way out of the ground as he shot to the sky. From there, he flew quickly back to where the battle was raging.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, Milliardo and Noin were together in the control room with their friends. Fire was holding their son closely as she heard something come from the main monitor before all of them. The empty ring between the dark blue and light blue rings changed into gold. All of the soldiers in the room stopped what they were doing as they looked to the screen in amazement and disbelief, since there was no way they could have been informed prior to this time that Quatre even reached the colony he was sent to.
Milliardo announced with a wide smile, "We got L4's orbit!" Lady Une ran to the front of the room and placed a set of headphones with a microphone on. "General Churchill?" she called into the devise. If the communication ring was established, she could contact the general whenever she wanted now. After a long pause of silence, the general replied over the system as his men could be heard screaming and cheering in the background. "THEY DID IT!" he shouted. "WE HAVE A CONNECTION WITH EVERY COLONY BEFORE THE MILKYWAY!" The control room of Peace Million joined in the celebration as everyone jumped up and cheered with hugs, kiss and shouts all around.
Lady Une sighed deeply in relief, "I can't even say how good it is to hear your voice, General." Churchill smiled and replied, "The feeling is more than mutual, Lady Une. Your pilots are something else." Une nodded and smiled, "That they are. I'll speak to you soon, Churchill." The General replied, "Very good. I'll send the pilots back your way as soon as we repair any damages to their suits." Lady Une smiled and nodded back, "Thank you. We'll talk again later tonight to discuss the status of the colonies we have back," Churchill replied, "Copy that," and they cut the connection off.
In the midst of the celebration of the control room, Fire, Water, Wind and Lady Une stood together as they looked to the monitor. The rings of dark blue, gold and light blue spanned the whole area of space from Mercury to the Milky Way. "Thank you, God," was all Lady Une could say quietly.
Noin smiled and kissed Mirando's head. "I can't wait to see the others when they get back," she sighed in relief. Mirando nodded, "I'm sure they're anxious to get back here, themselves." Sally nodded, "I don't have any doubt about that." Looking to the celebration, she smiled, "I could get used to this." Noin laughed, "We all could."
* * * * * *
Back where the fight was still taking place on L4, the Maquanauts were more than dominating their battle as they destroyed nearly every defense. The pilot with shades laughed, "We've got them on the run, boys!" as he saw that good handfuls of the OZ troops were flying off into space. Another Maguanaut nodded, "They know that they're out matched. It would be stupid of them to stay here any longer than they have." He couldn't have spoken more truly. More soldiers were departing quickly in the midst of the fight.
Rashid and Sette were still fighting Scorpio. Stanton had done more than a great job holding her own. She saw the retreat of many of the OZ soldiers and growled, "I'll handle you cowards when we get back to headquarters." She was about to strike at her foes again when she turned to see Sandrock flying towards the battlefield. The Maquanauts cheered at the sight of their master and the last of the OZ soldiers were killed or had fled before they were wiped out.
Stacy looked to the white Gundam as it approached and hissed with narrowed eyes, "Damn it...I'll get you before long, boy." Knowing that she could handle fighting two pilots, but not risking taking on three at one time, Stanton flew off before anyone could react quickly enough to follow her. Sette and Rashid watched her retreat before they saw what it was that caused her to fly off like that. When they saw Sandrock, they shouted and cheered for the Arabian. "THAT'S MY FIANCEE!" Sette cheered over all the others. All of the cheering and shouting soldiers fell silent instantly at this and turned to Mason in their suits. Sette merely smiled brightly and waved to them in the monitors.
Quatre rejoined them as he landed his Gundam and jumped from his cockpit. Sette and the Maquanauts did the same as they all ran to him. Sette was the first to reach her partner as they embraced and cheered. Quatre picked her up and spun her again as his guards joined them. Looking up to Rashid after the embrace, Quatre felt small tears forming in his eyes. Looking to all of the Maquanauts, he smiled and said gently, "I've missed all of you so much." Rashid smiled, bent down and picked the young man so they could hug. The other Maquanauts embraced and reunited with their master with affection.
"From now on, we'll be fighting by your side no matter where you go," Rashid promised the young pilot. Quatre smiled brightly and nodded, "That means more than I could ever tell you." Rashid smiled warmly back and nodded as well. One of the Maquanauts looked to Sette and asked his master, "When were you going to tell us you were engaged, Master Quatre?" The Arabian gasped and looked to the tomboy, who was still smiling as she looked to the band of pilots and the object of her affection.
The blonde pilot blushed, "I-Well I mean-" The Maquanaut in shades smiled, "She's a looker, too!" Sette beamed and opened her arms wide as she walked to them, "My boys!" The young men laughed and introduced themselves to the blue-haired pilot. The tomboy hugged and kissed all of them as if she had known them all her life. Rashid smiled and looked to Quatre, The Arabian coughed and cleared his throat, "All right. Well we better be heading back to General Churchill's ship. The sooner we get out suits repaired, the sooner we can get back to Peace Million." The Maquanauts and Sette agreed as they headed back into their cockpits. Together, the band of pilots headed off into space.
* * * * * *
Excalibur was flying towards the colony where the newest laser was being built. Kumi slept in the cockpit as the suit flew on autopilot. Knowing that she was the only pilot closest to the site, it was her mission to destroy the weapon. Flying the last few days and nights alone was nothing that she wasn't used to. So sleeping like this wasn't anything that bothered her, either. It was the dreams she had that were different, however...
In this particular dream, Kumi was walking along a city that had been destroyed by a battle. All of her dreams had a scenery similar to this, war-ravaged towns, fire, death. They were like this most of her life and there was never any escape from it. She walked along the destruction searching for something. Finally, she looked up and saw a young man in the distance with his back to her. The blonde hair was all that Kumi needed to see to recognize the figure.
With tears instantly building in her eyes, Kumi shouted, "Matt!" The young man turned and smiled lovingly to her. With a slight gesture from his head that told the pilot to follow him, Matt walked off out of the city, Kumi followed quickly behind. When they passed the city, there was a beautiful field with flowers and nothing but peacefulness. The city was no longer in sight and Matt turned back to look to his lover.
The silver-haired pilot didn't take a moment before throwing her arms around the Preventer and they embraced tightly. "I miss you so much," she sobbed gently as she buried her head in Matt's shoulder. "Shhhh. I know, sweetheart," the young man soothed gently. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. The reunited lovers kissed deeply. When they pulled back a moment to look into each other's eyes, Matt whispered sadly, "You're back to dreaming of those terrible scenes again." Kumi lowered her head, "They went back to that after you-" She couldn't continue and shook her head.
Matt smiled warmly to her, small tears building in his own eyes. He dried Kumi's tears from her cheeks gently. "You know that I've never left you...I've been watching you all the time since then," Matt said quietly. His love smiled gently, the smile she only had for him and the gentleness in her eyes that no one else got to see.
With a small sigh, Matt asked, "Kumi, why haven't you accepted the gift that I sent to you?" the Gundam pilot gave a shocked, confused look and asked, "What gift is that?" Her love answered, "You know that you can't go through life alone, no matter how much you want believe that you can." Kumi shook her head, "No, you're the person that I love. I want to be with you." Matt smiled and nodded, "We will be together, but not at this time, Kumi. You can't go on in life the way you have been, look at how your dreams come to you."
Kumi shook her head and replied, "I don't care, Matt. I had my chance to love with you and you were taken from me. I can't love anymore." Matt quickly said, "You love Trowa." Kumi's eyes shot wide in hurt at these words. She whispered and said quietly, "No...I don't love Trowa." Her lover smiled, "Then why are you afraid to open the letter that he sent you?" His love was about to say something, but she knew that she had been caught. Kumi lowered her head only to have it lifted gently by Matt.
Matt couldn't help but chuckle, "Kumi Yuy...Of all the things for you to be afraid of, you find it terrifying to open a letter from someone that you care about." Kumi replied quietly, "I'm afraid of what my heart will say in response to his words." Her lover kissed her forehead and whispered, "Accept whatever you heart tells you, Kumi. Trowa is a great person...That's why I sent him to you." Nothing could have prepared the 'Perfect Soldier' for that as she gasped and gave a look of shock like none other that Matt found precious. He chuckled again and kissed her lips gently.
"Trowa loves you, Kumi. And I know that the feeling is mutual. I wanted things to work out between you both, since I saw how Trowa affected you even before you met...when you saved Quatre from the darkness surrounding him. I knew that if I couldn't be with you in life, Trowa was the only other person that could possibly pick up where I left off." Kumi felt tears rolling down her cheeks again as she looked to Matt with relief mixed with adoration.
The Preventer rested their foreheads together and smiled, "Now read the letter and accept whatever happens, love. I'll never leave you or stop loving you. And I know that you'll always have a special place in your heart that loves me always in return. That's more than enough. But you have to move on...No more nightmares like the ones we got away from." Kumi nodded. They kissed deeply again and when the kiss broke, Kumi whispered, "Ai shiteru, Matt...Always." Her lover dried the last tears that fell from her eyes. "And I'll love you forever, as well, Kumi," Matt replied. At that, he disappeared.
Kumi awoke and looked to her surroundings. She recognized Excalibur's cockpit immediately and fell back in her chair, thinking back to the dream she just had. As she did this, she felt the letter that Trowa had sent to her, hidden in her belt where she placed it. With a small sigh, Kumi removed the envelope from her belt and looked to it. Trowa's neat cursive writing of her name was beautiful. After a moment to gather her thoughts, the silver-haired pilot opened the envelope. After unfolding the letter, she recalled Trowa's voice and read silently as if he was reading the following note to her:
Dear Kumi,
I sometimes find it difficult to verbally express a lot of what I have in my heart. However, I am able to make up for that when I write and decided to do just that now.
I don't know everything about you, Kumi. But I can't help but feel like I've known you for years. I know that you don't feel as though you're a good person...and you couldn't be more wrong for feeling that way. You have to be one of the strongest, kindest and most beautiful people that I have the honor of knowing and calling a comrade- if nothing else. You just need to give yourself more credit.
While I don't know about your past, I do know that the training you had from Doctor J was cruel and relentless. I see proof of that through Heero as well as through you. It must hurt to constantly struggle with yourself to refrain from any feelings. Life is cruel enough with this war. Please, don't feel like you have to fight this war- or any war- alone.
I'm here for you, Kumi. I always will be. If you ever need anything, you can always call on me. I'll help anyway I can. That's what people do for the ones that they care about.
Be careful out there and come back safely. You're in my thoughts...And you can be certain that you'll always be in my heart. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely Yours,
Trowa
Kumi realized that she stopped breathing and caught her breath with a small gasp. Folding the letter, she placed it back in the security behind her silver belt.
* * * * * *
At nightfall, Stacy Stanton returned to an OZ carried not far from L4. In a desolate room, she screamed and threw a chair against the wall as she let out all her rage and frustration. There was a knock at the door as she continued to do this. "WHAT!?!" she shouted to the door. When it slowly opened, her eyes widened. She stood straight and saluted as a calm Quinze Khushrenadah entered.
The young man smiled to the pilot and chuckled deeply, "Aw, Stacy. You don't need to take out your anger on the furniture. There are much better methods of getting that out of your system." He continued to smile and walked to lift the fallen chair as he took a seat. Stanton continued to salute as sweat rolled down her face.
"Please relax, my friend," Quinze asked ever so calmly. Stanton took a deep breath and lowered her hands. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she said quietly, "I've failed you." Her leader laughed loudly. "Whatever are you talking about, my dear?" he questioned with idle curiosity. His pilot looked to him in shock as her head snapped up to lock eyes with him.
"I-I could not stop Quatre from accomplishing whatever it is that he was sent to L4 to do. He and his men along with that failure of a princess were too much to handle." She growled deeply, "And the cowards that left me behind put me in a terrible situation." Quinze nodded and replied, "I understand, Stacy. But none of that was your fault. The soldiers that fought beside you were fresh and unaware as to what they were going to have to face. They will be fully prepared for the next battle." Stanton protested, "They are easily replaced. Why not kill them and make an example of them for the next soldiers?"
Quinze shook his head firmly and said, "I will not kill them and frighten their comrades. They know what they have to do in order to perform better in the future. Leave it at that." Stanton had no choice but to nod, "Of course, sir." He leader continued, "As for the Gundam pilots and their friends, let them think that they have something working for them in this war. They'll be sadly mistaken that any good will come from their actions against us." The young woman looked gave an expression of shock mixed with relief at her leader's words.
Stanton nodded and sighed deeply, "Thank you, sir. I appreciate your understanding." Quinze smiled and replied, "You're welcome. You did a beautiful job with Scorpio. I knew that you would be the best suited for that Gundam suit. Use him well." "I will do just that, I assure you," the young pilot stated as she gave a quick salute and excused herself. Quinze chuckled deeply and leaned back in the chair with his arms crossed.
* * * * * *
Later that night, after the bodies of the killed soldiers had been removed and their blood had been cleaned, there was a large meeting to discuss what had happened the night prior to this time in the base that Heero infiltrated. In the meeting room back at the base, all of the heads there met to see what the disk held. One of the soldiers slid it into the disk player attached to a large screen. As he did this, the blank screen went to light blue. Finally, Heero's image appeared on the screen. Instantly, all of the soldiers gasped and those who were sitting rose to their feet. They eyes glued onto the young pilot.
Heero's empty expression never changed even as he said flatly, "For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Heero Yuy. And yes, I am responsible for the deaths of your comrades. This message is a warning...Every last one of you in this base is going to die."
The soldiers watching this had looks of wither terror or rage as they continued to listed to the stoic Wing pilot. "Your deaths would have been quick and painless if I simply blew up your base the way that I originally intended. But for what you and your leader- Quinze Khrushrenadah - have done, you deserve a much longer and more painful death than that."
Heero continued, "I look forward to taking all of you on single-handedly. I know that your subordinates are aching for the chance to face a Gundam pilot and I don't like leaving anyone disappointed." The shocked faces of the soldiers revealed their disbelief of the young man's courage. Heero concluded, "I have typed into your database the location of a desolate colony where you will find me at noon tomorrow, and Wing Zero."
One of the soldiers ran from the room to get that information as his comrades continued to watch the message. Finally, Heero chuckled deeply and sneered, "Omae o korosu." At this, the screen went to static. One of the sergeants growled, "That little bastard really thinks that he can take on all of us?" A captain shook his head, "It's impossible. There's three hundred soldiers in this base. There's no chance one foolish pilot will be able to stop every last one of us."
A private bit his lip before saying quietly, "This is Heero Yuy we're talking about...He's not normal." Another soldier looked to him in disgust, "He could be the frigging devil himself. That asshole is going to wish he never did this." The others all agreed, even those who were originally reluctant to face the Wing pilot.
The young soldier who left to get the information of where Heero was entered again. He informed the others, "I have the coordinates of where we'll be meeting Heero Yuy. It's a colony not far from here that has been evacuated since the start of the war. We can reach it in a few hours." The highest ranked of all of them nodded and ordered, "Inform every last soldier here that we'll be leaving first thing in the morning." All of the soldiers left as they went to do just this.
* * * * * *
On the colony that Heero had spoken of, the craft carrying him, his suit and Sera had landed just landed. The pilots were still in the cockpit. Sera shouted to the Wing pilot, after hearing his plans, "You can't possibly take on all of those soldiers alone! Let me help you!" Heero shook his head, "The soldiers want to fight a Gundam suit, nothing else. That exactly what they'll get." Makato's jaw dropped and she whispered hoarsely, "That's like asking to be killed." Heero simply replied, "Not with the Zero system in my suit. Besides, with or without that, I can take care of myself."
Heero rose and walked towards the door. Sera rose from her seat. Before Heero reached the door, she called to his back, "What about Duo? What would he think of what you're trying to do?" The Wing pilot froze in place at this. "Duo," he whispered sadly to himself. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Sera saw that she made some impact with this line of questioning.
The Wing pilot slowly turned his head back to her. "I made a promise to him that I would live through this war. I never break my word when I give it to the people that mean the most to me." The sternness in his tone caused shivers to go up the woman's spine. Knowing that there was nothing further to discuss, Heero walked through the doors as they opened before him. "Good night, Sera," was all he said before they closed behind him again.
Sera looked to the doors with concern. This expression changed to one of sadness and loss. She whispered gravely to herself, "Oh, my son. What did Doctor J do to you?"
TBC