A Normal Life
By: Jade Starlight

Chapter Eleven: Preparations, New Pilots, and Upgraded Gundams


The year is A.C. 196. It has been a little over a year since Relena and the G-boys
learned of Relena's past, and the rebel group known as the Independent Citizens of
Space, or ICS. The purpose of the group is to take over the Earth Sphere Unified
Nations, gaining control over both Earth and the Colonies. Some people have suspected
the group, but the leaders of ESUN don't believe the group exists, thereby ignoring all
attempts of warning.
The scientists and the Gundam teams do, however, know for a fact that the group
exists, and that they are planning on starting a war with ESUN. To prevent the ICS from
taking control, the scientists have upgraded Gundams 01-05, and they have also made a
new Gundam, while the pilots trained hard...


Shiri threw a right uppercut, nailing Quatre in the stomach. Well, his padded
stomach, anyway.
"Uh," he grunted. "Go a little lighter, okay? You still punch pretty hard," he
said, holding his stomach.
"Sorry, QW. I didn't mean it, but if we're gonna get better we can't afford to
hold back that much."
"Yeah, I know." He raised his fists, signaling for them to continue. Shiri nodded,
and she threw the first punch. Quatre blocked it and kicked, but Shiri caught his leg,
flipping him onto the floor. She went to kick him, but he rolled and flipped onto his feet
before she knew it. He punched her in the stomach, grabbed her in a headlock, and held
her there.
"You give?" he asked. She nodded, and he let her go.
"Can you teach me that move? It's pretty slick," she said, sitting on the floor.
Quatre joined her and nodded. They were both out of breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero and Duo watched as Relena and Wufei fought each other.
"Woman, you should not have chosen me to spar with today!" Wufei yelled,
before advancing on Relena. She ducked from his punch, dropping to the floor and
swiping her leg under Wufei's. He came crashing down, but not before kicking her in the
side. They both hopped up, facing each other, each having a look of death on them.
"Why don't we make this more interesting?" Wufei said, glancing at the fencing
swords hanging on the other side of the room.
"Sure." They both began sprinting to them, but Dr. Hino, who had just entered
the room, stopped them.
"Listen up everyone!" he yelled, moving to the center of the room. The twelve
teenagers, now sixteen, gathered around him, awaiting his orders.
"What is it, Dr. Hino?" Jade asked.
"As you all know, it is very close to the time of battle. We have one week until it
is June 9, the day that ICS is planning on moving into action."
"Yeah, and?" Duo asked. Shiri smacked him, and directed her attention back to
Dr. Hino.
"As I was saying, we have now successfully upgraded Wing, Deathscythe,
Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Altron."
"Nataku," Wufei corrected. Isis slapped him in the back of the head, and he
glared at her. "Woman, do NOT hit me!" he yelled. She smiled at him, and turned to
Shiri.
"You're right, it does work!" Duo and Wufei nearly burst.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" they said together. Before anyone could
continue, Dr. Hino was tapping his foot and clearing his throat.
"As I was saying, I would like to show you the upgraded versions. Follow me."
Everyone marched behind him, making his or her way to the hanger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero nearly smiled when he saw his Gundam. It looked the same, but he could
see a few extra toys added on. There were compartments in the legs, and he could see
something was different about the fingers and the eyes.
"Yes Heero, you do have extras added on," Dr. Hino said, standing next to him.
"We've added lasers to the fingers and eyes, as well as some grenades in the legs."
"Dr. Hino, what about mine?" Duo yelled, standing where his was. Dr. Hino
laughed when he saw how eager Duo was.
"Well, we added a beam saber, and something called beam horns."
"Beam horns?"
"Yes. Basically they're large daggers made of electrical power. They will slice
right through any type of metal, including Gundanium Alloy."
"Yes! Is that-OW!!! Will you please stop hitting me!" Duo screamed at Shiri.
She just smiled sweetly.
"Who? Little old me?" She laughed when Duo glared at her, and then she joined
Relena, who was looking at her Gundam.
"Dr. Hino, have you changed mine and Quatre's as well?" Trowa asked. Dr. Hino
ushered them on to their Gundams.
"I have installed jets on the back of Sandrock, and also a beam saber. Heavyarms
is now equipped with a laser gun and some extra grenades."
"What does Nataku have?" Wufei asked.
"I added a dragon beam gun to yours."
"What's that exactly?"
"A beam gun that is similar to Heero's, but yours shoots dragon tails, or large
beam 'bullets,'" Dr. Hino explained. While everyone inspected their Gundams, an urgent
message came in.
"Dr. Hino! Report to the control room immediately!" Dr. J's frantic voice
commanded over the intercom. Dr. Hino raced out as quickly as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. J paced back and forth, awaiting the fax that was still coming through. Dr.
Hino burst through the door.
"What...is...it?" he huffed. Dr. J handed him the finished fax. Dr. Hino turned
pale when he read it, and he headed back towards the hanger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoa, I wonder what that was about?" Relena said after Dr. Hino disappeared.
"Dr. J sounded pretty freaked out to me," Duo said.
"Yeah he did. I hope nothing bad happened," Shiri said.
"Well I think that maybe it's the ICS striking early," Alondra commented. She
turned to Relena. "What do you think? Relena?" she waved an arm in front of her face.
Relena snapped out of it.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"I was saying that-" Alondra stopped when she saw Dr. Hino enter the room. His
face had disaster written all over it. Everyone else stopped chatting, and awaited Dr.
Hino's words.
"Relena, can I speak to you privately?"
"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of my friends," she said. He
handed her a piece of paper. It read:


From: Peacecraft, Cinq Kingdom
Time: 1:44 P.M.
Date: June 2
To ESUN:
Cinq Kingdom under attack. Unknown enemy with Mobile suits and dolls.
Capital nearly destroyed. Millardo Peacecraft missing, maybe dead. Attacks not let up.
Send help as soon as possible.
Lucrezia Noin, protection General and wife of Millardo Peacecraft.


Relena's hands shook as she read the message. Her face turned pale, and she fell
to the floor, tears beginning to flow.
"I'm so sorry Relena. I didn't know," Dr. Hino whispered. Heero took the paper
and knelt next to Relena. He read it out loud, and everyone was in total shock. They all
felt sorry for Relena.
"Relena, it'll be fine. Get up now, please," Heero whispered. She slowly rose,
and turned to everyone, hiding her eyes.
"Relena, what are we going to do?" Jeremiah asked. Relena rose her head and
faced everyone, striking fear into them. Her eyes were blazing with anger, guilt, and the
desire to kill.
"We're going into battle," she replied angrily. That made everyone more nervous
because she had never used such a dangerous tone of voice before.
Looks like they hit home, Jade thought. And now it's time to fight!