The year is After Colony 200. For three years, the Earth Sphere United Nation, the new ruling government set up following the climatic Eve Wars, has kept peace within the Earth and the Colonies. War and weapons are things of the past. The few arms that still exist in this world are in the hands of the Preventers organization and are used simply to quell rebellions. Wars are now fought only in the history books, but history is about to repeat itself.
Mars, once a barren and desolate world, is now a flourishing industrial and residential colony. Founded in the year After Colony 025, it was established as a prison colony, a place where the Earth could send its most hardened criminals. Fifty years later, normal citizens began to move to the new settlement, turning the prison colony into a model of civilization. Mars is now the home to over five hundred million normal citizens, over a dozen corporations, and a high tech military base. The prison still remains, downgraded to a military prison and cells for violent protestors. The lives of the people of Mars are as close to normal as any colony citizens can get. All of that is about to change.
Gundam Wing: Of Many Minds
Epp 1: The Third Measure
Lagrange point two, the colony set up by what once was the United States of America. Inside of this amazing structure, a young man sat atop a pile of broken machines and rubble. He wore what looked to be a priest's outfit, complete with white collar. His long hair pulled back and braided, reached all the way to the small of his back. He picked up a piece of technology from the heap and examined it closely, looking for anything he could salvager from it.
"Bah! Nothing!" Dejected, Duo threw the piece down the mountain of junk. It had been a long day; he had gotten in a shipment of junk early that morning, and had been looking through it for anything he thought he could salvage for parts. To that point, all he had found were some old MS fuel cells, some spent shell casings, and the arm from an old construction suit.
He got up to his feet, looking for more possible profit in the junk, when a voice came from the house behind him.
"Duo, hey Duo!"
Maxwell turned around to see Hilde striding out of their house, waving a large envelope in her hand.
Duo jumped off the top of the heap, slid down the side of the junk pile, and walked over to the young girl.
"Duo, take a look at this."
Duo took the envelope from the young girl's hand, removing a piece of paper from it. After going over the document, he looked up at the girl before him with a raised eyebrow.
"Who sent this?"
"I have no idea Duo. It doesn't have a mailing address. It just said to meet outside the main circus tent at five o'clock. Come on Duo, it'll be fun, and we'll get to see Trowa and Cathie again."
"Aww, I don't know."
"Come on Duo!! Please."
"Oh ok, I could use a break."
"Yay!!!" Hilde jumped up and hugged Duo around the neck as the couple strolled back into the house.
A few hours later, Duo sat infront of his T.V., watching the news, waiting for Hilde to emerge from the bathroom.
"In financial news, Leeper Technologies Incorporated beat out Mars Battle Tech today for the Preventers MS contract. LTI is expected to net over 50 billion dollars from the deal. Many speculators believe that LTI was able to clinch the contract because of the tension on Mars recently." The final statement from the overly perky news anchor caught Duos attention. "Incase you have yet to hear, ten days ago, approximately 100 prisoners escaped the Mars prison and attempted to overrun the local military base. All communications with Mars were cut off and the Preventers were sent in. It is believed that the incident, if not calmed already, will be handled shortly."
"Ready Duo?" Hilde sauntered from the small bathroom of the house and into the living room.
"Finally. Just what do you girls do in there that takes so long."
"None of your business. Now let's get going."
More than a half an hour latter, the pair stood outside the big top of the circus. All around them, people walked passed them in Preventers uniforms. Duo even noticed some trucks with mobile suits on them, mostly Taurus units.
"So just what's going on here?" Duo looked from side to side at all the soldiers around him.
"I heard it's a going away performance for the local Preventers unit, they're heading to Mars. Guess they need to keep an eye there."
"I, it can't be! Duo?" A voice called out from behind them. The pair turned to see a young boy rushing down the hill towards them. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, with a large smile spread across his face.
"Quatre!" Duo grabbed hold of his friend to keep him from falling on his face.
"How are you doing?"
"I, I'm fine Duo. What are you two doing here?" Quatre huffed as he hunched over to catch his breath.
"We got this letter with tickets in it that said to meet here before the show."
"Wait, you got one too." Quatre reached into his back pocket and pulled out a note and a ticket, the note was exactly like the one Duo and Hilde had received.
"So who think sent these Duo?"
"Well I guess this means it wasn't either of you two." A cocky voice shouted off to the side.
"Wufie!?!" The pair of young men whipped their heads around to the familiar voice. Walking their way were Wufie Chang, and Sally Po, both dressed in basic Preventers uniform.
"Let me guess, you two got a letter too?"
"That's right, Hilde, but there were no tickets in ours, we already had them." Sally spoke up as she walked over to her young friends.
"Hey Wufie, I figured they'd have sent you two to Mars already, what's the deal?"
"They sent Noin, and the Dead Man."
"Zechs." Duo hissed the name under his breath.
"Well well well, looks like the gangs all here." A soft, female, voice called from the big top.
The group looked up to entrance of the big top. Standing infront of one of the support poles was a young girl in a pink tutu with a feather in her hair. Next to her leaning quietly against the pole was a young man with large clown pants a clown shirt, his hair covering half his face with the largest uni-bang the world had ever seen.
"Trowa!" Quatre smiled at the sight of his old friend as Trowa and Catherine walked over to the group.
"It's good to see you again too, Quatre. You too Duo, Wufie."
"So, was it you guys that sent out all these letters?"
"No Sally," Catherine pulled out a letter from behind her back, "we got one just like it."
"So who the sent them?" Quatre asked, to no one in particular.
"Mabey it was HIM." Duo responded with a chuckle.
"Yeah right, like he'd ever show up to one of our shows. Well who cares, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, come on you guys, enjoy the show." Catherine waved to the group as she walked off to the tent, Trowa following quietly behind her.
The group gathered inside of the big top. Duo munched loudly on large tub of popcorn, periodically taking huge slurps from a 'Big Gulp' style jug of soda. The tent went quiet as the house lights dimmed. A large spotlight opened on the center of the tent, there stood the ringmaster, mic in hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, the stars of the show: Catherine Bloom, and Trowa Barton!" A second spotlight appeared next to the ringmaster revealing Cathy, standing in a bow. Another spot light opened in the top right corner of the tent, revealing Trowa standing on the back of an African elephant.
The elephant began moving around the ring, slowly building into a gallop. Cathy reached behind her back, and pulled out four daggers, two in each hand. As the elephant built up speed, Cathy began eyeing her target. Without warning, Trowa leapt from the back of the elephant, flipping and spinning through the air. Gracefully, he landed on a wooden platform, arms outstretched. The moment his feet touched the platform, Cathy let her daggers fly. The blades flew to their target, cutting through the air as they went. With deadly precision, the knives slammed into the wooden backdrop, each less than an inch from Trowa's face and body.
The crowd erupted in cheers as the two took their bows in the center of the ring. The cries for encore were abruptly interrupted as an explosion outside the tent shook the ground.
The crowd began to panic, the soldiers rushing out the door to protect the civilians.
"Come on Wufie, we've got a job to do." Sally leapt from her seat, rushing out the door to the battlefield.
"Hey, wait for us." Quatre and the others jumped from their seats and followed Sally out the door.
Cathy ran to exit of the big top, rushing to save her animals.
"Trowa, we've got to get the animals out. Trowa?" The young girl turned to se her brother rushing out of the tent, leaping over the barriers, and through the panicked crowds. "Oh Trowa."
When the silent pilot reached the outside of tent, a shocking scene greeted him. Descending from the sky were dozens of Mobile Suits. The suits were all blood red, with units that looked like claws on each arm. As the last of the suits reached the ground, a lone Taurus unit sped towards one of the unknown suits. The Taurus raised its beam riffle to fire at the suit, when the gun was knocked out of its hand by black whip from the left unit of the suit. The red unit shifted its weight, bringing the whip back wrapping around the Taurus. The suit lifted its right arm, the claw opened up, and a large yellow beam shot out, ripping through the cockpit, killing the pilot inside.
As the destroyed Taurus hit the ground, the rest of the red suits gathered around the one that dropped the Taurus. The one that blasted the Taurus began to stand out from the others. Slightly taller, it bore a large antenna on top of its head, clearly the leader of the group.
The group of pilots gathered near one of the trucks carrying Taurus units.
"What the hell's happening."
"I don't know Duo. Sally went to find her commander." Wufie looked up at the attacking suits. Several Taurus units rocketed up to the red behemoths, firing their beam weapons at the suits, to no effect. The monstrous weapons shrugged off the attacks, retaliating with their combined beam riffles, shredding the attacking Tauruses.
"There has to be something we can do to help them." Quatre turned to his friends, concern in his eyes.
Trowa turned and looked behind them. There were four trucks; each held large sheet covered objects. The four pilots looked at each other, with a silent nod they ran to the carriers and up the ladders.
The attackers encircled the tent as the lead suit opened a P.A. channel to the people outside.
"Attention, we are the Mars Crimson Rebels, this colony is now under our control, surrender now, and no harm shall come to you."
From the ground bellow, the crowd of people began shouting at the attackers.
"Get out of here, we don't want you here!" One extremely brave man grabbed a rock and hurled it at the lead suit. Several others followed his lead, pelting the attackers with rock until the leader leveled its beam riffle at the mob.
Inside the cockpit of one of the attacking suits, a small yellow light flashed on the screen of the suit. "Sir," the soldier contacted his superior, "radar shows four objects heading our way."
From over a hill in the distance, four Taurus units came screaming in. After coming over the hill, the four suits blasted upwards. Accending high into sky, the four Taurus units fired multiple blasts from their beam riffles into the group of red suits. After the smoke cleared from the ground below, all of the attacking suits stood unscathed, their shield like arm units covering them from the blasts.
"Damn it! What the hell are these things?" Before any one could respond to Wufie's question, the red behemoths burst into the air after the four Gundam pilots.
The group of pilots separated as the enemy units flew strait to them. Barely able to dodge the blasts from the red suits, the Gundam pilots weaved through the oncoming fire.
Trowa reached the arm of his Taurus around its back, and pulled out the suits large beam cannon from its recharge rack. Leveling the cannon at one of the attackers, the Taurus fired a blast of yellow energy, wiping out the suit, only to be faced with two more.
Wufie dove into a group of four units with reckless abandon. Zooming past the last of the group, the young Gundam pilots fired his Taurus's beam riffle into the suits back, ripping through the cockpit. Before the suit was able to hit the ground, Wufie was set upon by the three other units, beam riffles firing.
Quatre flew higher up as the enemies attacked him viscously. Firing his beam riffle, the young pilot desperately tried to avoid the blasts from the red suits. Seeing a break in the enemy fire, Quatre flew down into the lion's den. Pushing the Taurus to its limits, Quatre plowed the wing like tip on its elbow into the head of one of the unit, demolishing the suit. Turning, the Taurus leveled its beam riffle at another suit, only to have one of the red suits uncoil a long black whip from its right arm and wrap it around the arm holding the gun. The unit shifted its weight, lifting the lighter Taurus off the ground, slamming it into the big top.
Left alone with the commander's suit, Duo flew down at the attacker, firing the Tauruses beam riffle, with no effect. The red suit blasted into the air, slamming its shoulder into Duos Taurus unit, sending it crashing to the ground. The behemoth machine slowly descended infront of the fallen Taurus.
"We already told you, surrender now and no harm shall come to you. Why do you persist in fighting us?" The suit called in to Duo.
Duo opened a video link to the attacking suit, "Millions of people sacrificed their lives for our peace, we won't let you undo all they died for."
The commander looked at the face on his screen for a long moment before he realized whom he was fighting.
"Well well, Duo Maxwell, pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe Hell. Then the rest of them must be..." The unit raised a hand to the other suits signaling them to cease their attack. "It is quite a shock to be face to face with the legendary Gundam pilots, though it does explain why you all are still alive. You all fought for the freedom of the colonies, this is our cause as well." The suit extended its right arm to the downed suit, "Please, join us."
"Join you, ha! You've got to be kidding." Duo slammed on the thrusters, sending the Taurus unit high into the sky. The Taurus came screaming down at the red suit, bringing its left leg forward.
The red suit stood motionless as the Taurus flew into the sky. As the black suit made its decent, the attacking unit, uncoiled its whip. Flipping a switch inside the unit, the whip began to glow a violent red.
"A heat rod, just like Z..." Duo was cut off in mid shock as the red suit swung its heat rod upwards, slicing through the leg of the unit like butter.
From high atop a near by mountain, a large black suit watched the battle, its pilot staring with great concern at the plight of the Gundam pilots. A small light flashed on one of the screens of the mysterious suit. With a press of button, the pilot brought up the data the suits computer had been compiling.
"Humph. Just as I thought, Scorpio units, the final zodiac, OZ's last creation, never produced. They shouldn't be anything we can't handle, right Angel?" A sly smile spread across the pilot's dark lips as he brought his suit to life. Rising to its feet, the suit stepped out of the shadows. Large black wings covered the suits upper body as it slowly walked to the edge of the mountain. The light gleamed off the white lower body of the suit, and reflected off the ebony wings. Finally, the face of the machine came from the shadows. The machine bore a strangely humanoid face, green glowing eyes and a red chin, signs of only on thing, a Gundam.
On the battlefield, the lead Scorpio leveled it beam riffle on Duos Taurus unit, "It truly pains me to do this. But our ideals are to important to let any get in our way." The riffle built up power, prepared to destroy the downed unit when a warning light appeared on the suits left screen.
The rebel suits turned their heads skyward to the disturbance.
High in the sky, a large object silhouetted itself on the light from the colony's artificial sun. Snapping its black wings open, the apparition pointed its left arm to the ground. With a crackle of energy, a clear yellow beam crashed down to the simulated ground below, engulfing three of the Scorpio units. For several seconds the suits twitched within the light, until they were ripped apart, leaving no trace that they were ever there.
"What, the... It couldn't be, Heero?" Duo looked up to the spot where the light came from, shocked at the sheer power he had just witnessed.
The apparition fell from the sky, slowed only at the last second by its reverse thrusters. With its arms stretched out, the suit touched down softly infront of the enemy units, its wings spread wide, the true vision of death.
One of the Scorpio pilots stared on in shock at the newly arrived unit. The young pilot's eyes widened as the realization of what had just landed dawned on him,
"A, a g...g...g...GUNDAM!"
The black Gundam slid its gun back on its left arm, its large black shield moving forward to protect it. The outer side of the suits left leg opened up as the Gundam took a battle stance. From out of the compartment, a beam saber shot into the sky. The right arm of the Gundam shot forward, grabbing the saber at the hilt, blinding light bursting forth from it on contact. The large black wings of the Gundam folded behind the back of the Gundam as it rocketed forward into a group of four suits.
Swinging the beam saber to its right, the Gundam sliced through one Scorpio unit, causing the suit to burs into flames. Spinning to the left, the Gundam slammed its beam saber into the chest of one the suits. With the saber still inbeded, the monstrous suit whirled to the right, bringing the saber completely through the side of the suit, and up through the cockpit of another. Turning to the final of the four suits, the Gundam rocketed forward. The Scorpio deployed its heat rod and swung it at the oncoming suit. The Gundam easily ducked under the glowing red whip, and bringing its beam saber through the suit. The Gundam stood silently for a second; a cold smile growing over the pilot's face as the upper half of the suit behind him slid off the lower half then exploded into flames.
Quatre dragged his suit up to one knee as he looked on in shock at the sight infront of him. The Preventers had thrown everything they had at the attackers; even four of the legendary Gundam pilots could not stand up to them. But in one clean strike, this mysterious Gundam had taken four of them out with seemingly little effort. "Who is that?"
As the black Gundam rose to its feet, a blast slammed into its back causing the beast to shudder at the impact. Turning around, the Gundam came face to face with four more Scorpio units.
The Gundam leapt into the sky, opening its vulcan guns into the suit that had fired upon it. The red suit shook violently as the Gundam emptied its entire stock of vulcan ammo into the machine. The bullet-riddled suit fell to the ground, bursting into flames.
The three other suits opened fire on the Gundam as it flew higher into the sky. Retracting its shield, the Gundam leveled its gun on the three Scorpios. The pilot eyed the shot as the computer in the massive machine locked on to its targets. As the crosshairs locked on to the three red suits bellow, the pilot squeezed the trigger, letting loose the finger of God from the guns barrel. The wave of energy crashed into the three suits before they could move out of its path of death. Just as before, the three suits shuddered until they burst into dust.
The Gundam landed slowly on the ground, as it turned to face the leader of the rebels. Before the Gundam could launch itself at the final enemy, it found itself at the barrel of the Scorpio's beam riffle.
"Stand down Gundam."
Within the cockpit of the black Gundam, the pilot let out a disgusted laugh at the concept. Before the rebel could react, the Gundam swung its shield up and through the right arm of the Scorpio, severing the beam riffle from the suit, light gleaming off the shields razor sharp blade.
The pilot of the Scorpio shuddered as he slowly backed up from the black Gundam infront of him.
The Gundams right hand opened up, dropping the beam saber to ground.
"Die." With one clean move, the Gundam grabbed and crushed the crippled unit's head; the decapitated mecha plummeted to the ground. Lifting its massive foot, the Gundam pressed down on the chest of the Scorpio, crushing the cockpit and the pilot inside.
Turning from its vanquished enemies, the Gundam came face to face with Duos downed Taurus unit.
Instinctively, Duo raised the machines beam riffle as the behemoth moved towards him.
The massive robot stopped in its tracks, looking to the side at the other three pilots.
Turning his gaze back to Duo, the pilot opened a link to the Gundam pilots.
"Can you fly?" The boy's voice was cold, almost heartless, and sent chills up the spines of even the hardened Gundam pilots.
"W, what do you mean?"
With the flip of a switch, the young pilot opened a video link, showing a fleet of carrier ships headed towards the colony.
"This is four hundred miles outside the colony. Forty carrier ships, each with two dozen of those monsters, are heading for this colony. That's over nine hundred suits. Even I can't handle that many. We need to get out. I have a ship waiting. Now, Maxwell, if I get you airborne, can you fly?"
//He knows my name. Who the hell is this guy?// "Y, yeah, I think I can." Slowly, Duo shifted the suit up, extending the Taurus's hand out to the Gundam.
The mysterious machine reached out and grasped the suits hand, then turned its head to the other suits.
"Let's get going." Without another word, the Gundam snapped open its ebony wings and burst into the sky, dragging the unprepared Duo along with it. Confused and intrigued, the Gundam pilots sent their suits into the sky after it.
After accending several hundred yards, the dark mecha signaled to Duo's Taurus.
"You ready?" Without more warning, the Gundam opened its hand, releasing the suit, sending its pilot screaming to the ground. Gathering himself, Duo slammed on the controls of the Taurus, pushing it higher into the sky.
Transforming the Taurus into its jet fighter mode, Duo moved up besides the Gundam.
"Gee buddy, thanks for the warning." Duo sarcastically snapped at the new pilot.
The mystery pilot didn't respond to Duos joke, silently set on his target, the exit hatch of the colony.
Reaching the outside, the five suits rocketed through space like shooting stars. A bright yellow light flashed on their screens, a spark of light appeared in the distance.
Quatres jaw dropped as the computer in the Taurus zoomed in on the object, "What is that thing?" The image on his screen showed a massive, heavily armed warship.
"That is my ship, The Neo." The Gundam pilot spoke up from within his machine. "This shall take us to my base, on Earth."
"Earth, how is that possible?"
"All shall be explained in time Wufie Chang."
Their instincts piqued, and with little other choice, the Gundam pilots followed the strange new arrival to the ship floating near the Earth's atmosphere.
The ship was massive, over eight football fields in length. The color scheme was black rimed with white with a few spots of light on what seemed to be launching pads and other sites on the ship the only way to keep it separate from the black of space. There were five launch pads on the ship, three on its top, and two on its bottom. Upon entering the mobile suit dock, the pilots noticed a second launch pad, making six in all.
The interior of the ship was fairly simple, black in most areas. The suits landed in the mobile suit dock without fanfare. The hatches on the Taurus units opened with a steely hiss, and the weary Gundam pilots made their way down onto the catwalk infront of their suits.
After exiting their suits, the four pilots were greeted by a tall man in a military style uniform. Dressed in all black, the young officer wore a black barett with two silver bars on the top.
"Welcome aboard the Neo sirs, I am Captain Terrance Tauge, I am to show you to your quarters." The young men saluted the Gundam pilots, standing silently, awaiting their response.
Dou spoke up for the group, waving off the mans salute, "Put your hand down, we aren't officers." Dou turned his head to the now silent Gundam. "Why hasn't our host shown himself yet?" With a laugh, the young pilot turned back to the officer.
"My orders are simply to lead you to your quarters, the commander will come to you in his own time, sir."
Frustrated, Dou gave in to the stoic young soldier, "Ok, ok, just stop calling me that."
The group headed off into the bowels of the ship, their eyes scanning its walls and crevices.
"Just how is this thing supposed to function on Earth?" Quatre spoke up from the back of the group.
The young soldier stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Gundam pilots. "Here are your quarters, si," the Captain caught a glare from Duo, " er, gentlemen." The man gestured to a door for an instant, then turned and walked off.
"I guess we have no other choice than to wait." Wufie turned the knob on the door, pushing it open.
The suite; for it was a suite, much nicer than normal quarters, seemed too large for any normal military ship. Huge windows covered the walls, a large leather couch was placed in the center, and several large chairs filled the room. The coup de grace was an extremely large television built into wall opposite the furniture.
Plopping himself in the couch, Dou clicked on the T.V.
The rest of the pilots gathered themselves, Trowa and Quatre sat next to Duo on the couch, and Wufie sat in one of the chairs, holding a can of beer from the room's mini fridge.
"Wufie!" Quatre chastised his friend.
"Only three months and it's legal, besides, after a day like this, you probably need one too." The exhausted Gundam pilot popped the tab on the can, and began downing the cold beverage.
Duo flipped through the channels, landing on one of the network news stations.
"Final Fantasy three hundred ninety eight, coming soon for the Playstation eighty." The commercial ended, and the music for the news program started up. The anchorman appeared on screen, a distressed look on his face.
"We have just received word concerning the disturbances at the L2 colony. A force calling themselves the Mars Crimson rebels has taken control of the colony. They have yet to make any demands or state any purpose for their attack. The force surprised a detachment of Preventers at the going away performance of a renowned circus troupe. Sources say that the attack may be linked to the revolt on Mars."
"Amazing how fast they master the obvious, isn't it?" Duo leaned back into the leather cushion, stretching out his legs.
Without warning, the picture on the T.V. started to get fuzzy, the went blank.
A voice came over the ships loud speaker, "Warning, warning. The ship is now entering the Earth's atmosphere, all television and radio transmission will be cut off until we reach the planet." The P.A. system clicked off as large metallic shutters slid down over the windows.
The pilots sat quietly as the massive ship shook slightly from the friction of the upper atmosphere. "So who do you think our host is?" Trowa queried as the shaking slowly stopped.
"What's it matter, we're still alive cause of him." Duo stretched as got off the couch and went over to the mini fridge.
Quatre contemplated silently as the others continued their chat. Duo returned to his seat, a can in his hand.
"Hey, Quatre," the long haired man punched his friend in the arm as he fell back into the couch, "what's wrong?"
"Huh, oh, nothing. I was just wondering about Ms. Noin. The attackers came from Mars, Wufie said she had been sent there."
"Don't worry to much about her, she and the Dead Man can handle themselves." Duo popped open his can.
Quatre turned to his friend, only to be met by a blue can in his face. "Pepsi, the sweet sweet elixir of life." The four tired pilots allowed themselves a small chuckle as the ship moved closer to Earth.
Back in the hangar of the ship, the massive beast sat silently, its pilot resting within it. Suddenly, a light flashed on one of the Gundams monitors.
"Sir," the captain that had escorted the Gundam pilots appeared on the screen, "we are almost to our destination." The young man lifted his head to the screen, a friendly smile spread across his face.
"Thank you." The mans voice was surprisingly upbeat, completely opposite from when he was in battle.
The hatch on the Gundam opened with a steely hiss. The pilot pushed himself out of his chair with an odd 'click' sound. Reaching to the left, he grabbed a large leather trench coat and threw it on, covering an odd metal hole in his back. Stepping out on to the catwalk, the young pilot smiled as he surveyed the scene before him, the light gleaming off the ebony skin atop his cleanly shaved head.
The T.V. in the Gundam pilots' room flickered back to life, an old episode of an anime on the station.
The main character flew into the screen, a large crown of gold hair on his head, and a voice that sounded as if his genitals were in a vice grip.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! It's a dub!!!!!" The pilots screamed in unison, Duo fumbling with the remote to change the channel.
The young pilot pounded the power button on the remote with even more determination then he had used in his earlier battle, finally shutting of the television.
The metal shutters lifted up from the windows as the bright light of the Earth's sun flooded the room.
"My God, it's beautiful." Quatre stared out of one of the massive windows at the scene stretched out before him.
The ship was descending through the clouds, flocks of birds flying around it. Stretched out before the ship was a huge expanse of countryside, with a gigantic city in the background.
The serene landscape was broken when, as the massive war ship made its way closer to the Earth below it, a huge piece of the ground lifted up, revealing an underground tunnel into which the Neo slowly disappeared.
The Gundam pilots marveled at the sites within the artificial cave. As the huge ship moved through the expanse of the cavern, examples of the hights of technology moved past: generators, construction suits, massive guns of unknown power, and attack suits that appeared to be miniatures of the Gundam that had just hours ago come their rescue.
The ship docked in the bowels of the massive base and was soon set upon by a horde of technicians and repairmen.
The door to the Gundam pilots' suite opened, and captain Tauge appeared before the four men once again.
"The commander is waiting to see you now gentlemen." The man saluted again, waiting to be dismissed.
"You don't catch on to quickly, do you buddy?" Dou leapt from the couch, and walked past the young captain.
"Sorry, old habit si... Mr. Maxwell." The young man answered sheepishly, as the three other pilots walked past him.
In the hallway, the pilots were guided off the ship, and towards a highly guarded area of the base. As the group neared as set of sealed and guarded doors, a lone figure came into view, leaning against the wall, his head hung low in thought.
Dou squinted, as the figure became slowly clearer, "Is that... Heero?"
"I wish." The figure looked up at the group as they made their way down the walkway. The boy pushed of the wall and moved to meet the men in center.
"I'll take it from here captain."
"Sir, yes Sir!" the captain came to attention, saluting the young man, only to be waved off once again.
"They never seem to learn, do they?" The young man looked over at the four legendary heroes before him.
"Are you the one that will show us to our mysterious savior?" Wufie queried the man.
"Not exactly, I am you 'mysterious savior'." The young man smirked at his own answer.
The pilots had to force themselves to keep their jaws off of the floor, save of course for Trowa who merely raised an eyebrow.
"Impossible, the man that saved us was cold, almost heartless, you are almost as cheery as Maxwell."
"Well not quite, but I assure you, I am the only one that could possibly fly the Dark Angel. Now come, I have much to show you." Turning to the sealed doors, the young man motioned for the Gundam pilots to follow him.
The group stopped at the doors as the young man began inputting the access codes.
"Excuse me," Quatre spoke up, "but just who are you?"
The boy stopped inches away from the retinal/fingerprint and DNA scanner that had emerged from the wall.
"My name? Marcus, Marcus Leeper." Turning back to the device, Marcus activated the scanner as the four pilots behind him exhibited several versions of shock. Even Trowa was visibly shaken by the announcement of who their savior truly was.
Duo was the first to regain his composure, "Leeper? As in Leeper Tech.?"
"Exactly." Marcus shouted over the whirring of the machine.
"That's impossible." Duo replied.
Retinal scan confirmed; finger print scan confirmed; DNA scan confirmed. The computer beeped as it finished its work. Identity confirmed as Marcus Leeper.
"Told I know who I am." The doors opened and Marcus walked through, leaving the stunned pilots in his wake. Turning back to the silent quartet, the young Leeper signaled them to follow him, "Come on, I have much to show you."
L2 colony cluster.
The carriers had unloaded their horrific payload without resistance. With what little defenses the colony had having been wiped out, the Mars Crimson Rebels were able to take control of the colony within a matter of a few short hours.
A final carrier landed in the mass of mobile suits. The hatch on the transport opened, and two figures stepped out and on to the steps. Both were clad in military uniforms, one blue with white and gold, the other a far simpler red with black. Both soldiers bore an insignia on their belt buckles, the symbol of a force that had shaped history, as this new force surely would, OZ.
The officer waiting at the foot of the steps saluted the two as they reached the ground. The figures returned the salute and the young man began his report.
"Is it true that our initial attempt at taking this colony was unsuccessful?" The one in the red uniform spoke up; his voice raspy yet awes inspiring.
"Yes sir. It would seem that four of the original Gundam pilots were all on this colony. They took some of the Preventer Taurus units, but our pilots were able to hold them off."
"The pilots had nothing to do with that." The female figure spoke up, her voice soft yet stern. "Had those pilots been flying their Gundams we would have been destroyed."
"Yes, well, that is the problem ma'am. It was a Gundam that destroyed the first wave."
The pair stopped in their tracks at the soldier's last sentence.
"A Gundam, this complicates the matter severely. Come, we have much to do." The male officer ordered, and the trio continued walking.
Earth
The five men wandered through laberinthian base, through cavernous hallways and winding corridors.
Always the curious one, Quatre was the first to speak up. "Where exactly are we, Mr. Leeper?"
"Well, first things first, its just Marcus. As to our location, we're several miles below the surface of Pittsburgh, home city of LTI."
"Amazing."
"That's great, but what the hell is the heir to Multinational Corporation doing fighting a war?" Duo picked up the questioning.
Marcus snorted a small chuckle at Duo query, "Ask Quatre."
"That's different, Quatre was trained as one of the first five Gundam pilots and...well..." Duo stammered, trying to substantiate his claim
"And it's absolutely n different, except I have my fathers blessing and support."
"That explains a lot." Trowa stated as his eyes scanned the complex.
Marcus stopped infront of doorway, opening the door and leading the Gundam pilots through.
Past the door, the pilots were shrouded in the darkness of the giant room they had entered. As the group made its way deeper into the room, several figures began to appear. Several statues of what appeared to be Neanderthals swinging clubs, soon gave way to Roman gladiators, then knights of middle ages.
"What manner of place is this?" Wufie questioned, his head turning side to side, examining the exhibits.
"This my collection. All manners of weaponry through out time." As the group continued on, the weapons grew, from the muskets of the revolutionary war, to the tanks of world war two.
"Celebrating war? That's horrible."
"That is where you're wrong Quatre. This is not just war. War has been with humanity from the beginning of our existence. From the time when the first Neanderthal humans fought over food land and mates, to the horrors of the fist and second world war, to the golden age of the Mobile Suit. War is part of human nature. As much as we may wish to deny it, humans will always have a desire for conflict. Even now, after attaining the peace you have fought so hard for, even with the supposed destruction of almost all weapons, there is still war. Ignoring war will not make it go away, it will only make it shorter yet far more painful for those that are overthrown. The sooner everyone realizes that, the sooner our enemy will fall." Marcus finished his speech as the group made their way to the cavernous rooms exit.
"Is that why you brought us in here, to try and change our beliefs?" Duo snapped at his host.
"No, you already knew everything I just said. This is just a short cut." The base was filled with the echoing sound of the four Gundam pilots collapsing into a heap.
Gathering themselves, the group continued through the complex. Finally, they reached the end of their trip: a huge hanger, filled with technicians and other soldiers. In the middle of the room was a large ebony conference table, surrounded by several large chairs. The defining features of the room, however, were five huge metal blocks, which the technicians seemed to be the most involved with.
Motioning to the seats, Marcus led the Gundam pilots to the table.
As the rest of the group settled, Duo was the first to speak up, "Ok, so we're here. Now I've got one last question. Why'd you save us."
"It's quite simple Duo." Marcus pressed a button on the console infront of him as he took his seat at the head of the table.
Sirens went off ant light began flashing as the tops of the gigantic metal monoliths began to lift up and the sides were pulled into the ground.
The pilots eyes widened as the metal barriers slowly disappeared, revealing the secrets held behind them. The lights from within the hanger glinted off of the shining armor of the massive machines; symbols of freedom, of all they had fought for, symbols thought to have been destroyed. Rising like phoenixes from the flames, the beasts had returned to the fray once again, the Gundams lived once more.
L2
The Crimson rebels' control of the colony was complete. From within the big top, they had set up a temporary base of operations.
Their faces obscured by the shadows, the two figures that had arrived earlier looked on at the screen of the computer infront of them. On the screen was an image of the Gundam that had held off the first wave of the rebel attackers.
"It's not in any of our files sir." The tech. man at the console turned to the red clad officer.
"What are its statistics?"
The technician clicked a few keys and brought up the stats on the Gundam.
"Heavy vulcans, similar to those of Wing ZERO; fairly fast; active cloak wings." The female officer went through the list of armaments. "Just what type of gun is that?"
"It's not exactly a gun ma'am. It's a modified particle beam accelerator. It envelops its targets in a transparent yellow field. Inside this field, the electrons in the air accelerated until everything within is pulled apart at the molecular level."
"That kind of power could be devastating if left unchecked."
"That's true sir, but internal scans reveal something that may make this enemy even more formidable." The soldier moved his mouse on the screen, bringing up the internal scans of the Gundam.
Within the shadow of the tent, the two figures looked on in shock at the data on the system of the massive beast.
Earth, LTI secret base
The Gundam pilots stood in awe of the massive machines, staring up at the shimmering armor of the legendary machines.
"Sandrock, my old friend."
"Nataku."
"Hay pal, it's good to see you again."
Trowa stood silently, staring up at Heveyarms.
As the pilots continued to ogle their suits, one of the soldiers came up to Marcus and whispered something in his ear. Nodding a thank you, Marcus dismissed the soldier as Duo walked over to the table.
"What's with ZERO?" Duo gestured to the red white and blue suit in between the other four.
"I was attempting to find Mr. Yuy, he's quite the odd one. Every time I came close to finding him, the trail would go cold. I couldn't find him, but I guess the others just didn't seem right without it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Duo turned and stared in awe of the "original" Gundam.
Having inspected their suits, the rest of the Gundam pilots gathered around the table.
"So," Marcus turned his chair around to face the other pilots, "do they meet your standards."
"They're exquisite." Quatre responded. "But I have just one question. Why? You seem to have enough power with just your own Gundam to fend off the rebels."
Marcus tapped a few buttons on his console, and the large table opened up, releasing a large four-sided monitor.
"You're about to find out."
The screen flashed to life, a man in a blood red military uniform appeared on a stage infront of a throng of soldiers.
"People of the Earth Sphere United Nation, We are the Mars Crimson rebels. For years, the people have been held back from their destiny, from their true evolutionary path. The Earth governments, many and varied, have constantly held back the freedom of the people in the space colonies. We have risen to fight this injustice. It is our dream to once again begin the change that humanity started when it first began the colonization of outer space. L2 is only the first step. The success of our movement shall bring about the birth of a new type of human race." The crowd erupted into cheers at the man's speech, while on Earth the Gundam pilots seethed.
The speaker lifted his arms, silencing the crowd. "All great causes must have great leaders. To that end, let me introduce the military heads of Crimson Rebellion:" the speaker motioned to the curtain as two people made their way onto the stage.
The Gundam pilots looked on in horror as the leaders of the rebellion made themselves known.
Tears welled up in the eyes of the young Winner heir, "God no, dear God no."
The light of the stage glinted off of a metallic mask helmet as a tall man with platinum blonde hair stepped completely out of the shadows and on to the stage. Beside him stood a tall young woman in a fancy blue uniform, her raven blue hair falling over her eye.
The pair smiled broadly at the crowd before them as the speaker introduced them.
"I give you, Field Marshal Lucrezia Noin, and Chief Admiral Zechs Merquise!!"
Zechs walked up to the podium, the crowd of soldier cheering madly. The Admiral stood quietly for a moment, absorbing the cheers from the people. Slowly, he raised his hands to quiet the people.
Zechs stood silently for a moment, a content smile on his face. Clearing his throat, the Admiral began his speech.
"Maremia Kushrenada once said that history is and Endless Waltz of war, peace, and revolution. Today, we declare our Third Measure!"
Mars, once a barren and desolate world, is now a flourishing industrial and residential colony. Founded in the year After Colony 025, it was established as a prison colony, a place where the Earth could send its most hardened criminals. Fifty years later, normal citizens began to move to the new settlement, turning the prison colony into a model of civilization. Mars is now the home to over five hundred million normal citizens, over a dozen corporations, and a high tech military base. The prison still remains, downgraded to a military prison and cells for violent protestors. The lives of the people of Mars are as close to normal as any colony citizens can get. All of that is about to change.
Gundam Wing: Of Many Minds
Epp 1: The Third Measure
Lagrange point two, the colony set up by what once was the United States of America. Inside of this amazing structure, a young man sat atop a pile of broken machines and rubble. He wore what looked to be a priest's outfit, complete with white collar. His long hair pulled back and braided, reached all the way to the small of his back. He picked up a piece of technology from the heap and examined it closely, looking for anything he could salvager from it.
"Bah! Nothing!" Dejected, Duo threw the piece down the mountain of junk. It had been a long day; he had gotten in a shipment of junk early that morning, and had been looking through it for anything he thought he could salvage for parts. To that point, all he had found were some old MS fuel cells, some spent shell casings, and the arm from an old construction suit.
He got up to his feet, looking for more possible profit in the junk, when a voice came from the house behind him.
"Duo, hey Duo!"
Maxwell turned around to see Hilde striding out of their house, waving a large envelope in her hand.
Duo jumped off the top of the heap, slid down the side of the junk pile, and walked over to the young girl.
"Duo, take a look at this."
Duo took the envelope from the young girl's hand, removing a piece of paper from it. After going over the document, he looked up at the girl before him with a raised eyebrow.
"Who sent this?"
"I have no idea Duo. It doesn't have a mailing address. It just said to meet outside the main circus tent at five o'clock. Come on Duo, it'll be fun, and we'll get to see Trowa and Cathie again."
"Aww, I don't know."
"Come on Duo!! Please."
"Oh ok, I could use a break."
"Yay!!!" Hilde jumped up and hugged Duo around the neck as the couple strolled back into the house.
A few hours later, Duo sat infront of his T.V., watching the news, waiting for Hilde to emerge from the bathroom.
"In financial news, Leeper Technologies Incorporated beat out Mars Battle Tech today for the Preventers MS contract. LTI is expected to net over 50 billion dollars from the deal. Many speculators believe that LTI was able to clinch the contract because of the tension on Mars recently." The final statement from the overly perky news anchor caught Duos attention. "Incase you have yet to hear, ten days ago, approximately 100 prisoners escaped the Mars prison and attempted to overrun the local military base. All communications with Mars were cut off and the Preventers were sent in. It is believed that the incident, if not calmed already, will be handled shortly."
"Ready Duo?" Hilde sauntered from the small bathroom of the house and into the living room.
"Finally. Just what do you girls do in there that takes so long."
"None of your business. Now let's get going."
More than a half an hour latter, the pair stood outside the big top of the circus. All around them, people walked passed them in Preventers uniforms. Duo even noticed some trucks with mobile suits on them, mostly Taurus units.
"So just what's going on here?" Duo looked from side to side at all the soldiers around him.
"I heard it's a going away performance for the local Preventers unit, they're heading to Mars. Guess they need to keep an eye there."
"I, it can't be! Duo?" A voice called out from behind them. The pair turned to see a young boy rushing down the hill towards them. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, with a large smile spread across his face.
"Quatre!" Duo grabbed hold of his friend to keep him from falling on his face.
"How are you doing?"
"I, I'm fine Duo. What are you two doing here?" Quatre huffed as he hunched over to catch his breath.
"We got this letter with tickets in it that said to meet here before the show."
"Wait, you got one too." Quatre reached into his back pocket and pulled out a note and a ticket, the note was exactly like the one Duo and Hilde had received.
"So who think sent these Duo?"
"Well I guess this means it wasn't either of you two." A cocky voice shouted off to the side.
"Wufie!?!" The pair of young men whipped their heads around to the familiar voice. Walking their way were Wufie Chang, and Sally Po, both dressed in basic Preventers uniform.
"Let me guess, you two got a letter too?"
"That's right, Hilde, but there were no tickets in ours, we already had them." Sally spoke up as she walked over to her young friends.
"Hey Wufie, I figured they'd have sent you two to Mars already, what's the deal?"
"They sent Noin, and the Dead Man."
"Zechs." Duo hissed the name under his breath.
"Well well well, looks like the gangs all here." A soft, female, voice called from the big top.
The group looked up to entrance of the big top. Standing infront of one of the support poles was a young girl in a pink tutu with a feather in her hair. Next to her leaning quietly against the pole was a young man with large clown pants a clown shirt, his hair covering half his face with the largest uni-bang the world had ever seen.
"Trowa!" Quatre smiled at the sight of his old friend as Trowa and Catherine walked over to the group.
"It's good to see you again too, Quatre. You too Duo, Wufie."
"So, was it you guys that sent out all these letters?"
"No Sally," Catherine pulled out a letter from behind her back, "we got one just like it."
"So who the sent them?" Quatre asked, to no one in particular.
"Mabey it was HIM." Duo responded with a chuckle.
"Yeah right, like he'd ever show up to one of our shows. Well who cares, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, come on you guys, enjoy the show." Catherine waved to the group as she walked off to the tent, Trowa following quietly behind her.
The group gathered inside of the big top. Duo munched loudly on large tub of popcorn, periodically taking huge slurps from a 'Big Gulp' style jug of soda. The tent went quiet as the house lights dimmed. A large spotlight opened on the center of the tent, there stood the ringmaster, mic in hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, the stars of the show: Catherine Bloom, and Trowa Barton!" A second spotlight appeared next to the ringmaster revealing Cathy, standing in a bow. Another spot light opened in the top right corner of the tent, revealing Trowa standing on the back of an African elephant.
The elephant began moving around the ring, slowly building into a gallop. Cathy reached behind her back, and pulled out four daggers, two in each hand. As the elephant built up speed, Cathy began eyeing her target. Without warning, Trowa leapt from the back of the elephant, flipping and spinning through the air. Gracefully, he landed on a wooden platform, arms outstretched. The moment his feet touched the platform, Cathy let her daggers fly. The blades flew to their target, cutting through the air as they went. With deadly precision, the knives slammed into the wooden backdrop, each less than an inch from Trowa's face and body.
The crowd erupted in cheers as the two took their bows in the center of the ring. The cries for encore were abruptly interrupted as an explosion outside the tent shook the ground.
The crowd began to panic, the soldiers rushing out the door to protect the civilians.
"Come on Wufie, we've got a job to do." Sally leapt from her seat, rushing out the door to the battlefield.
"Hey, wait for us." Quatre and the others jumped from their seats and followed Sally out the door.
Cathy ran to exit of the big top, rushing to save her animals.
"Trowa, we've got to get the animals out. Trowa?" The young girl turned to se her brother rushing out of the tent, leaping over the barriers, and through the panicked crowds. "Oh Trowa."
When the silent pilot reached the outside of tent, a shocking scene greeted him. Descending from the sky were dozens of Mobile Suits. The suits were all blood red, with units that looked like claws on each arm. As the last of the suits reached the ground, a lone Taurus unit sped towards one of the unknown suits. The Taurus raised its beam riffle to fire at the suit, when the gun was knocked out of its hand by black whip from the left unit of the suit. The red unit shifted its weight, bringing the whip back wrapping around the Taurus. The suit lifted its right arm, the claw opened up, and a large yellow beam shot out, ripping through the cockpit, killing the pilot inside.
As the destroyed Taurus hit the ground, the rest of the red suits gathered around the one that dropped the Taurus. The one that blasted the Taurus began to stand out from the others. Slightly taller, it bore a large antenna on top of its head, clearly the leader of the group.
The group of pilots gathered near one of the trucks carrying Taurus units.
"What the hell's happening."
"I don't know Duo. Sally went to find her commander." Wufie looked up at the attacking suits. Several Taurus units rocketed up to the red behemoths, firing their beam weapons at the suits, to no effect. The monstrous weapons shrugged off the attacks, retaliating with their combined beam riffles, shredding the attacking Tauruses.
"There has to be something we can do to help them." Quatre turned to his friends, concern in his eyes.
Trowa turned and looked behind them. There were four trucks; each held large sheet covered objects. The four pilots looked at each other, with a silent nod they ran to the carriers and up the ladders.
The attackers encircled the tent as the lead suit opened a P.A. channel to the people outside.
"Attention, we are the Mars Crimson Rebels, this colony is now under our control, surrender now, and no harm shall come to you."
From the ground bellow, the crowd of people began shouting at the attackers.
"Get out of here, we don't want you here!" One extremely brave man grabbed a rock and hurled it at the lead suit. Several others followed his lead, pelting the attackers with rock until the leader leveled its beam riffle at the mob.
Inside the cockpit of one of the attacking suits, a small yellow light flashed on the screen of the suit. "Sir," the soldier contacted his superior, "radar shows four objects heading our way."
From over a hill in the distance, four Taurus units came screaming in. After coming over the hill, the four suits blasted upwards. Accending high into sky, the four Taurus units fired multiple blasts from their beam riffles into the group of red suits. After the smoke cleared from the ground below, all of the attacking suits stood unscathed, their shield like arm units covering them from the blasts.
"Damn it! What the hell are these things?" Before any one could respond to Wufie's question, the red behemoths burst into the air after the four Gundam pilots.
The group of pilots separated as the enemy units flew strait to them. Barely able to dodge the blasts from the red suits, the Gundam pilots weaved through the oncoming fire.
Trowa reached the arm of his Taurus around its back, and pulled out the suits large beam cannon from its recharge rack. Leveling the cannon at one of the attackers, the Taurus fired a blast of yellow energy, wiping out the suit, only to be faced with two more.
Wufie dove into a group of four units with reckless abandon. Zooming past the last of the group, the young Gundam pilots fired his Taurus's beam riffle into the suits back, ripping through the cockpit. Before the suit was able to hit the ground, Wufie was set upon by the three other units, beam riffles firing.
Quatre flew higher up as the enemies attacked him viscously. Firing his beam riffle, the young pilot desperately tried to avoid the blasts from the red suits. Seeing a break in the enemy fire, Quatre flew down into the lion's den. Pushing the Taurus to its limits, Quatre plowed the wing like tip on its elbow into the head of one of the unit, demolishing the suit. Turning, the Taurus leveled its beam riffle at another suit, only to have one of the red suits uncoil a long black whip from its right arm and wrap it around the arm holding the gun. The unit shifted its weight, lifting the lighter Taurus off the ground, slamming it into the big top.
Left alone with the commander's suit, Duo flew down at the attacker, firing the Tauruses beam riffle, with no effect. The red suit blasted into the air, slamming its shoulder into Duos Taurus unit, sending it crashing to the ground. The behemoth machine slowly descended infront of the fallen Taurus.
"We already told you, surrender now and no harm shall come to you. Why do you persist in fighting us?" The suit called in to Duo.
Duo opened a video link to the attacking suit, "Millions of people sacrificed their lives for our peace, we won't let you undo all they died for."
The commander looked at the face on his screen for a long moment before he realized whom he was fighting.
"Well well, Duo Maxwell, pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe Hell. Then the rest of them must be..." The unit raised a hand to the other suits signaling them to cease their attack. "It is quite a shock to be face to face with the legendary Gundam pilots, though it does explain why you all are still alive. You all fought for the freedom of the colonies, this is our cause as well." The suit extended its right arm to the downed suit, "Please, join us."
"Join you, ha! You've got to be kidding." Duo slammed on the thrusters, sending the Taurus unit high into the sky. The Taurus came screaming down at the red suit, bringing its left leg forward.
The red suit stood motionless as the Taurus flew into the sky. As the black suit made its decent, the attacking unit, uncoiled its whip. Flipping a switch inside the unit, the whip began to glow a violent red.
"A heat rod, just like Z..." Duo was cut off in mid shock as the red suit swung its heat rod upwards, slicing through the leg of the unit like butter.
From high atop a near by mountain, a large black suit watched the battle, its pilot staring with great concern at the plight of the Gundam pilots. A small light flashed on one of the screens of the mysterious suit. With a press of button, the pilot brought up the data the suits computer had been compiling.
"Humph. Just as I thought, Scorpio units, the final zodiac, OZ's last creation, never produced. They shouldn't be anything we can't handle, right Angel?" A sly smile spread across the pilot's dark lips as he brought his suit to life. Rising to its feet, the suit stepped out of the shadows. Large black wings covered the suits upper body as it slowly walked to the edge of the mountain. The light gleamed off the white lower body of the suit, and reflected off the ebony wings. Finally, the face of the machine came from the shadows. The machine bore a strangely humanoid face, green glowing eyes and a red chin, signs of only on thing, a Gundam.
On the battlefield, the lead Scorpio leveled it beam riffle on Duos Taurus unit, "It truly pains me to do this. But our ideals are to important to let any get in our way." The riffle built up power, prepared to destroy the downed unit when a warning light appeared on the suits left screen.
The rebel suits turned their heads skyward to the disturbance.
High in the sky, a large object silhouetted itself on the light from the colony's artificial sun. Snapping its black wings open, the apparition pointed its left arm to the ground. With a crackle of energy, a clear yellow beam crashed down to the simulated ground below, engulfing three of the Scorpio units. For several seconds the suits twitched within the light, until they were ripped apart, leaving no trace that they were ever there.
"What, the... It couldn't be, Heero?" Duo looked up to the spot where the light came from, shocked at the sheer power he had just witnessed.
The apparition fell from the sky, slowed only at the last second by its reverse thrusters. With its arms stretched out, the suit touched down softly infront of the enemy units, its wings spread wide, the true vision of death.
One of the Scorpio pilots stared on in shock at the newly arrived unit. The young pilot's eyes widened as the realization of what had just landed dawned on him,
"A, a g...g...g...GUNDAM!"
The black Gundam slid its gun back on its left arm, its large black shield moving forward to protect it. The outer side of the suits left leg opened up as the Gundam took a battle stance. From out of the compartment, a beam saber shot into the sky. The right arm of the Gundam shot forward, grabbing the saber at the hilt, blinding light bursting forth from it on contact. The large black wings of the Gundam folded behind the back of the Gundam as it rocketed forward into a group of four suits.
Swinging the beam saber to its right, the Gundam sliced through one Scorpio unit, causing the suit to burs into flames. Spinning to the left, the Gundam slammed its beam saber into the chest of one the suits. With the saber still inbeded, the monstrous suit whirled to the right, bringing the saber completely through the side of the suit, and up through the cockpit of another. Turning to the final of the four suits, the Gundam rocketed forward. The Scorpio deployed its heat rod and swung it at the oncoming suit. The Gundam easily ducked under the glowing red whip, and bringing its beam saber through the suit. The Gundam stood silently for a second; a cold smile growing over the pilot's face as the upper half of the suit behind him slid off the lower half then exploded into flames.
Quatre dragged his suit up to one knee as he looked on in shock at the sight infront of him. The Preventers had thrown everything they had at the attackers; even four of the legendary Gundam pilots could not stand up to them. But in one clean strike, this mysterious Gundam had taken four of them out with seemingly little effort. "Who is that?"
As the black Gundam rose to its feet, a blast slammed into its back causing the beast to shudder at the impact. Turning around, the Gundam came face to face with four more Scorpio units.
The Gundam leapt into the sky, opening its vulcan guns into the suit that had fired upon it. The red suit shook violently as the Gundam emptied its entire stock of vulcan ammo into the machine. The bullet-riddled suit fell to the ground, bursting into flames.
The three other suits opened fire on the Gundam as it flew higher into the sky. Retracting its shield, the Gundam leveled its gun on the three Scorpios. The pilot eyed the shot as the computer in the massive machine locked on to its targets. As the crosshairs locked on to the three red suits bellow, the pilot squeezed the trigger, letting loose the finger of God from the guns barrel. The wave of energy crashed into the three suits before they could move out of its path of death. Just as before, the three suits shuddered until they burst into dust.
The Gundam landed slowly on the ground, as it turned to face the leader of the rebels. Before the Gundam could launch itself at the final enemy, it found itself at the barrel of the Scorpio's beam riffle.
"Stand down Gundam."
Within the cockpit of the black Gundam, the pilot let out a disgusted laugh at the concept. Before the rebel could react, the Gundam swung its shield up and through the right arm of the Scorpio, severing the beam riffle from the suit, light gleaming off the shields razor sharp blade.
The pilot of the Scorpio shuddered as he slowly backed up from the black Gundam infront of him.
The Gundams right hand opened up, dropping the beam saber to ground.
"Die." With one clean move, the Gundam grabbed and crushed the crippled unit's head; the decapitated mecha plummeted to the ground. Lifting its massive foot, the Gundam pressed down on the chest of the Scorpio, crushing the cockpit and the pilot inside.
Turning from its vanquished enemies, the Gundam came face to face with Duos downed Taurus unit.
Instinctively, Duo raised the machines beam riffle as the behemoth moved towards him.
The massive robot stopped in its tracks, looking to the side at the other three pilots.
Turning his gaze back to Duo, the pilot opened a link to the Gundam pilots.
"Can you fly?" The boy's voice was cold, almost heartless, and sent chills up the spines of even the hardened Gundam pilots.
"W, what do you mean?"
With the flip of a switch, the young pilot opened a video link, showing a fleet of carrier ships headed towards the colony.
"This is four hundred miles outside the colony. Forty carrier ships, each with two dozen of those monsters, are heading for this colony. That's over nine hundred suits. Even I can't handle that many. We need to get out. I have a ship waiting. Now, Maxwell, if I get you airborne, can you fly?"
//He knows my name. Who the hell is this guy?// "Y, yeah, I think I can." Slowly, Duo shifted the suit up, extending the Taurus's hand out to the Gundam.
The mysterious machine reached out and grasped the suits hand, then turned its head to the other suits.
"Let's get going." Without another word, the Gundam snapped open its ebony wings and burst into the sky, dragging the unprepared Duo along with it. Confused and intrigued, the Gundam pilots sent their suits into the sky after it.
After accending several hundred yards, the dark mecha signaled to Duo's Taurus.
"You ready?" Without more warning, the Gundam opened its hand, releasing the suit, sending its pilot screaming to the ground. Gathering himself, Duo slammed on the controls of the Taurus, pushing it higher into the sky.
Transforming the Taurus into its jet fighter mode, Duo moved up besides the Gundam.
"Gee buddy, thanks for the warning." Duo sarcastically snapped at the new pilot.
The mystery pilot didn't respond to Duos joke, silently set on his target, the exit hatch of the colony.
Reaching the outside, the five suits rocketed through space like shooting stars. A bright yellow light flashed on their screens, a spark of light appeared in the distance.
Quatres jaw dropped as the computer in the Taurus zoomed in on the object, "What is that thing?" The image on his screen showed a massive, heavily armed warship.
"That is my ship, The Neo." The Gundam pilot spoke up from within his machine. "This shall take us to my base, on Earth."
"Earth, how is that possible?"
"All shall be explained in time Wufie Chang."
Their instincts piqued, and with little other choice, the Gundam pilots followed the strange new arrival to the ship floating near the Earth's atmosphere.
The ship was massive, over eight football fields in length. The color scheme was black rimed with white with a few spots of light on what seemed to be launching pads and other sites on the ship the only way to keep it separate from the black of space. There were five launch pads on the ship, three on its top, and two on its bottom. Upon entering the mobile suit dock, the pilots noticed a second launch pad, making six in all.
The interior of the ship was fairly simple, black in most areas. The suits landed in the mobile suit dock without fanfare. The hatches on the Taurus units opened with a steely hiss, and the weary Gundam pilots made their way down onto the catwalk infront of their suits.
After exiting their suits, the four pilots were greeted by a tall man in a military style uniform. Dressed in all black, the young officer wore a black barett with two silver bars on the top.
"Welcome aboard the Neo sirs, I am Captain Terrance Tauge, I am to show you to your quarters." The young men saluted the Gundam pilots, standing silently, awaiting their response.
Dou spoke up for the group, waving off the mans salute, "Put your hand down, we aren't officers." Dou turned his head to the now silent Gundam. "Why hasn't our host shown himself yet?" With a laugh, the young pilot turned back to the officer.
"My orders are simply to lead you to your quarters, the commander will come to you in his own time, sir."
Frustrated, Dou gave in to the stoic young soldier, "Ok, ok, just stop calling me that."
The group headed off into the bowels of the ship, their eyes scanning its walls and crevices.
"Just how is this thing supposed to function on Earth?" Quatre spoke up from the back of the group.
The young soldier stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Gundam pilots. "Here are your quarters, si," the Captain caught a glare from Duo, " er, gentlemen." The man gestured to a door for an instant, then turned and walked off.
"I guess we have no other choice than to wait." Wufie turned the knob on the door, pushing it open.
The suite; for it was a suite, much nicer than normal quarters, seemed too large for any normal military ship. Huge windows covered the walls, a large leather couch was placed in the center, and several large chairs filled the room. The coup de grace was an extremely large television built into wall opposite the furniture.
Plopping himself in the couch, Dou clicked on the T.V.
The rest of the pilots gathered themselves, Trowa and Quatre sat next to Duo on the couch, and Wufie sat in one of the chairs, holding a can of beer from the room's mini fridge.
"Wufie!" Quatre chastised his friend.
"Only three months and it's legal, besides, after a day like this, you probably need one too." The exhausted Gundam pilot popped the tab on the can, and began downing the cold beverage.
Duo flipped through the channels, landing on one of the network news stations.
"Final Fantasy three hundred ninety eight, coming soon for the Playstation eighty." The commercial ended, and the music for the news program started up. The anchorman appeared on screen, a distressed look on his face.
"We have just received word concerning the disturbances at the L2 colony. A force calling themselves the Mars Crimson rebels has taken control of the colony. They have yet to make any demands or state any purpose for their attack. The force surprised a detachment of Preventers at the going away performance of a renowned circus troupe. Sources say that the attack may be linked to the revolt on Mars."
"Amazing how fast they master the obvious, isn't it?" Duo leaned back into the leather cushion, stretching out his legs.
Without warning, the picture on the T.V. started to get fuzzy, the went blank.
A voice came over the ships loud speaker, "Warning, warning. The ship is now entering the Earth's atmosphere, all television and radio transmission will be cut off until we reach the planet." The P.A. system clicked off as large metallic shutters slid down over the windows.
The pilots sat quietly as the massive ship shook slightly from the friction of the upper atmosphere. "So who do you think our host is?" Trowa queried as the shaking slowly stopped.
"What's it matter, we're still alive cause of him." Duo stretched as got off the couch and went over to the mini fridge.
Quatre contemplated silently as the others continued their chat. Duo returned to his seat, a can in his hand.
"Hey, Quatre," the long haired man punched his friend in the arm as he fell back into the couch, "what's wrong?"
"Huh, oh, nothing. I was just wondering about Ms. Noin. The attackers came from Mars, Wufie said she had been sent there."
"Don't worry to much about her, she and the Dead Man can handle themselves." Duo popped open his can.
Quatre turned to his friend, only to be met by a blue can in his face. "Pepsi, the sweet sweet elixir of life." The four tired pilots allowed themselves a small chuckle as the ship moved closer to Earth.
Back in the hangar of the ship, the massive beast sat silently, its pilot resting within it. Suddenly, a light flashed on one of the Gundams monitors.
"Sir," the captain that had escorted the Gundam pilots appeared on the screen, "we are almost to our destination." The young man lifted his head to the screen, a friendly smile spread across his face.
"Thank you." The mans voice was surprisingly upbeat, completely opposite from when he was in battle.
The hatch on the Gundam opened with a steely hiss. The pilot pushed himself out of his chair with an odd 'click' sound. Reaching to the left, he grabbed a large leather trench coat and threw it on, covering an odd metal hole in his back. Stepping out on to the catwalk, the young pilot smiled as he surveyed the scene before him, the light gleaming off the ebony skin atop his cleanly shaved head.
The T.V. in the Gundam pilots' room flickered back to life, an old episode of an anime on the station.
The main character flew into the screen, a large crown of gold hair on his head, and a voice that sounded as if his genitals were in a vice grip.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! It's a dub!!!!!" The pilots screamed in unison, Duo fumbling with the remote to change the channel.
The young pilot pounded the power button on the remote with even more determination then he had used in his earlier battle, finally shutting of the television.
The metal shutters lifted up from the windows as the bright light of the Earth's sun flooded the room.
"My God, it's beautiful." Quatre stared out of one of the massive windows at the scene stretched out before him.
The ship was descending through the clouds, flocks of birds flying around it. Stretched out before the ship was a huge expanse of countryside, with a gigantic city in the background.
The serene landscape was broken when, as the massive war ship made its way closer to the Earth below it, a huge piece of the ground lifted up, revealing an underground tunnel into which the Neo slowly disappeared.
The Gundam pilots marveled at the sites within the artificial cave. As the huge ship moved through the expanse of the cavern, examples of the hights of technology moved past: generators, construction suits, massive guns of unknown power, and attack suits that appeared to be miniatures of the Gundam that had just hours ago come their rescue.
The ship docked in the bowels of the massive base and was soon set upon by a horde of technicians and repairmen.
The door to the Gundam pilots' suite opened, and captain Tauge appeared before the four men once again.
"The commander is waiting to see you now gentlemen." The man saluted again, waiting to be dismissed.
"You don't catch on to quickly, do you buddy?" Dou leapt from the couch, and walked past the young captain.
"Sorry, old habit si... Mr. Maxwell." The young man answered sheepishly, as the three other pilots walked past him.
In the hallway, the pilots were guided off the ship, and towards a highly guarded area of the base. As the group neared as set of sealed and guarded doors, a lone figure came into view, leaning against the wall, his head hung low in thought.
Dou squinted, as the figure became slowly clearer, "Is that... Heero?"
"I wish." The figure looked up at the group as they made their way down the walkway. The boy pushed of the wall and moved to meet the men in center.
"I'll take it from here captain."
"Sir, yes Sir!" the captain came to attention, saluting the young man, only to be waved off once again.
"They never seem to learn, do they?" The young man looked over at the four legendary heroes before him.
"Are you the one that will show us to our mysterious savior?" Wufie queried the man.
"Not exactly, I am you 'mysterious savior'." The young man smirked at his own answer.
The pilots had to force themselves to keep their jaws off of the floor, save of course for Trowa who merely raised an eyebrow.
"Impossible, the man that saved us was cold, almost heartless, you are almost as cheery as Maxwell."
"Well not quite, but I assure you, I am the only one that could possibly fly the Dark Angel. Now come, I have much to show you." Turning to the sealed doors, the young man motioned for the Gundam pilots to follow him.
The group stopped at the doors as the young man began inputting the access codes.
"Excuse me," Quatre spoke up, "but just who are you?"
The boy stopped inches away from the retinal/fingerprint and DNA scanner that had emerged from the wall.
"My name? Marcus, Marcus Leeper." Turning back to the device, Marcus activated the scanner as the four pilots behind him exhibited several versions of shock. Even Trowa was visibly shaken by the announcement of who their savior truly was.
Duo was the first to regain his composure, "Leeper? As in Leeper Tech.?"
"Exactly." Marcus shouted over the whirring of the machine.
"That's impossible." Duo replied.
Retinal scan confirmed; finger print scan confirmed; DNA scan confirmed. The computer beeped as it finished its work. Identity confirmed as Marcus Leeper.
"Told I know who I am." The doors opened and Marcus walked through, leaving the stunned pilots in his wake. Turning back to the silent quartet, the young Leeper signaled them to follow him, "Come on, I have much to show you."
L2 colony cluster.
The carriers had unloaded their horrific payload without resistance. With what little defenses the colony had having been wiped out, the Mars Crimson Rebels were able to take control of the colony within a matter of a few short hours.
A final carrier landed in the mass of mobile suits. The hatch on the transport opened, and two figures stepped out and on to the steps. Both were clad in military uniforms, one blue with white and gold, the other a far simpler red with black. Both soldiers bore an insignia on their belt buckles, the symbol of a force that had shaped history, as this new force surely would, OZ.
The officer waiting at the foot of the steps saluted the two as they reached the ground. The figures returned the salute and the young man began his report.
"Is it true that our initial attempt at taking this colony was unsuccessful?" The one in the red uniform spoke up; his voice raspy yet awes inspiring.
"Yes sir. It would seem that four of the original Gundam pilots were all on this colony. They took some of the Preventer Taurus units, but our pilots were able to hold them off."
"The pilots had nothing to do with that." The female figure spoke up, her voice soft yet stern. "Had those pilots been flying their Gundams we would have been destroyed."
"Yes, well, that is the problem ma'am. It was a Gundam that destroyed the first wave."
The pair stopped in their tracks at the soldier's last sentence.
"A Gundam, this complicates the matter severely. Come, we have much to do." The male officer ordered, and the trio continued walking.
Earth
The five men wandered through laberinthian base, through cavernous hallways and winding corridors.
Always the curious one, Quatre was the first to speak up. "Where exactly are we, Mr. Leeper?"
"Well, first things first, its just Marcus. As to our location, we're several miles below the surface of Pittsburgh, home city of LTI."
"Amazing."
"That's great, but what the hell is the heir to Multinational Corporation doing fighting a war?" Duo picked up the questioning.
Marcus snorted a small chuckle at Duo query, "Ask Quatre."
"That's different, Quatre was trained as one of the first five Gundam pilots and...well..." Duo stammered, trying to substantiate his claim
"And it's absolutely n different, except I have my fathers blessing and support."
"That explains a lot." Trowa stated as his eyes scanned the complex.
Marcus stopped infront of doorway, opening the door and leading the Gundam pilots through.
Past the door, the pilots were shrouded in the darkness of the giant room they had entered. As the group made its way deeper into the room, several figures began to appear. Several statues of what appeared to be Neanderthals swinging clubs, soon gave way to Roman gladiators, then knights of middle ages.
"What manner of place is this?" Wufie questioned, his head turning side to side, examining the exhibits.
"This my collection. All manners of weaponry through out time." As the group continued on, the weapons grew, from the muskets of the revolutionary war, to the tanks of world war two.
"Celebrating war? That's horrible."
"That is where you're wrong Quatre. This is not just war. War has been with humanity from the beginning of our existence. From the time when the first Neanderthal humans fought over food land and mates, to the horrors of the fist and second world war, to the golden age of the Mobile Suit. War is part of human nature. As much as we may wish to deny it, humans will always have a desire for conflict. Even now, after attaining the peace you have fought so hard for, even with the supposed destruction of almost all weapons, there is still war. Ignoring war will not make it go away, it will only make it shorter yet far more painful for those that are overthrown. The sooner everyone realizes that, the sooner our enemy will fall." Marcus finished his speech as the group made their way to the cavernous rooms exit.
"Is that why you brought us in here, to try and change our beliefs?" Duo snapped at his host.
"No, you already knew everything I just said. This is just a short cut." The base was filled with the echoing sound of the four Gundam pilots collapsing into a heap.
Gathering themselves, the group continued through the complex. Finally, they reached the end of their trip: a huge hanger, filled with technicians and other soldiers. In the middle of the room was a large ebony conference table, surrounded by several large chairs. The defining features of the room, however, were five huge metal blocks, which the technicians seemed to be the most involved with.
Motioning to the seats, Marcus led the Gundam pilots to the table.
As the rest of the group settled, Duo was the first to speak up, "Ok, so we're here. Now I've got one last question. Why'd you save us."
"It's quite simple Duo." Marcus pressed a button on the console infront of him as he took his seat at the head of the table.
Sirens went off ant light began flashing as the tops of the gigantic metal monoliths began to lift up and the sides were pulled into the ground.
The pilots eyes widened as the metal barriers slowly disappeared, revealing the secrets held behind them. The lights from within the hanger glinted off of the shining armor of the massive machines; symbols of freedom, of all they had fought for, symbols thought to have been destroyed. Rising like phoenixes from the flames, the beasts had returned to the fray once again, the Gundams lived once more.
L2
The Crimson rebels' control of the colony was complete. From within the big top, they had set up a temporary base of operations.
Their faces obscured by the shadows, the two figures that had arrived earlier looked on at the screen of the computer infront of them. On the screen was an image of the Gundam that had held off the first wave of the rebel attackers.
"It's not in any of our files sir." The tech. man at the console turned to the red clad officer.
"What are its statistics?"
The technician clicked a few keys and brought up the stats on the Gundam.
"Heavy vulcans, similar to those of Wing ZERO; fairly fast; active cloak wings." The female officer went through the list of armaments. "Just what type of gun is that?"
"It's not exactly a gun ma'am. It's a modified particle beam accelerator. It envelops its targets in a transparent yellow field. Inside this field, the electrons in the air accelerated until everything within is pulled apart at the molecular level."
"That kind of power could be devastating if left unchecked."
"That's true sir, but internal scans reveal something that may make this enemy even more formidable." The soldier moved his mouse on the screen, bringing up the internal scans of the Gundam.
Within the shadow of the tent, the two figures looked on in shock at the data on the system of the massive beast.
Earth, LTI secret base
The Gundam pilots stood in awe of the massive machines, staring up at the shimmering armor of the legendary machines.
"Sandrock, my old friend."
"Nataku."
"Hay pal, it's good to see you again."
Trowa stood silently, staring up at Heveyarms.
As the pilots continued to ogle their suits, one of the soldiers came up to Marcus and whispered something in his ear. Nodding a thank you, Marcus dismissed the soldier as Duo walked over to the table.
"What's with ZERO?" Duo gestured to the red white and blue suit in between the other four.
"I was attempting to find Mr. Yuy, he's quite the odd one. Every time I came close to finding him, the trail would go cold. I couldn't find him, but I guess the others just didn't seem right without it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Duo turned and stared in awe of the "original" Gundam.
Having inspected their suits, the rest of the Gundam pilots gathered around the table.
"So," Marcus turned his chair around to face the other pilots, "do they meet your standards."
"They're exquisite." Quatre responded. "But I have just one question. Why? You seem to have enough power with just your own Gundam to fend off the rebels."
Marcus tapped a few buttons on his console, and the large table opened up, releasing a large four-sided monitor.
"You're about to find out."
The screen flashed to life, a man in a blood red military uniform appeared on a stage infront of a throng of soldiers.
"People of the Earth Sphere United Nation, We are the Mars Crimson rebels. For years, the people have been held back from their destiny, from their true evolutionary path. The Earth governments, many and varied, have constantly held back the freedom of the people in the space colonies. We have risen to fight this injustice. It is our dream to once again begin the change that humanity started when it first began the colonization of outer space. L2 is only the first step. The success of our movement shall bring about the birth of a new type of human race." The crowd erupted into cheers at the man's speech, while on Earth the Gundam pilots seethed.
The speaker lifted his arms, silencing the crowd. "All great causes must have great leaders. To that end, let me introduce the military heads of Crimson Rebellion:" the speaker motioned to the curtain as two people made their way onto the stage.
The Gundam pilots looked on in horror as the leaders of the rebellion made themselves known.
Tears welled up in the eyes of the young Winner heir, "God no, dear God no."
The light of the stage glinted off of a metallic mask helmet as a tall man with platinum blonde hair stepped completely out of the shadows and on to the stage. Beside him stood a tall young woman in a fancy blue uniform, her raven blue hair falling over her eye.
The pair smiled broadly at the crowd before them as the speaker introduced them.
"I give you, Field Marshal Lucrezia Noin, and Chief Admiral Zechs Merquise!!"
Zechs walked up to the podium, the crowd of soldier cheering madly. The Admiral stood quietly for a moment, absorbing the cheers from the people. Slowly, he raised his hands to quiet the people.
Zechs stood silently for a moment, a content smile on his face. Clearing his throat, the Admiral began his speech.
"Maremia Kushrenada once said that history is and Endless Waltz of war, peace, and revolution. Today, we declare our Third Measure!"