There had been only one area left unaffected which was the one they had arrived in , that area had been sectioned off and it seemed avoided at all costs.
"Oh man , that thing needs an air sick bag installed" moaned Jason as he got to his feet , sure he felt a little less on the useless side now that he could get to Death Fortress again.
Heero stood and had acted like nothing out of the usual had just occurred as he went along to report to Une.
Matt recovered from his fall quickly to realize he had been Relena's air bag so to speak , she had landed on him which would explain why he had the feeling he had just finished doing a double whammy.
"Well either that or use a net , the floor sure isn't any softer here" quipped Nikita as Wufei helped her to her feet , she had been lucky enough to experience that in space but it was no thrill to see what happened on planet , nor was it that much different either.
Duo was up with a bound and helped Quatre up , the later looking greener then Jason had. "Man , no wonder you guys didn't want to go back ... to face that every time you came here , did they ever pay you hazard pay cause that ride is deadly" his demeanor had lightened a little but he was no where near his usual uplifting self , not that it had stopped him from joking.
Trowa had quietly displaced himself from the group and was over near one of the monitors watching the info it was displaying about what looked to be a new mobile suit but the part that caught his attention was that it matched no model he had ever seen before.
"Geez , the data on that thing is extensive , can't believe it just disappeared" he hear two others discussing at the next monitor which he quickly turned to.
"What is that thing?" He finally asked as he looked over the data they had collected , the image of the mobile suit almost in a loop cycle it seemed.
"That is exactly what we are trying to find out , we just received this from an attack about an hour ago" said the one , the second one having turned back to his work.
"Trowa Barton" Une yelled across the room to him , he had been the only one that had not yet joined the group and she wasn't about to wait any longer , not that there really was time to wait.
He came back across to where the rest of the group had been standing but Lady Une had turned and led them out of the room and away from the garage.
When they finally stopped it was in a meeting room of sorts , the American pilots were sure this was the same place they had arrived in the last time but the lack of doctors and over abundant amount of Preventers had left this in question.
As they entered so did a separate group from a different door , their own doctors not those of the original team had filed in looking to those that had not been caught with a mixed expressions that ranged from relief right down to serious concern. And for the first time there was a female among the group of doctors.
Une started the whole thing off as soon as everyone had their seats. "In the past three hours we have had six different attacks ... mainly on Preventer bases or related sites. The unfortunate part is that we can confirm that each attack was done with a different suit meaning that some how they managed to get their six"
"But who are the other three ..." asked Matt , this whole thing was make even less sense now then in the beginning , after all how many pilots could they have found that was good enough to fly at a Gundam's level.
"I won't even pretend to know which of you are which so I don't even know who they have and the other three are just as much a mystery , but we are having the data sent here so hopefully you can tell us which one on that info" She cut in apologetically on Matt , noting that Relena has been sitting awfully close to him.
"Pegasus , Phoenix , and Unicorn" Trowa added , going by the symbols that would be found on their jackets had they been there.
"Pardon ?" asked Une , it was the first time he had showed an interest in what they were talking about.
"The three that were taken are Pegasus , Phoenix and Unicorn." They had never referred to the American pilots by their real names in public as that would make them easier to find by any one , or could even end up being leaked out so they had all decided it best to keep the info between themselves.
"Ah , so then we have Dragon ..." to which Matt raised his hand " ... Gryphon ... " Jason stood and took a bow " ... and Fairy" Niki just smiled , it had been a long time since she had heard that nickname.
At that moment a few researchers walked in with a few piles of paper and some discs filled with data , put them all down on a side table and left just as quickly.
"Well it's not as exquisite as going into a base and blowing it up but not all of it is paperwork either , some of the data is ready so now it is time to put the jigsaw puzzle together. I am sure the doctors would like to get back and start the modifications to your suits as well" she knew that this was not likely to put any of them in a better mood but it was bound to keep them busy while the upgrades were being added , the doctors having been given the same specs so their task would be easier and those who now knew their own charges were missing could now be free to help the other doctors upgrade the original Gundam's , not that anyone had known that they had even been rebuilt.
"Oh man , we skip breakfast to get here and now we're gonna bury ourselves in paperwork for lunch ... what ever happened to the days where we worked at the kitchen table and ordered pizza" Duo threw after Une , hoping to give her a hint that they were still human after all and did need to eat once in a while.
Jason let out a half hearted laugh which just propelled Duo on more as he got up and riffled through the stuff that had been brought in for them. "Gee , they all had guns , rifles or cannons ... guess I am the perfect choice to go pick the pizzas up then , Trel never used those kind of weapons" he smiled back , not sure if that was the good news or the bad.
"Yeah , you take care of lunch and we'll cover this , that way when the second round comes in we will have someone ready to look it over" said Heero , who had already come over to start in on a stack . "And don't take the bike , makes you to easy to spot and those pizzas will be stone cold by the time you get back."
"Hey Duo , take the Silver Z24 , no one knows that car so it'll likely be the safest" snickered Niki , still trying to figure out if she had just witnessed one of those rare moments everyone insisted Heero did have.
Duo grinned and was gone , of course any excuse to get out of this stuffy base was fine by him , he hated being stuck in one place for long periods of time anyway but in his hurry he had forgotten to get any preferences for their orders , but how many different kinds of pizzas could they have anyway.
From the very beginning it was clear what these new suits had been modeled after , the outlay of Wing Zero was on top of every pile that had been set , each pile had information on just one of the unidentified suits which still left three to be delivered. The odd part was that they were all black in color but the different weapons and attack methods was about the only thing that marked them as different from one another.
Une had popped down to check on the progress of the doctors and their modifications , not that she was concerned about whether it was being done properly but for some time to think on her own. This whole mess had started with a few missing bits of information from the main office , they thought they had it all tracked down to a pair of petty black marketers selling what ever they could but when they went to intercept the information they found more then they had bargained for. Things that there was no way could have been gotten out of a few missed pieces of discarded draft notes. This was information that had been publicly denied like the existence of a second set of Gundams and pilots , that kind of knowledge could have started a panic so it had been kept quiet but now it seemed open for the entire black market to acquire , the unfortunate part was someone had already gotten it which left that lose end to be quickly tracked down before it could be used.
She had sent Heero and Duo after it , they knew best what kind of consequences would result from that slipping out while she had gone looking for exactly how that kind of this had been slipped out unknown. She had not ben ready for what happened next , the two Preventers she had sent out came back with nothing more
then some encrypted files they had found in a hastily packed room , they could only assume the news had gotten around about the earlier bust and were in the process of figuring out what they had found when two traitors had been discovered in the main office. She was thankful it hadn't been until after the discs had been de-coded that the doctors had stepped forward with what little they had salvaged from the Mariemaia scandal , of course they had worked on rebuilding them adding in a new device or two and were sorely disappointed that almost nothing had been found of Wing Zero but they were sure it had been beyond any help after the beating it had been through.
"Lady Une , incoming message from Milliardo and Noin" a voice announced near by.
She walked over to the nearest terminal , relief flooded through her as it had been the first time they had reported in since this started. "Une here , report"
Noin's face showed on the screen , the picture showing the distortion but the voice was understandable and seemed to be in good spirits. "Not much to report , the Terra forming is going well and with the slow trickle of supplies we can transport at once it's barely been enough to keep us busy. I'm sending the updated progress report along but I get the feeling this wasn't just a progress report" she accused Une with curiosity.
"Nothing amiss up there , unexplained workers or things going missing?" was all Une asked.
"No , should we be expecting trouble , I'm sure that if you wanted I could get Zecks ..." but she had been cut off by Une , a small smile on her face as she had done it.
"No , just some small problems down here and I had hoped it had not reached that far" well she now knew of two pilots they could rule out safely but who did that leave.
Duo came back with 5 different pizzas and a huge grin , he had needed the break from the building stress and put them down on the closest surface so everyone could help themselves. "So any luck yet?"
"Yeah , we know the first one is out to destroy , it doesn't matter what just destroy it , second one works on the opposite sides disadvantages and runs when the tide turns , third one has a good working strategy , like the whole thing was planned out days before hand. Other then that with just the videos of the other three I would say the fourth takes out what ever stands between it and where it wants to go then it's like the rest just don't matter , number five appears and disappears , leaving the targeted area in shambles and the sixth starts shooting as soon as it enters the target area." Heero filled him in , six sets of tapes played , each showing the different styles and slightly varying weapons.
"Well that's all good but have you figured out which one is which yet?" Duo asked before he grabbed a slice from the closest box and bit into it.
"Hmmm ... no , and the video expert is on that side" he answered Duo sarcastically , it might have been easier had there been something to compare the tapes to but even that option had been taken from him which made this more frustrating then before.
"Okay , leave me my neck at least here" he backed up , slice in hand and was almost knocked on his face as the door opened.
"We need 6 pilots and now , they've joined up to take out a space port not far from here" the mushroom headed doctor was met with stunned amazement as that had been the last person anyone had expected to see burst in.
Matt stood a moment later followed by Jason and Niki but no one disputed the final three to walk out of the room for the main bay. Heero, Trowa and Duo had taken this personally and definitely wanted first crack at the nut job who had just put them all through this threat.
When they had entered there was a great debate going on about which set of suits were going to be used , in the public eye those of the original Gundams were suppose to be destroyed which stood tall and proud along the one side of the bay , drawing more then just one amazed gasp and using the second set would be to reveal that yes there was more then just one set but to use the second set might also be the small advantage they needed , something to shock their former pilots into a mistake or something similar but the draw back was the former pilots also knew the limitations of that set as well.
"Well then , with that decided ..." Jason laughed , winked at the rest of the group and ran towards his own , he wasn't waiting anymore and didn't give a damn for public relations , they could clean up the mess after it was made.
The others had followed suit , each heading to their own Gundams and ignoring the shouts from both sets of doctors. They had all just managed to get comfortable when Une appeared on screen looking rather bemused.
"Well since you easily solved that issue here is the location , make sure damage to all public sectors is kept to a minimal and good luck" her transmission ended and a copy of the map appeared on the side screen along with a split screen of what ever transmissions they could track from the base , but all of them seemed to be from Preventers.
It hadn't taken long to converge on the location so it was no surprise that not all of the other suits had cleared out , from what they could figure out 1 , 2 , and 6 were still in the area tearing up what little remained.
The first one had just sent a spray of missiles that had at one point been cleverly hidden on the arms of the Gundam , a cloud of smoke raised from what was once a runway , making sure there was going to be no help from that route and taking out a few storage hangers along the side as well.
The second had taken to hunting down anything that moved , of course in a world of peace that meant military enforcement vehicles and what ever hero decided to come close enough to pose a threat , but even that was laughable at best.
The third had been targeting anything that had not yet been destroyed and was using it for target practice , like it wanted to fine tune it's skills.
"Well , which one we going to take home with us today" asked a trigger happy Jason , looking over the three below them like a cat would watch fish swimming.
"Jason , just remember those could be ours down there so just work to disable" the familiar monotone answered him , Heero was not about to risk loosing these three when they were so close to them. "Split into three groups?"
"Sounds good to me" growled Duo , not bothering to see which group was going after which one of the Wing look alike , he had decided to go after the most destructive one intent on rocking his world , fast , hard , and with no warning for it either. He was backed by Heero and both came in blazing guns at the non vital parts of their prey.
Matt and Jason had both swooped for the second but it hadn't taken long for him to notice things were starting to get hot under the collar , of course it turned and was going to give them a reason to hurry as it retreated , hoping to hide and get around to their backs but with most of the area flattened he was going to be searching for a little while.
The long shooter had drawn two sharp shooters. Trowa and Nikita had headed in his direction and although he had taken a few shots only one had even come close , that was when both Trowa and Nikita opened fire and had to do some fancy work to try and follow it's swift climb upwards as it made it's quick get away.
The only one left had used it's missiles already and was almost crippled by the attack the other two pilots had preformed on it's legs , all that was left to do was get the arms to stabilize what was left and drop the hatch , once that lowered both Duo and Heero had stopped firing , bringing their own Gundams to the ground. What happened next was the last thing they had expected , a black streak shot from the downed ramp just as the remains of the suit blew , causing a shock wave almost powerful to knock the other two down but it had done as planned , it covered the pilot's escape and had knocked them more then just a few feet away.
The down side to the plan had been that the other pilots had not been as busy as was expected and there not more then a few yards was Heavy Arms and Kodiac. The form dressed in black rose and started to run but had been to busy trying to keep from getting caught to notice the still falling remains that landed almost right behind it , throwing it once again to the ground.
This time it did not rise and was soon covered by the silver and white form of Shining Bird Wing while the fiery remains of the now detonated suit fell harmlessly around them.
" Now that's a fireworks show , who's the nut ball anyway Matt?" Laughed Jason as he moved closer to try and get a good look.
The blast hatch opened and Matt dropped out smoothly , landing near the body and walking over , that was exactly what he intended on finding out. He drew close and pulled back the hood of the jacket it had been wearing only to drop it again quickly as he grabbed for his watch.
"I'm gonna need some help down here ... now" he choked out as his eyes followed the small black cord that led to the Discman , the music that was playing barely able to be heard as he helplessly ran his hand through his hair and quietly sat down.