Hanami leaned back against a table she'd just cleaned, brushing bangs from her eyes. Moving to the next table, she absently wondered what her two companions were up to. As if on cue, Ikasu peered into the room. Hanami nodded to the teenager and returned to her work as Ikasu took a seat. Giving the tabletop a final wipe, Hanami grabbed her pad and pen, slipping over to the fellow pilot's table.

"Hey. Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks. Oh, what time does your shift end tonight?"

"Six, why?" Hanami questioned, tucking the pad and pen into her uniform pocket. Ikasu grinned, pulling some paper from a bag beside her feet.

"Because I made us some plans. Has Kawa been around?" Ikasu stuffed the papers away. Hanami shook her head.

"Not since you both left this morning."

"Ah. Guess I'll be off then." Ikasu stood, shouldering her backpack. "Just be ready to head out after your shift."

"Alright, bye."

"Later." Ikasu grinned, flicking her wrist in a two fingered wave. Hanami smiled and left to attend other customers as Ikasu exited the Inn.

The pilot stood patiently at a corner, watching for the bus. Blue oculars wandered the street as she waited, leaning back against the "Bus" sign. Guess she took my advice after all. Ikasu noted mentally, remembering the circus poster, which was exactly where she was headed. Soon the large automobile Ikasu was waiting for pulled up, and the girl climbed on. She slid into an empty seat and, hands behind her head, gave a yawn, waiting to reach her destination.

A short ride later, Ikasu climbed off the bus as it pulled to a stop. Glancing around, she spotted the large tent down the street and took off in that direction. As the pilot approached, the sound of music and laughter filled the air, along with the smell of popcorn and cotton candy. Sneaking around to the back, eyes wandered over trailers and cages.

"May I help you?" A female voice came from behind Ikasu. The pilot cringed, caught. She swiveled on her heel, coming face to face with Catherine.

"Err.. I was looking for a Kawa Nikoniko."

"Ah. She'll be right out, her act is almost over." The knife thrower smiled. "Who should I tell her is waiting?"

"Ikasu Koushi."

Catherine nodded and disappeared into the tent, leaving Ikasu to breathe a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later, Kawa emerged from the tent.

"Ikasu?" The blonde questioned.

"Hey there. Congrats on the job." Ikasu grinned, nodding to the costume Kawa was in.

"Thanks, hehe. So, something up?"

"Yeah. I found something very interesting today." That said, Ikasu pulled her backpack from her shoulder. Unzipping it, her hand ruffled through random objects, soon revealing the same papers she'd shown Hanami. She handed the stack to Kawa, who thumbed through them.

"What is all this?" Kawa blinked. The brunette set her bag down, and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"OZ is planning to transport some mobile suits. There will be two routes, one by land, and one by air." Ikasu gestured to the maps. "Only one route has the suits, the other is a decoy."

Kawa nodded. "Sounds pretty important."

"Yeah. I thought one of us could go to one route, and the remaining two to the other. Who knows, we might even see those other pilots there. Can you be back at the Inn by six?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Kawa handed the papers back to Ikasu. Stuffing them back into her backpack, Ikasu again shouldered it.

"Alright, see ya then." She gave a nod and headed back down the road, Kawa waving after her.

~~~

The clock struck six, and the three females had gathered. The situation was discussed, and destinations concluded. The three parted for their Gundams; Ikasu was to take the air route and Hanami and Kawa the ground. Little did they know that four other pilots were taking on this mission, and that OZ was ready for all seven.

"Colonel Une, Gundam 04 is attacking the land route." One of the OZ soldiers at base spoke.

"Alright, Aries troops attack!"

Out on the battlefield, Gundam Sandrock and the Manguanac troops fought off the now attacking Aries.

"Master Quatre, there are two new suits approaching from the West." The leader of the Manguanacs spoke. The pilot of Sandrock, Quatre, blinked, and turned to look in the specified direction. Two suits landed nearby the already fighting troops, weapons drawn. Nebulae and Orion.

"Who are you?" Quatre questioned, opening a line to both Gundams.

"There'll be time for introductions later, right now we have some suits to destroy." Kawa returned. Quatre nodded to himself, indeed they were right. All three Gundams returned to the battle, drawing closer to their target.

"There's no mistaking these defenses, it's this route!" The blonde male concluded, heading for the train tracks. A weapon rose from the oncoming train, firing into Sandrock. With a yell from the pilot, the Gundam tumbled across the tracks.

"You wish!" This was a new male voice. Gundam Deathscythe had appeared on the scene, grabbing ahold of the speeding train. With a bit of effort, it was pulled from the tracks, avoiding a run-in with the fallen Sandrock.

"Guys, this one's the decoy." Spoke Hanami as she and Kawa approached. Deathscythe's pilot, Duo Maxwell, blinked at the two new suits, but refrained from asking. All four pilots instead turned to the train remains, where multiple Leo suits were now emerging. The girl was right - this was the wrong route.

Meanwhile, the fleet of carriers with the mobile suits was nearing their fueling point. Behind them was another high speed carrier, which carried another Gundam and pilot. Aries were released, who quickly fired at the carrier. HeavyArms emerged from the flames and vaulted into the air, showering the OZ troops with bullets.

"Colonel Une, half of the land route Leos have been destroyed by 02, 04, 07, and 08. And now the air route is being attacked by 03. Two other suits are also approaching from opposite directions to the air route, one believed to be 01."

"Good. Inform Colonel Zechs."

The fleet landed in the refueling base, HeavyArms nearby. Now Wing had joined the fight, piloted by none other than Heero Yuy. Trowa, piloting HeavyArms, was doing what damage he could, but before Wing could join, it's pilot was distracted by a new suit. Heero turned his attention to the sky.

"Is it an Aries? No, it's bigger." The 01 pilot focused in on the suit, the screen revealing Zechs and the Tallgeese. Heero raised his beam rifle and fired, but Tallgeese quickly moved from the weapon's path. Zechs launched his own attack with beam cannon, shaking around the Wing some.

"That's enough 01. We should have no need for beam rifles or cannons between us." That said, Tallgeese's beam cannon dropped to the ground, instead pulling out a beam saber. "We'll fight for recognition of superiority. You are a Gundam pilot, I'm sure that will suit you."

Heero narrowed his eyes, slamming a fist into one of Wing's controls. The beam rifle fell, and beam saber was drawn. The two launched toward each other, resuming the fight.

"Hm. There's the flight type." Trowa turned his attention to the fighting pair. He glanced toward Tallgeese. "Is that thing a new Oz model?"

Now another suit flew onto the scene. LunarLancet. The Gundam immediately dove into battle, not bothering to ask questions of the two she didn't know.

"And who's that?" Trowa turned his attention to Lancet. He shook his head, returning to his own battle. "My mission was to destroy the Taurus, I'm checking out." And so the fight continued, HeavyArms and LunarLancet attacking the base, and Wing and Tallgeese attacking each other.

Inside the headquarters, Noin looked up from the screen she was watching.

"The Taurus carriers are on standby for emergency take off. I'll give the okay."

"I didn't approve of that." Colonel Une protested. "I know my strategies will never fail me, Noin. Get space fortress barge on the line."

"Space fortress barge?" Noin blinked.

"Colonel Une. Positioning is complete." Spoke one of the soldiers out in space.

"Good. Calling all Gundam pilots! We are now positioned to stage an all out missile attack on the colonies. We have seized all missile satellites from the former Alliance. It's reasonable to say to say we control the fate of all colonies. This isn't a bluff. I demand all pilots surrender at once and hand over your Gundams!" Colonel Une smirked, this had to work.

"They've targeted the colonies!" Quatre yelled in disbelief.

"No way!" came Hanami.

"And hand over our Gundams?" Duo blinked.

"Damn." Kawa cursed beneath her breath.

"Sounds like OZ's tricks." Trowa narrowed his eyes.

"They can't!" Ikasu shook her head, slamming down a fist. Would OZ actually blow up the colonies..?