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Scarlet lay half-asleep, her mind drifting… drifting…

She stood in the middle of a field, not wearing her black tank top but a green T-shirt and blue jeans, barefoot and alone. Her hair, which hung at her mid-back and not down to her shins was in a braid, but it was done by hands who had been braiding for decades, not her own tender hands.

She blinked, not wearing any glasses yet the world was clear. Her bright green eyes held the innocence of youth. She took a step, almost able to smell the grass beneath her feet.

Mr. Maxwell stood there, glancing over the city from the hillside of the green area of the colony.

Scarlet, who remembered she was a full six years old wandered over to Mr. Maxwell, and tugged on his hand…

"Mr. Maxwell?" she asked him, looking into the not-quite-kid-not-quite-grown-up face of her mentor and father figure, he smiled as he knelt stiffly.

"Yeah, Scarlet?" he asked, picking the six-year-old up in his arms, and holding her aloft.

"What's space?"

"Well… space is what everything floats in. The planets, our colony, the other colonies, transport ships and shuttles, everything."

"Are we gonna go into space?"

"When you're older, yes. You'll be flying in space."

"Oh, OK." She smiled; one of her baby teeth was missing. The freckle-face child glanced at the city below.

"Mr. Maxwell?"

"Yeah, Scarlet?"

"Are you my daddy? Because Jessie has a daddy, and Harold has a daddy too… but they have mommies too..."

Duo's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He set the little kid on the ground, and took her hand.

"Scarlet, families are not just mommies and daddies and kiddies, they can be granddaddies and grandmommies and kiddies, or uncles and sisters and kiddies… or they can be someone who's not even related…" he thought about how to word this so the six-year-old could understand what he was saying.

"Well… I guess I am kinda your daddy, but a daddy doesn't have to be related to the kid, but the daddy has to love the kid. And I love you, Scarlet Erin. And that's the reason why I tacked on a Maxwell to your name." He smiled as he picked the barefoot kid up into a bear hug. Scarlet gave a cry of joy at being lifted into the air, laughing. Duo swung her onto his back, and glanced over his shoulder.

"How about we go to Jeff's Place and get some grub, huh kiddo?" he grinned.

"OK!" Scarlet grinned back and Duo started walking down the road to the main colony.

*~*

The Scorpion, not Lyla Moore but this thin, skeleton-like man stepped out of the spaceport, glancing around. He smirked slightly at all the people… all the fools. They had no idea that a war was to be bought upon them…

He slowly made his way though the city, walking on foot to the Yuy household. The gears in his mind spun as he thought…

Five of them… there were five children who left the Peacecraft Institute to come here. He had sent his two best students after them, hoping to have them return to the Earth, but no. He knew their last names… two of them being relatives to his students. He went over them to himself as he walked.

"Kiyoshi Yuy… grandson of a Gundam pilot… Basim Atif Winner, again, a grandson of the Gundam Sandrock's pilot… Max Barton; the name might be stolen from the pilot of Heavy-Arms when that worker took it over… Chen Lian… hmm… Chinese, born on the L5 colony, yes possibly a relative of the Preventer Chang Wufei… " then there was that girl. He had never met Duo Maxwell face-to-face, and he wasn't very highly in the public eye as Yuy or Winner was, nor was he a Preventer like Chang, but that girl had his last name… and also a resemblance that was dangerous to him.

He thought back to the day that he had captured Lyla Moore… the "Lady Scorpion" as she had been dubbed.

She had been leaving the L2 colony after some errand there. She had been flying alone, in a regular shuttle back to her colony, the secret colony of Scorpio. He had come up behind her in a prototype for his own mobile suits a suit he had dubbed Venom. Try as hard as Lyla could, she could not out-maneuver him… and was caught. She was weak in her old age with illness, and he had locked her in a cell, alone… for sixteen years now she's lived in the cell. He didn't know how she did it, but she had stayed alive, willing herself to live.

That girl… the redhead had a semblance to her around the eyes. And the freckles… Lyla's mother had freckles…

He chuckled to himself… he DID so find Lyla attractive in her youth.

He came to the door bronzed over with age as he rung the bell with a slender, bony hand.

None other than the girl in the red hair answered the door.

"Ossu! Can I help…" she began, her eyes grew wide "… you…"

*~*

She opened her eyes wide as she saw the man that haunted her dreams, she had seen his image once… using the Scorpion system in Bran during training... but she knew the man… she turned around and ran away from the door, screaming.

Kiyoshi poked his head out of the study as she passed, and sighed. He heard the door close and turned the other way.

"Hello, can I help you sir?" he asked stiffly. He didn't like the feel of his presence, a chill feeling that enveloped his body.

"Yes, I was sent to retrieve seven students of the Peacecraft Institute who had decided that their classes were not as important as visiting." He said sternly. Lian, Max and Basim walked out of the study, followed by Zechs and Nick.

Nick and Zechs stood stiffly up as they saluted their trainer.

Scarlet walked back in right then, her face was hardened by sheer determination not to run from the nightmare-man. He smiled at her.

"Oh, is this the so high spirited girl that Mr. Milliardo had worried about? Said that she had the attitude of a Gundam Pilot… ha good thing there aren't many of those around, eh boys?" he glanced at Nick and Zechs, who laughed Nervously, especially Zechs.

"Well, in any case the seven of you have been called back to your studies. NOW."

He knew… he knew this was Lyla's family… he had to destroy her. "I have a shuttle waiting for us, come along."

*~*

They had all been forced to march, with Scarlet muttering that she didn't like this.

"You have your pills?" Basim asked her with concern.

Scarlet nodded… she wasn't risking anything. She patted her pocket, making sure the pill bottle was still in place.

"Halt." The Skeleton-man said softly, everyone stopped. He took out a gun, aiming it for Scarlet's head.

"I know who YOU are! Scorpion tied and true!" he yelled, people started screaming. "Peacecraft, Catalonia, get to the hangar. It's time to show your battle training." He smirked. "Against this colony."

Kiyoshi looked at Scarlet, who shrugged, and Lian, who nodded.

"This is boring." She sighed… and started to turn around and run.

"HEY! YOU! MOORE! GET BACK HERE NOW!" he called at the fleeting form, and began to pull the trigger, but Lian was ready for him.

The Pilot of Shen-Li jumped into the air, kicking the gun out of the Scorpion's reach; Max caught it, fired a few rounds into the air and motioned with his head to start running. The four remaining pilots followed Scarlet; right behind was the Scorpion who was yelling obscenities at them. It didn't take them long to return to the Yuy mansion, and they ran through the rooms on their way to the hangar.

Relena and Dorothy were sitting, having tea with an aged Lucretzia Noin-Peacecraft and Milliardo.

"What's going on?" she asked as Scarlet ran through the room.

"Gotta go save the colony!" she yelled.

Kiyoshi ran through next

"Sorry to cut it short grandmother hello Uncle Milliardo Aunt Lucretzia…" he started as he ran to the hangar.

Milliardo raised an eyebrow at the retreating boy.

"Relena…" he asked, turning to his sister, who shrugged.

Lian came through, stopped, bowed, and then ran on.

Basim came through followed by Max and kissed Dorothy on the cheek.

"Pray for us, Grandma! We're going to battle and Scarlet's gone crazy." He said hurriedly, then followed Max (who hadn't waited for him) to the Hangar.

Basim followed Max to the passage to the Hangar, which lay below the basements of the Yuy manor. There was a spiral staircase, which had long been un-used, they all raised dust as they ran. Basim sneezed.

"Bless me!" he said aloud to no one.

All the pilots rushed to the mobile suits as the siren came on, warning them of danger. Scarlet shot one on her way to Bran

"SHUT UP!" she yelled as she leaped from the catwalk to the hatch - barely making it.

They all rushed into their Piloting Suits - space suits the colors of their Gundams, part of their training stressed the importance of this… especially of Max's trainer, Trowa.

Scarlet grinned as she clasped her helmet on, laughing slightly to herself.

"All right! Let's boogie!" she chuckled as she sat herself down in Bran. Kiyoshi clipped himself into Raidon as the hatch closed; Basim pulled down a pair of worn goggles- received from his Grandfather then slipped his helmet over them. Max leaned back in Blaze, glancing around as the monitors beeped to life.

Scarlet grinned, she had been training harder than the other pilots, she slipped her feet into the foot pedals that controlled the thruster system, her hands slipping to the joysticks.

"Turn on the Scorpion Jammers…" she heard a voice say in her head, she looked around, then smiled.

"You got it, partner." She grinned as she hit a few buttons to the side in her enter code… the main screen showed her allies, outside her enemies, and herself, but it was a dimmed red dot in the center.

Beneath the Gundams, the floor dropped out of the hangar, and the Gundam's thrusters pushed them out into space.

Raidon spread its wings out, Kiyoshi fancied feathers dropping from it like a golden angel's wings. Bran was all ready on its way, Scarlet's Gundam being the fastest of the five. The hands un-clasped as Bran reached back, pulling a lone pole from its "backpack". Kiyoshi had Raidon draw its beam saber, he noted Faris was baring the heat shorters. Blaze had drawn out its mega-gattling gun, and Shen-Li, the white Gundam had drawn out a beam staff, double plasma blades on either end. He looked up as the alarm sounded… the enemy… enemies were coming nearer.

In the lead were two mobile suits, both blackened with red tails, like scorpions.

Kiyoshi opened the comm

"Basim, they may be our cousins, but they are the enemies. Don't hold back…"

But… Basim had already opened a comm link to the enemies. The other pilots all heard it.

"Surrender and we'll spare your lives!" he called out, in one desperate attempt to save his cousin's life… it failed.

*~*

Quatre glanced up through his glasses, as he carried a bag of groceries to Duo's apartment on L2, at the video screen on one of the buildings in the city. He dropped the bag, spilling out bacon, eggs, and a loaf of bread, his green-gray eyes opening wide through the glasses as he looked…

"Are they playing back… no! It's… it's THEM!" he stuttered, and started running back to the apartment, his breath heaving.

He stumbled through the door, coming upon Duo loudly complaining that he was hungry, Heero pondering hitting Duo upside the head with his cane, Trowa being silent as usual and Wufei was glancing up.

"The… kids!" he breathed, holding onto the wall for support.

Duo IMEDIANTLY stopped complaining, and ran to the TV screen, turning on.

"In late breaking news, there is a battle between mobile suits - which have been outlawed by the Colonies except for in the case of the Preventers. There appear to be seven manned mobile suits - five resembling the Gundams of AC 195 through 198. The other two are un-known… oh! That one looked like THAT hurt!"

"D'oh! C'mon Scarlet! Get 'em! Get 'em!" Duo started cheering when Scarlet was hit in the back by a mobile doll suit.

"C'mon Scarlet… do it for me!" he begged…

*~*

Scarlet glanced at her VLM, worriedly reading the levels on her brain waves, knowing that she was pushing it… as one of the scorpion suit came up in front of her, knocking against Bran's legs and sending it spinning out of control…

Mr. Maxwell, help me!

Pull up Scarlet… pull up! C'mon girl you can do it fire those side thrusters…

And then, the blackness came.

*~*

The space battle ended as quickly as it began; the enemy pilots had backed off, disappearing into space…

"Kiyoshi Yuy reporting in." Kiyo said, listening for the other pilots.

"Basim Atif Winner, I'm still here… luckily no one was hurt!"

"Max Barton."

"Chen Lian still operational, damage reduction fifty percent…"

Static…

"Scarlet?" Kiyo heard Basim ask softly.

"Scarlet, call in! MAXWELL! SCARLET!" Kiyoshi slammed his fist against the wall "All right, let's return to base and regroup."

"Right." The other three pilots said…

*~*

"Mayday, mayday this is Bran, anyone read, over?"