They had taken the morning off , after all now they had a plan and someone that could hack right into the cock pit of the diminishing ranks so targeting their own pilots first would be a breeze. The alarm had caught Matt and Jason going head to head on one of the arcade games while Relena watched them with amusement , Niki and Wufei had been hiding out in one of the gyms running through their favorite katas , Quatre had been with Trowa getting a drink in the now deserted cafeteria while Heero went over the disk scanning for any other unusual frequencies that may have been missed and Duo had been cleaning his room and trying not to disturb his newly acquired room mate.
It only took a few minutes till the last one ran into the bay butt this time no one stayed behind , all eight loaded themselves up and didn't stop to ask questions. The waiting game was growing old and if they could they were going to try for two but this time it would be another game of blind mans bluff , hoping that the key codes Trel had used earlier would work for all of the suits.
It had been a secluded training zone , built on rugged terrain used to train experts like the gundam boys in different fields of activities , the best part what that the base disturbed no one so far from anywhere habitable which made the individual thing for themselves instead of relying off the more modern conveniences , now it just made for a bigger playing field to use.
"Man , if there was a place to compare with this in our dimension it would be a cross of a desert and the grand canyon and you guys actually let people live out here?" Said Jason as he swiped his forehead to try and dry it off.
"Yeah well it's great if you want a tan" laughed Duo , who would rather the warmth then having been stuck in a frigid wasteland of the same design.
"Okay , the base is coming up but there is no sign of the others , did we miss them?" Asked Quatre , checking his radar again for like the tenth time in the same amount of minutes.
"I don't know , spread out and check the area" added Heero , not enjoying the silence that graced the destroyed site.
They split up and started covering some ground , inspecting both the ruins of the base and some of the surrounding areas that lay near by.
"I don't understand it , they come to destroy something and run every time we show up , but you don't need a Gundam to destroy something" Trowa murmured into the com system.
"Did they forget how to fight ?" wondered Wufei
"No chance they forgot how to fight" Duo groaned while rubbing a few broken ribs he had been dished out the night before and wished she had forgotten how to fight.
Just then a few missiles blew near the remains of the base that had once stood there , almost impacting directly on the chest of Heavy Arms as it checked for anything that might have survived.
"All right , a fire fight" yelled Jason as he turned to see the third Zero standing on a elevated outcrop of rocks.
"Well at least one will stand and fight" chimed in Niki as the others turned to catch a glimpse of the lone figure.
"Yeah , but not for long" came the reply from the Shen long as Wufei turned and started after it.
"Hey , just take it easier then normal" Matt openly said as he followed suit.
Duo sat back in Deathsythe , it was just one and he wasn't one to gang up like that. "Yeah , wake me up when your done then" he had just started to cross his legs when he to was hit by a range of incoming missiles .
"Guess that was your alarm clock going off" snickered Jason as he started after Heero and the fourth one, letting Duo recover from the blast.
"I don't think it was anything personal Duo" laughed Niki as she watched Deathsythe try to shake it off.
"Well we did say two right , so let's get to it ....." came Quatre's comment but it ended abruptly as Sandrock went down displaying another black figure immerging from the sand behind them.
"Geez the place is lousy with them" Niki gasped as she let a round off her Gatlin guns , hoping to give Quatre time to recover as well.
"Well that's just fine with me" came Trowa's quiet voice as he was up and after this new one.
"Duo , lend a hand and load those codes , see if you can get a visual on which one is which" and with that Quatre was off after Trowa.
Quatre and Trowa were taking turns trying to maneuver their own into open ground instead of how it would duck from one tunnel to another but while it had a clear path and knew they were gaining it brought a thermal saber to light and used it to dig into the upper arch of the tunnel , bringing it crashing down behind him and almost upon the two that were in pursuit of it.
"Oh man , why do I get all the desk jobs" he grumbled as he started the screen up , trying a few different variations of the code that appeared on the screen.
"Well if you have the desk then I am going to play as well" teased Niki as she watched Jason chasing after one , having lost Heero somewhere along the way.
"Yeah , you go have fun but remember , it's only a game till someone puts an eye out" he lectured after her , looking up and catching a faint glint that looked like a passing plane over head , but this wasn't the right color for a plane "What the ... guess this'll have to wait a minute" he commented as he fired the thrusters to meet this new comer head on.
Matt and Wufei had faired little better , the pilot of this system baited them in by letting them catch up only to smash Nataku into the walls of the over hanging cliff it had been careening them through in it's attempt engage their own plans. Matt having lost his fishing partner could do little but follow after and try to disable the detonator.
"Anyone seen Yuy , we can't keep chasing after this one till it runs out of gas" came Jason's voice from the channel , almost finding a pattern in the way this one moved.
The one that had first been sighted had managed to lose Heero when it dove for some of the caves , Jason went one way and Heero the other. When he had immerged from the catacombs he once again picked up his target ahead of him but instead of Heero rejoining him Kodiac flew to be his next partner.
"I've heard the expression 'when pigs fly' but when bears fly" he joked although his face was dead serious.
Duo had manage to climb to close the gap without having much notice taken of him , the distance closed quickly but it suddenly veered leaving him to alter his own course to try and catch it. Thankfully the other machine looked to be loaded down as it didn't meet the speed he knew Wing Zero could maneuver at but it didn't seemed inclined to stop so he did the next best thing , reaching out to grab it and turning on the electric field generator hoping to knock it down that way.
Matt watched as another black Gundam came into sight firing a burst from what looked like a beam canon aimed right for him , he moved quickly narrowly avoiding the impact but definitely feeling the energy as it missed him by mere inches. By the time he gained his former momentum the two were out of sight once more.
"I'm on my way Jason , looks like gave me the slip" he huffed as he wheeled the Gundam in the direction of where Jason and Nikita were now showing up on his map.
"Oh man , if anyone has a free moment I could use some help , don't feel like becoming a Duo pancake all over this nice scenery" was all Trowa and Quatre heard as they finally immerged from the caves they had been in , they tracked it down to a pair of quickly descending Gundams not far from where they currently were.
They moved skillfully managing To help slow the fall , the black shape having ended up a strain on just one was easier to manage with the three that now hefted it. "But Duo , I thought you always enjoyed pancakes" Quatre finally said with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah , but I have plans and they don't include becoming one" he snickered.
Jason and Niki had cornered their prey only to meet up with a hot response , it had turned on a set of flame throwers that no one expected attached at the hips and shooting almost twenty feet straight out , warming the already humid air within the Gundams.
"Now I know how all those cakes use to feel in the Easy Bake oven I had" babbled Niki as she raised the arms of Kodiac up to try and lessen the heat.
At that moment the sound of buster fire echoed all around. "Now guys , don't you know there is a fire ban in place for hot days like this?"
Matt had made it , aided by the geiser of flames and had fired down at the remaining suit which made it's way down another cave.
"Oh man , not this again" whined Jason but went quiet when the cave lit with a blue tinge as an energy net had caught the last one , a triumphant Wufei and Heero hauling a bundle that would make Santa jealous.
"Not what again?" Asked Wufei with a hint of amusement reflecting in his voice.
Jason's eyes widened as he thought a moment. "You ever tried out for a magician , cause I wanna see that trick again"
I didn't take them long to return to the base , curiosity driving them crazy as they carefully laid the suits to the floor. The doctors came over and took charge of one while the other took the second one , finally getting the blast shield up so the pilot inside could be removed.
"Cripes , that was Amy?" Jason's bewildered voice said as Heero dropped himself inside to pick the unconscious form up.
"We have Ms. Walker here" came a gnarled voice from the other side , but only moments before the lean form of Trowa slid himself down into the dark recesses without a second thought.
"Alright , now we've got a full house again" cheered Niki
"Sally wants them before you start planning any party" called Relena who had walked up to the building excitement with a smile.
"Yeah ... right" Matt finally replied , feeling the worry lift from his shoulders as he closed his eyes with a smile.
~~~~oO{*}Oo~~~~
Over , what are you crazy , just setting the whole thing up yet but we had to give poor Trowa and Heero a small break cause yeah I am cruel but it's not like those two have really had much write time so I will be nice ... just this once.
The evil will continue in the next chapter ... now I know I am tired , I'm giving my secrets away ... NOT.
Out