Lyla awoke with a start; she slept farther from the others than they thought; just a hallway away from the Gundam bay, and she thought she heard the doors open… she turned to the wall, putting a hand against it.
"It's shaking…" she whispered… then stood panicked.
"Scarlet!" She called, as if to stop the crimson-haired pilot. The elderly woman stood from her bed clad in her nightclothes as she ran across the hall, hitting a comm button.
"Alert! Full alert! The pilots are out!" she growled… and shook her head as she made it - bare foot- to the command central. She pulled up the EROS system, typing in the codes manually as fast as her tired fingers would let her.
The codes came back empty… erred.
"She disconnected them!" she cried out in fury… slamming her fists down "Damn it!" she swore loudly, drawing the attention of a stiff Wufei.
"Lyla! What's the meaning of this?"
"Wufei! They're gone! They've severed all connections to Podhopper!"
"What?"
*~*
"Raidon to Bran"
"Bran here. What's up, Kiyo-chan?"
"Don't call me that, Scarlet."
"K Ai-chan."
"Shut up Scarlet."
"Bummer."
*~*
They approached the Scorpio colony quickly; their thrusters turned off to conserve fuel. They were ready for battle; they were ready to die.
"You guys go ahead… I have a score to settle." Came Scarlet's voice over the communicator.
"Don't hurt my cousins badly, Scarlet." Basim's voice chirped.
"I'm just gonna kick their asses, Basim. No worries." Scarlet answered back cheerily…
"Don't get hurt." Kiyoshi said. Scarlet noted that she could sense the emotion in his voice now.
She smirked as she turned off the comm "Love's a funny thing." She chuckled… then veered off… she knew he was waiting.
*~*
The four boys of the New Generation Gundam force didn't have to wait long for their battle… almost immediately after Scarlet left, Zechs and Nick showed up in Zephyr and Destroyer.
"You won't escape from us this time!" Zechs laughed as both the Scorpion suits drew their heat whips.
Kiyoshi didn't bat an eyelid at the threat. He knew they wouldn't escape the Gundams either. Raidon drew the plasma sword and raised the shield against attack. He knew this was the beginning of the last battle…
Max just gave a silent chuckle to himself, drawing forth the double gattling machine gun that was Blaze's main weapon; he had nothing really riding on this, nothing of any great importance, but there had to be someone there to protect Basim. That was his job.
Basim himself was a little worried about the battle, he knew he had the most armor simply because he was a planner, he wasn't a very good fighter. His blonde hair was slightly matted with sweat as the battle came on swift wings with fangs bared… but could this knight of the sands withstand it?
Chen Lian smirked slightly as he readied his main weapons of choice- the double Dragon Claws, he didn't care for either of the young men's lives… he just wanted to get this over with, and go back to his "normal" life with Master Chang. He knew this war was going to end - and it was going to end as soon as HE was done it!
The battle began with all the glories of a million-soldier war. The battle cries echoed in space as Gundanium clashed against Gundanium, cousin against cousin, and two others trying to keep the first four from striking the colony in the process.
The glow of plasma weapons hung in the void as the six pilots struggled…
"Scarlet… where's Scarlet?" was on Milliardo the Third's mind… his eyes glanced to every monitor, searching for that black Gundam… that beautiful, terrible Gundam that held that goddess among men.
Where was Scarlet?
*~*
The colony rocked as accidental fire from the battle struck against it, throwing the elderly prisoners off their seats.
"I thought my war-days were over." Lady Une muttered softly as she stood, bracing herself against a wall.
"Mine too, Lady." Treize agreed, feeling sick to his stomach. Relena and Dorothy looked scared; Lucretzia clung to Milliardo in desperation.
"Our grandchildren are fighting, aren't they?" Dorothy asked sadly, glancing around at the room.
Everyone nodded in reply… just as the colony did another rollover, knocking them all to the ground hard.
Milliardo blinked with pain then stood himself up.
"I hope they're sending someone before they kill us all off." He growled.
He did still have a grudge against Kiyoshi.
*~*
Scarlet raced through the Scorpio colony, her breath not even coming up in gasps. She held just a pistol in her hand as she sped around corners… she didn't want to hurt anyone, let alone shoot an ally by accident. She knew just where the prisoners were kept… and it was funny to her… the Moore house. Just the place she was looking for… something struck her odd though… the Moore house wasn't in town… was it? Why was she even thinking that? How could she know?
She came to the right house quickly, the layouts of the town just like Kiyoshi's city block… and she tried the door to the home.
"Locked… no problem." She whispered to herself as she backed up a step…
… And kicked in the door…
… Followed by a loud piece of profanity by someone who was behind it…
… Namely Milliardo Peacecraft.
He opened his eyes wide and stared at the redhead, as people shouted…
"SCARLET!"
"NICOLE!"
"HEAVEN HELP US ALL!" was what Mr. Peacecraft replied.
Scarlet sighed… then grinned, shrugging
"Oh well… can't win them all!"
"Scarlet, how are the others? Is everyone all right?" Relena asked, approaching the crimson haired pilot.
"As far as I know, yeah, but that could all change real quick… especially if we don't get out of here." She nodded in the direction of intended escape…
*~*
Meanwhile, inside the Podhopper II, Lyla paced nervously as Heero, Wufei and Trowa stood watching the screen. To go near the battlefield would be suicide… at the same time they couldn't give their students, their grandsons and nephews and charges commands to guide them. Were they ready? Could they win without guidance?
Quatre's voice interrupted the tomb-like silence of the command room.
"Duo's gone! Lyla, Duo's GONE!"
"WHAT! GONE?" Lyla began to really panic her eyes wide.
"Lyla." Heero said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
She turned, and just over Heero's shoulder she saw the crown of a chestnut-brown head.
"DUO! They ran off Duo, they ran off!" she nearly sobbed.
"Oh great…" Duo thought, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed. He held in one arm Scarlet's rabbit and in the other a jacket. His glasses glinted in the light from the battle, showing green sparks…
"I know, Lyla, I know… I don't think I woulda stopped them, anyway." He shrugged.
Lyla, to his surprise, laughed… Duo was now more confused…
"Eh?"
"You're right Duo… you're right… they're not children. Young men and woman… they don't need our help." She nodded, turning back to the battle. "I do wish they had told me… I would have just turned it off."
Duo shook his head, and approached Lyla, wrapping one arm around her waist and leaning his head against hers.
"They'll be OK, Lyla. Geez, by the way you act, you'd think Scarlet was your kid."
"You act the same way, Duo!"
"Eh… well…"
*~*
"Kiyoshi! Behind you!"
But Kiyoshi already knew that his cousin was there… he turned to meet the opponent heads-on.
Plasma swords clashed in space, Kiyoshi reversed to get a better strike, and brought the blow down just barely too late, missing his cousin by mere feet.
Zechs laughed aloud…
"Is that all you have, Kiyoshi? Some Gundam pilot!"
"Figures, they have a girl as a front runner!" Nicholas answered.
Lian heard this… and entered the fray with flamethrowers burning in the void of space.
*~*
Scarlet stopped at a door, as Zechs tried to remember the long-faded code that entered the door.
"Damn it!" he swore, kicking at the door. Scarlet shrugged, put the gun to the controls, and pulled the trigger.
There was only a small explosion, which made most of the members in the party gasp, but the door opened.
"Really, Mr. Peacecraft, you need to learn how to be a sneaky-wise pilot." She grinned, and led the way. It annoyed her that the women in the party couldn't run… they were too slow.
Finally, the group came to the escape pod bay. Scarlet knew there was only one pod missing, but it didn't bug her in the least that she knew that. She looked inside… there was barely enough room. Good.
"Now I can get back to Bran." She thought, turning to the others, counting.
There was Milliardo and Lucretzia Peacecraft, Relena Yuy, Dorothy Catalonia-Winner, Lady Une, Mr. Treize, someone would have to stand, but that was OK. She nodded to herself, and backed away from the way in.
"All right, if you get outta here, Pod Hopper's gonna pick up the pod. I'll alert the other pilots you're going through… we have to destroy this colony."
"Destroy it?" Relena blinked…
"Yes, Mrs. Yuy… but you have to hurry. There's no guarantee that even I'm gonna make it outta here once I set this place to blow."
They hurriedly entered the pod. Mr. Treize was last.
"You're very, very brave, little one."
Scarlet gave a lop-sided grin and a military-like salute
"Just because I've got nothing to loose and everything to gain in this battle doesn't make me brave. It makes me a coward to run away!" she smiled, and the kindly Kushrenada walked into the pod. She shut the door, setting the coordinates from outside, and pressed the ignition button.
She turned, running from the pod as it slipped down the chute, heading towards Space.
Scarlet's face was of grim determination. She hadn't told the others of this part of her plan - mainly because she didn't want them going in and risking their necks. She had half a mind to think she was immortal, she should have died several times over, but someone was watching out for her.
She paused… something didn't feel right…
She turned the corner, and raised her gun, pointing it towards the skeletal face of the Scorpion.
"Scarlet… you know that you don't want to." He smiled a sinister smirk that made Scarlet's blood run cold.
