"Dad, can I go to Anya's house to spend the night tonight?" twelve-year-old Neri asked her father, Gavin Duvall, one summer morning. "She's on the phone, waiting for an answer."
"Yes, as long as you're back by noon tomorrow. Remember, we're going down to Earth for a week."
"Yeah, I know. I've never been to Earth. This will be so cool!"
"Are you packed?"
"Pretty much."
"Okay. Tell her I'll drop you off at seven on my way to a meeting."
"Thanks, Dad!"
Her father smiled as Neri dashed off to tell her friend the good news.
At 6:45 that evening Neri had her things all ready and loaded them into the car. I can't believe that tomorrow I'll be on my way to Earth! the young girl thought excitedly as they drove out onto the main road. She glanced at her father, who had a serious expression on his face. Glancing back out the window, she wondered, What is this meeting about? Probably just something else to do with building spacecraft, since that what he does at work. But why is it held so soon before we go to Earth? I wish Mother were still around…it's hard on a girl to grow up with only her father.
Neri closed her eyes as time flew five years into the past. Her mother had been returning from another colony on one of the inter-colony transports when it exploded, killing everyone instantly. Both she and her father had been stunned, and it had taken a few weeks for it to really sink in. It had taken a long time for them to recover, but they were able to eventually get on with life. Then, days before my tenth birthday, Dad started going to all of these meetings. I think it added stress on him, because he isn't as happy-go-lucky now as he was then.
Soon they reached Anya's house, and Neri kissed her father goodbye.
"Remember, I'll be here at noon," he reminded her.
"I know. Bye, Dad," she waved as she entered the house.
"Bye," he called out, and drove off.
Neri had not seen Anya, her best friend, for over a month, since she had been on another colony visiting relatives. They laughed and played together for a long time, staying up late and catching up on each other's recent activities.
"So you're going to Earth? Not fair!" Anya said, mock-pouting.
"Yeah. And I won't be back until school starts!"
"I don't even want to think about that. I love summer! Even though I have no idea what it's really like."
"I'll tell you when I get back, because it's summer where we're going."
"Where are you going?"
"I think to where the Cinq Kingdom once stood. I want to go there so badly because I've studied it so much."
"Yeah. It's been eight years, right, since it was destroyed?"
"Uh huh."
Soon afterwards the two girls went to sleep, and did not wake up until ten the next morning.
"So how late did you girls stay up?" Neri's father asked after he picked her up.
"Uh…two…I think," she told him.
He laughed. "That's not too bad, considering when I was younger, I once stayed up until eight the next morning."
Neri looked at her father, eyes wide. "When did you sleep?"
"During the day."
"Wasn't that weird?"
"Yeah, but I only slept for about four or five hours, then went to sleep early the next night."
"Oh."
They pulled up at their house and called a taxi once inside. When it got there, they loaded the trunk with their luggage and left for the spaceport.
Once onboard, Neri's eyes began to sparkle with excitement. "I can't believe we're actually going!" she exclaimed.
Her father chuckled. "I was this excited when I was your age," he told her.
Neri peered out the window as they took off, watching the colony recede into the background. She watched them pass two other colonies as they headed toward the earth. Eventually the green-blue globe ahead of them grew until it filled almost the entirety of her view. "Wow, it's sure pretty from up here," she commented.
"Never forget how beautiful the earth is from space, Neri. It's not something everyone can witness."
She nodded, and continued to gaze at the glowing sphere in front of them.
Over the intercom, the copilot announced, "Everyone, make sure you are buckled in. We are about to enter the atmosphere. Do not worry. The shaking will only go on for about two minutes or so."
Clicks sounded all around as passengers fastened their restraining straps and prepared for reentry.
Three minutes later they had fully broken through the atmosphere and were flying over a vast expanse of water. It was a clear, sunny day.
"Dad, it's so different! Is that the sun?"
"Yes."
"And is all that blue stuff ocean? Which one?"
"We're over the Mediterranean Sea right now. We should land pretty soon."
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Will I be able to fly something while we're down here?"
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Dad!" Neri grinned at her father and returned to watching the land come up at them. He said he'd see what he could do! I might actually be able to fly something more than a bunch of data on a video game!
The rest of the flight was uneventful. They landed smoothly and received their baggage without delay. "Where are we going first?"
"To our hotel, so we can put our things away and get checked in before we do any sightseeing."
"Okay. Wow, Earth is so different than the colonies!"
"Yes. Here the air is fresh, not recycled, and the sun heats the land. There's also weather, which you've never truly experienced."
"Weren't you born on Earth, Dad?"
He nodded. "We moved to the colonies when I was three, so I didn't really live down here long enough to miss it. I really don't know how your grandparents handled it. It's a big change."
"I'll say. Is that a cloud?" Neri asked, pointing to a puffy white cumulus sitting in the sky.
"Uh huh. Oh, here we are," her father announced as they pulled up in front of their hotel. They walked in and checked in quickly, then rode the elevator up to their room on the fifteenth floor.
"Can I open the door, Dad?"
He chuckled. "Sure."
She took the keycard and slid it into its slot. The light turned on and there was a ping as the door slid open. They placed their baggage on their respective beds once they were inside. Neri stared out the window as her father used the phone. A moment later he hung up and walked over to the window.
"Look at all the trees!" she cried as her eyes danced over the landscape in front of her.
"Hey, I got you a slot at the piloting simulator in an hour. Are you up for it?"
Neri looked up at her father, eyes shining. "Oh, yeah! Thanks so much! I can't wait to get into a real one! Those ones at the arcades are so pitiful!"
"I know—you always beat them so quickly," he said proudly. "Why don't I show you the plant, you know, how they're made. It'll kill time before your simulator run."
"Cool!" Soon afterwards they were in a taxi headed for the craft manufacturing plant. Dad never did tell me what kind of craft he built…I bet he had to pull quite a few strings to get me this simulator run. I can't wait! This will be so fun! It's not a real craft, but that's okay…a normal sim! Not an arcade! Sugoi!
Once they reached the plant, her father showed his company tag, which admitted them immediately. He took Neri through the area where they received the metal for constructing the spacecraft and showed her how they fashioned the smaller pieces of the craft, then put them together to make the finished product.
When they reached the finished section, Neri's eyes widened. "I didn't know your company made mobile suits!" she exclaimed after seeing a finished one.
"Yes, we do. In fact, that's what simulator you'll be in."
"What?"
"Since you're so good at the arcade games, I thought you'd be really good in a suit simulator."
"Piloting a mobile suit…wow!"
"A simulated mobile suit, yes." He glanced at his watch. "We better go…you're simulator is waiting."
Five minutes later the two were in the simulator room, Neri prepping for entering one of them. A technician explained the controls to her.
"You'll be able to choose whichever scenarios you wish," the technician finished. "There are many from a simple reconnoitering flight to complex battles."
Neri's eyes glowed with anticipation. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Have fun," her father told her.
"Don't worry—I will." Neri hopped into the simulator and closed the hatch. Immediately the screen came on, showing a list of scenarios, the easiest at top and the hardest at the bottom. She scanned the list as she strapped herself into the harness. She soon chose one near the top, since she had never before done anything with these controls before.
The list vanished. The inside of a carrier ship replaced it on the screens, flying at fifteen hundred feet. The back hatch opened, and two mobile suits dropped out of it. Neri's suit was third. She disengaged the grips to the plane's belly and free-fell out of the hatch. Quickly she activated her thrusters and righted herself, so she would be in a good position for landing. With a tremor and a dull thud she hit the ground, keeping her balance easily. The screens went blank and a "Mission: Complete" filled the front screen in white letters.
That was it? Too easy, she thought to herself. Bringing back up the list, Neri chose a scenario close to the bottom. When the screens went blank again and turned back on, she found herself in a suit with flying capabilities in the middle of a dogfight. Neri dove, barely avoiding a barrage of bullets aimed where she just had been. Turning to face upwards, Neri fired off a spray of energy from her cannon at the suit flying overhead—the one that had almost hit her. It exploded as the energy ripped through it.
Neri realized that her group members had red ID marks on them and the enemy had green. Her group was much smaller as well. The screen suddenly froze and a bunch of words appeared. She read: Your mission is to destroy the green enemy while keeping as many of the reds alive as possible.
"Shouldn't be too hard," she said to herself as the words vanished and the dogfight reappeared. A small inset above the right screen showed how many reds were around and how many greens there were. Neri blasted a suit coming for her out of the sky, then narrowly avoided an attack from another—which ended up destroying one of its teams' suits. She continued in this manner until only one persistent green suit was left. She had started with nine other reds, and seven were undamaged. The other two were either damaged or destroyed.
Her group headed for the ground, and she followed, at least until the remaining green suit came right for her. Neri dove, then rolled to the left to avoid an attack. She righted herself and headed for the sun, then dove back down. The pilot can't see me in the sun's glare, Neri thought. Aiming carefully with her cannon, she fired a blast and destroyed the suit. The screen went blank and the hatch opened.
"Why is the hatch opening?" she asked into her headset.
"I wanted to congratulate you in person," a voice sounded.
"Huh?"
A young man of about eighteen walked over to her sim. "I was in the suit that you just destroyed. Getting into the sun's glare is a good trick."
"Who are you?" Neri asked, confused.
"I'm a new grad of the pilot's school located about five miles away," he answered. He added sheepishly, "And now look at me—I've been defeated by a young girl who's never been in a sim before, much less an actual suit."
"I had no idea that there were others in the sim with me. I thought it was just computer."
"Your father asked me to try and blow you out of the sky, to test your skills. I thought it would be a piece of cake, but obviously it wasn't."
Neri climbed out of the simulator. "I'd love to fly with or against you sometime—sometime when the sun isn't shining," he told her, extending his hand.
She shook it. "It would be my pleasure. What's your name?"
"Matt Reinard."
"Neri Duvall."
"Some other time, then?" he asked, moving away.
"Of course," she answered, and left as well.
"So, how was it?" her father asked.
"Pretty easy. Did you really ask him to try and blow me out of the sky?"
"Yes. I knew you were good, but how good you were I had no idea. Now I know. Come with me," he told her.
"Okay." Her father led Neri through many hallways and doors, so many that she felt completely lost. "Where are we?"
"You'll see in a moment." After a few more minutes they ended up in a small room filled with computers. He led her to a large screen and tapped on it for a moment. An image came up. Neri whistled.
"That is one nice-looking mobile suit," she said in awe. "It's at least twice the size of the one I was simming with."
"It's called a Gundam, made up of Gundanium alloy."
"A Gundam?"
"Yes."
Neri looked at her father quizzically. "And why are you telling me this?"
"Our colonies are ruled with an iron fist, you know."
"Yeah, I know. And there's not a single blasted thing we can do about it!"
"Yes, there is." He indicated the screen. "There is this Gundam."
"What about it?"
"It's yours."
"What?!?"
"You get to pilot it – after extensive training in it, of course – and use it against the Alliance, or rather, OZ."
"OZ?"
"I'll explain more as you improve. Your mission is to protect the colonies and help bring peace back to Earth and space."
"I'm just a kid!"
"Oh, don't worry, you won't have any missions for at least another two years."
The girl was silent for a moment as she pondered her new assignment. "Tousan, is this why you've always pushed me to excel in all of those flight simulator and dogfight-type video games?"
"Well, yes. I wanted to see if you were talented in this area, and as you grew and your skills constantly improved, I planned to employ you as this suit's pilot." He paused briefly. "Are you alright with that, Neri?"
She smiled up at him. "Of course. I've never been one to sit still when stuff is going on – important stuff – right?"
He smiled back. "Quite true."
This was the first Neri knew about the Gundams. After she and her father left Earth and returned to the colonies, school and training took up all of her time. She named her Gundam "Novastar" because "nova" meant the birth of a new star—indicating her wish of the birth of a new, peaceful world for all to live in and enjoy.
A while later, well over a year after her training had begun, Neri was home alone, looking for more paper for an assignment due the next day. Rummaging around on her father's desk, she found an old book lying open. The pages were filled with her father's handwriting. Curious, Neri read the latest entry: Neri's training is going better than I had ever hoped! She will certainly aid the colonies in their quest for freedom and peace. One interesting thing happened yesterday. I received word that Trista's cousin's only son, Quatre Raberba Winner, is also a Gundam pilot. I probably would have heard something sooner had our families still been on speaking terms. I still don't know why the animosity exists, but it is still there… Here Neri stopped reading.
My unknown cousin…also a Gundam pilot? she thought in disbelief. I wish I could meet him…I also wonder what the rift is between our families. Neri sighed and returned to her search.
* * *
It was now A.C. 195, and things were stirring up. Neri and her father had heard of Operation Meteor, called by the Gundams' enemy, the United Earth Sphere Alliance, "Operation M." This operation sent five Gundams and their pilots to Earth, in hopes to cripple or even destroy OZ. The Gundams wreaked havoc on OZ and Alliance bases in their hit-and-run style of attacks.
Neri watched it all from her place in the colonies, itching to be a part of the battle. But she knew that she was a reserve, only to come out into the open when the colonies were threatened. And she received her chance after the Antarctica battle between Zechs Merquise and Heero Yuy, when outer space began to stir, and the lunar base was set up on the surface of the moon…