"Whatever your gravity is when you get to the door, remember -- the enemy's gate is down. If you step through your own door slowly, you WILL get frozen." Heero Yuy paused and looked over the group. He saw fear, anger, humiliation…and a bit of admiration.

First day with his new army. Heero hadn't had time to study all the kids records, but he could tell they were mostly launchies by the hesitant way they moved. Heero had plenty of experience in battle, inside and outside of the battle room but this was his first army, and he was short on command experience. Of course, normally when you're eleven years old, any experience with battle and command is more than the norm, but this was not normally. This was battle school.

"Remember, the enemy can't see you until you're through that door." He went on. "But the second you're out you'll be under fire. Go out with your legs up under you."

He noticed a sullen looking kid watching him. He looked to be the runt of his launch. His braid almost reached to his feet.

"Which way is down?" Heero asked him.

"Towards the enemies door, Sir." The kid replied, putting extra sarcasm into the last word.

"What are you called?" Heero asked.

"Duo."

Heero considered mocking his name to test Duo's self control but decided instead that the best test would be simply to put him on the spot.

"What are legs for in null g combat?" He asked his soldiers. Confused mutterings and stammerings just as heero expected. "Duo! What use are legs in null g combat?!"

"They're for pushing off walls." Duo replied. Same bored intonation. Same cocky smirk.

"Right. Get that, everybody?" They got it. "You can't see with legs, you can't shoot with legs, and most of the time they just get in the way. If they get frozen sticking straight out you're stuck. So how do legs go again?"

"Tucked under you, sir." They answered as one.

"Right. Your legs are a shield. It's possible to launch off the walls even with your legs frozen. Kneel, everyone." They all kneeled without a moments hesitation. "They're learning." Heero thought. He pulled out his flasher and flashed each of their legs, then gave all forty child soldiers a helpful shove towards the wall, one by one. For the next couple minutes they experimented with different methods of propulsion.

Only five had gotten it when he called time up: Wufei Chang, a short tempered chinese boy whom they called "Hot Soup" and "Wu Hoo" behind his back. Duo had gotten it, apperant because of his bragging. A very quiet boy from france with a gravity defying hairstyle (not that there was any gravity in the battle room) whom everyone called noname. Hilde Shbeiker, a spunky german girl, one of the best female battle school cadets. And finally Quatre Winner, neither aggressive, nor especially strategically adept, but who had a sense of others feelings, and thus morale, that bordered on empath.

The correct method was jacknifing off of the wall by rapidly unbending at the waist. Heero instructed everyone else then said "Good. NOW we start working."

After practice had officially ended, heero stayed at the battle room, practicing his target shooting. His world narrowed until it contained nothing but himself, his flasher, and the empty suit he'd set up as a target on the other side of the battle room. He was perfectly still, floating silently, his hand slowly tightening on the trigger…

Tap tap tap. Heero felt someone tap his shoulder. Without thinking, he spun around and grabbed the persons wrist, forcing them into an armlock.

It was duo. A very surprised duo. Heero let him go and duo recovered himself and his dignity as best he could.
Duo spoke. "I know what you're trying to do, Sir. I'm warning ya." That sarcasm again.

"You're warning me?" Heero said.

"I'm the best soldier ya got. So treat me like it." Duo said.

"Or?…" Heero shot duo his patented death glare.

"Or I'll be the worst. End 'o story." Duo said

"Soldier Duo. Do not let your ego stand in the way of your mission." Heero said.

Duo ignored the withering comment. "I want a toon."

"I evaluate soldiers based on their abilities, in and out of battle. If you do well, you will be given a toon." Heero said.

"Fine then. If ya really work that way, I'll have a toon in a month." Duo said.

"Don't count on it. You're dismissed."

Duo smartly (a little too smartly) saluted, launched off a wall just as Heero had shown him and exited the battle room. Back in his bunk at dragon army barracks, Duo fumed a combination of anger and disappointment. He had heard a lot about the great heero yuy. He had, apperantly, broken a kids arm on the shuttle in his launch, bested everyone in the arcade and usurped the authority of Trowa barton, earning his wrath. The mere mention of his name would make a launchy go into one of those naive, hopeful "If he can do I can too!" kind of looks.


That was fantasy. This was reality. Heero yuy was just another hard assed commander who didn't tolerate questioning. Dissapointment seeped into duos vein like a poison, rendering him a helpless child again, no longer a soldier, no longer a battle school cadet.