Chapter 8- To Space
The next morning was the beginning of a new day. Currently, OZ was moving forward in their plans. But, what those plans were was something nobody knew. School was business as usual for Gilly. She tried to forget the fact that she had a Gundam, and that Duo and she were on separate turf. The thought of going to space crossed Gilly's mind every now and then, but she didn't know why. Heero had disappeared, but Quatre and Duo remained. Gilly knew three of the Gundam pilots, but she wondered who the others were. The reason Heero had disappeared, or so Quatre told her, was that he'd self-destructed in his Gundam and wasn't known to be dead or alive. One night Gilly had been looking through the Romafeller Foundation's files and had found some information on the pilot, Zechs Marquise. Some guy was suspecting him of treason towards Romafeller, and Zechs had disappeared to, what was believed to be Antarctica. The treason suspected was that Zechs had rebuilt the Wing Gundam, and was hoping to challenge the pilot, to finish the fight they had originally started when the Gundams had fallen to Earth. There was evidence that he'd blown Wing up, but what Gilly gathered there had been enough Gundanium alloy left over after reconstruction of the Wing Gundam that they were able to build another. But this battle between a man who was searching for something to fight for and a man, who had lost all means by which to fight, was a virtually meaningless battle.
So much was going on. Gilly wondered how to deal with it all. She also wondered how the others could deal with it all. Heero had sacrificed himself to save the colonies, and Gilly felt very sad about it, even though she didn't know Heero all that well.
* * * * *
"OZ is up to something." Gilly whispered to herself as she watched the news with Amanda and Whitney.
"What do you mean?" Whitney asked.
"Lady Une is up there inspiring the colonies to be free, but it smells wrong. I say that OZ is gaining the trust of the colonies, and when they do they'll turn on them."
"You're obsessed." Whitney sighed.
"No," Amanda added, "smart. Gilly, I see what you see. You're right. It's just the type of thing that OZ would do."
"Only bad things can come from this." Gilly sighed.
"Not only bad things..." Whit began.
"When it comes to war, trust, and peace, yes." Amanda admitted.
"I don't understand what you people are saying. I'd rather just live a normal life in the dark, than have to keep up with the two of you." She stood up.
"Whitney, don't go. You should listen and try to understand. Being arrogant to what's going on isn't a good thing."
"I don't care. I'm not in the colonies, a soldier for OZ, or a Gundam pilot, so why should I care? And don't forget that neither of you are any of those three either."
"I grew up in the colonies." Gilly said firmly, "So I feel a strong attachment to them, even if I'm not there now."
"What's past is past."
"No, this is present!" Gilly raised her voice; "My family was killed by OZ. I'll never trust them, and they shouldn't be trusted, even if they hadn't killed my parents."
"OZ killed your parents?" Amanda asked.
"So many lives are lost at the hands of wars. It's not fair to anyone, soldier or civilian. OZ is not trying to liberate the colonies, they're trying to turn them on everything else."
Whitney only looked at Gilly momentarily, than walked out of the room. Amanda and Gilly watched her go with sad looks on their faces. They hadn't made her understand. Gilly turned and looked at Amanda's eyes.
"How long have you known?" Gilly asked.
"A while."
"And the others...?"
"Duo, Quatre, and Heero, right?"
"Yes, how'd you know?"
"I too pilot a mobile suit. It's not a normal OZ suit, but it's not a Gundam either. I designed it, and there's no other like it. Its name is D'hara."
"Where'd you get the parts, and where do you keep it."
"I don't know your lair, and you don't know mine."
"I'll see you around than." Gilly said as she walked away.
"Alright." "See you later."
* * * * *
Gilly looked around the room. Duo had left last night. His room was abandoned. She wondered what he was up to. She saw the piece of paper lying on his bed, and she picked it up.
Gilly-
It's Wednesday night, and I have left with Quatre. We are going to stage an attack on OZ on Friday. We're going to try to get the attention of the others and head to outer space. That's where we're needed right now. OZ is planning something and we have to stop them, that's all there is to it. If you don't come, than that's fine, but if you do that's fine, too. I can't stop you from doing what you want to do, just do what's in your heart, and what you want to do. This is a big decision. Hope to see you later.
Duo Maxwell
"So that's what's happening. You're all checked out and on your way. Than I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Gilly gave a weak smile, than headed back to her room to pack.
She'd have to make the arrangements with the school. But, she wouldn't say good-bye to the people she knew here. She'd just go, and forget them.
* * * * *
"Duo, Quatre, and Gilly are all gone?" Amanda asked.
"Yeah, they just disappeared." Zoe sighed.
"No," Whitney added, "I checked in the office, they transferred out. Apparently they're all heading for the colonies."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
"How weird." Amanda noted, "Hey!"
"What?"
"What about Heero, he disappeared a while ago, too."
"Yeah, but than he called in or something and left for who know where?"
"Oh. It sure is a coincidence how Duo, Quatre, and Gilly all left at practically the same time for the colonies."
"No kidding." Amanda's plans were to also go to space. Perhaps these pilots knew something she didn't. But, she'd have to wait a while before doing so. Amanda caught sight of the news report that was airing on the TV in the Commons Area; "Hey! Look!" She yelled, "The Gundams!"
Everyone turned to see the special bulletin on the Gundam pilots. Two of them were attacking an OZ facility, 01 and 04.
* * * * *
"Good!" Duo told Quatre, "We've made it into the news all around the world."
"Now, hopefully the others will get the message!" Quatre called.
They continued to fight the mobile suit troops of Aires and Leo's. The defense was very strong though, and the two had troubles breaking through.
"That defense is too much!" Duo called, "I can't get any closer!"
"Augh!" Quatre yelled as he fell to the ground.
"Quatre!" Duo called after him.
"And now this special announcement from the L3 Colony cluster." The newsman said as a young man came on screen.
"I'd like to make an announcement. The people of this colony have declared the Gundams as rebels." The young man announced, "These pilots who consider themselves to be fighting for the colonies, are not what we are representing. OZ has been very good to us, and any enemy of OZ's, is an enemy of ours."
"What?!" Duo was exasperated.
"It's to be expected that they not accept us at first." Quatre told him.
"I know that, but even so, it's still hard to swallow." Duo lamented.
"Are you guys gonna give up so soon?" Wufei asked.
"Of course not!"
"I will fight for what is right." Heero added.
"You guys got our message!" Quatre cheered.
"We are doing the right thing! We are!" Wufei yelled.
"Even though we have lost the colonies' trust, I am sensing peace in our five hearts." Trowa breathed heavily.
The five pilots fought with the intention of making it out to space. Duo approached two of the carriers nearby. He scanned them for cargo, and when something showed up, he lifted his beam-scythe to slice it.
Something on top of the carrier caught Duo's eye. There stood Gilly. She was waving and smiling broadly.
"Gilly?" Duo called in surprise and amazement.
"It's me!" She yelled back, "You didn't honestly think I was gonna let you leave me behind, did you?"
"Never!"
"I have this carrier ready for you! You wouldn't want it to go to waste now, would you?"
"You shouldn't be outside of Knightsaber!"
"I'll be fine! Get Deathscythe ready!" She yelled, than she gracefully jumped down to the loading ramp, and walked in.
Duo caught sight of the other shuttles and gave the word to the others. Carefully, Duo than loaded Deathscythe onto the shuttle Gilly had prepared.
One by one, the Gundam pilots loaded up their Gundams. And one by one, they all took off down the runway. All except Quatre.
"Quatre!" Duo called from the ground, "What are you doing? We all have to make it out to space!"
"You guys go ahead! I'll cover you!" Quatre replied.
"You fool!" Duo screamed.
He gave one last glance and went to the cockpit, and began to prepare the shuttle for take-off. First Gilly, than Duo blasted into space.
"And now, the last option for me is to self-detonate." Quatre told himself as he pushed the self-detonation button.
The siren in Sandrock went off as Quatre hit the button. Suddenly, Sandrock moved its shield in front of the cockpit and the cockpit opened.
"You're telling me to get out?" Quatre asked, "Thank you Sandrock!" He called as he jumped down from the massive Gundam.
Sandrock began to walk slowly towards the enemy, and Quatre issued his thank you. He than ran for one of the remaining shuttles and got in. As he took off, Quatre saw his precious Sandrock blow up into oblivion. With a sad sigh, Quatre took off towards space.
* * * * *
On the way to space, Gilly was separated from Duo and she had no idea where to go form there. She had Knightsaber, but she'd never fought in Knightsaber before, so the concept of fighting in space in a mobile suit originally designed for battle on earth, seemed a little weird to her.
Once Gilly had made it through the atmosphere she encountered an Oz troop of mobile dolls. She hadn't even fought a regular mobile suit, so how was she supposed to fight a mobile doll?
"Surrender your Gundam, and we may let you live!" The soldier leading them called.
The next morning was the beginning of a new day. Currently, OZ was moving forward in their plans. But, what those plans were was something nobody knew. School was business as usual for Gilly. She tried to forget the fact that she had a Gundam, and that Duo and she were on separate turf. The thought of going to space crossed Gilly's mind every now and then, but she didn't know why. Heero had disappeared, but Quatre and Duo remained. Gilly knew three of the Gundam pilots, but she wondered who the others were. The reason Heero had disappeared, or so Quatre told her, was that he'd self-destructed in his Gundam and wasn't known to be dead or alive. One night Gilly had been looking through the Romafeller Foundation's files and had found some information on the pilot, Zechs Marquise. Some guy was suspecting him of treason towards Romafeller, and Zechs had disappeared to, what was believed to be Antarctica. The treason suspected was that Zechs had rebuilt the Wing Gundam, and was hoping to challenge the pilot, to finish the fight they had originally started when the Gundams had fallen to Earth. There was evidence that he'd blown Wing up, but what Gilly gathered there had been enough Gundanium alloy left over after reconstruction of the Wing Gundam that they were able to build another. But this battle between a man who was searching for something to fight for and a man, who had lost all means by which to fight, was a virtually meaningless battle.
So much was going on. Gilly wondered how to deal with it all. She also wondered how the others could deal with it all. Heero had sacrificed himself to save the colonies, and Gilly felt very sad about it, even though she didn't know Heero all that well.
* * * * *
"OZ is up to something." Gilly whispered to herself as she watched the news with Amanda and Whitney.
"What do you mean?" Whitney asked.
"Lady Une is up there inspiring the colonies to be free, but it smells wrong. I say that OZ is gaining the trust of the colonies, and when they do they'll turn on them."
"You're obsessed." Whitney sighed.
"No," Amanda added, "smart. Gilly, I see what you see. You're right. It's just the type of thing that OZ would do."
"Only bad things can come from this." Gilly sighed.
"Not only bad things..." Whit began.
"When it comes to war, trust, and peace, yes." Amanda admitted.
"I don't understand what you people are saying. I'd rather just live a normal life in the dark, than have to keep up with the two of you." She stood up.
"Whitney, don't go. You should listen and try to understand. Being arrogant to what's going on isn't a good thing."
"I don't care. I'm not in the colonies, a soldier for OZ, or a Gundam pilot, so why should I care? And don't forget that neither of you are any of those three either."
"I grew up in the colonies." Gilly said firmly, "So I feel a strong attachment to them, even if I'm not there now."
"What's past is past."
"No, this is present!" Gilly raised her voice; "My family was killed by OZ. I'll never trust them, and they shouldn't be trusted, even if they hadn't killed my parents."
"OZ killed your parents?" Amanda asked.
"So many lives are lost at the hands of wars. It's not fair to anyone, soldier or civilian. OZ is not trying to liberate the colonies, they're trying to turn them on everything else."
Whitney only looked at Gilly momentarily, than walked out of the room. Amanda and Gilly watched her go with sad looks on their faces. They hadn't made her understand. Gilly turned and looked at Amanda's eyes.
"How long have you known?" Gilly asked.
"A while."
"And the others...?"
"Duo, Quatre, and Heero, right?"
"Yes, how'd you know?"
"I too pilot a mobile suit. It's not a normal OZ suit, but it's not a Gundam either. I designed it, and there's no other like it. Its name is D'hara."
"Where'd you get the parts, and where do you keep it."
"I don't know your lair, and you don't know mine."
"I'll see you around than." Gilly said as she walked away.
"Alright." "See you later."
* * * * *
Gilly looked around the room. Duo had left last night. His room was abandoned. She wondered what he was up to. She saw the piece of paper lying on his bed, and she picked it up.
Gilly-
It's Wednesday night, and I have left with Quatre. We are going to stage an attack on OZ on Friday. We're going to try to get the attention of the others and head to outer space. That's where we're needed right now. OZ is planning something and we have to stop them, that's all there is to it. If you don't come, than that's fine, but if you do that's fine, too. I can't stop you from doing what you want to do, just do what's in your heart, and what you want to do. This is a big decision. Hope to see you later.
Duo Maxwell
"So that's what's happening. You're all checked out and on your way. Than I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Gilly gave a weak smile, than headed back to her room to pack.
She'd have to make the arrangements with the school. But, she wouldn't say good-bye to the people she knew here. She'd just go, and forget them.
* * * * *
"Duo, Quatre, and Gilly are all gone?" Amanda asked.
"Yeah, they just disappeared." Zoe sighed.
"No," Whitney added, "I checked in the office, they transferred out. Apparently they're all heading for the colonies."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
"How weird." Amanda noted, "Hey!"
"What?"
"What about Heero, he disappeared a while ago, too."
"Yeah, but than he called in or something and left for who know where?"
"Oh. It sure is a coincidence how Duo, Quatre, and Gilly all left at practically the same time for the colonies."
"No kidding." Amanda's plans were to also go to space. Perhaps these pilots knew something she didn't. But, she'd have to wait a while before doing so. Amanda caught sight of the news report that was airing on the TV in the Commons Area; "Hey! Look!" She yelled, "The Gundams!"
Everyone turned to see the special bulletin on the Gundam pilots. Two of them were attacking an OZ facility, 01 and 04.
* * * * *
"Good!" Duo told Quatre, "We've made it into the news all around the world."
"Now, hopefully the others will get the message!" Quatre called.
They continued to fight the mobile suit troops of Aires and Leo's. The defense was very strong though, and the two had troubles breaking through.
"That defense is too much!" Duo called, "I can't get any closer!"
"Augh!" Quatre yelled as he fell to the ground.
"Quatre!" Duo called after him.
"And now this special announcement from the L3 Colony cluster." The newsman said as a young man came on screen.
"I'd like to make an announcement. The people of this colony have declared the Gundams as rebels." The young man announced, "These pilots who consider themselves to be fighting for the colonies, are not what we are representing. OZ has been very good to us, and any enemy of OZ's, is an enemy of ours."
"What?!" Duo was exasperated.
"It's to be expected that they not accept us at first." Quatre told him.
"I know that, but even so, it's still hard to swallow." Duo lamented.
"Are you guys gonna give up so soon?" Wufei asked.
"Of course not!"
"I will fight for what is right." Heero added.
"You guys got our message!" Quatre cheered.
"We are doing the right thing! We are!" Wufei yelled.
"Even though we have lost the colonies' trust, I am sensing peace in our five hearts." Trowa breathed heavily.
The five pilots fought with the intention of making it out to space. Duo approached two of the carriers nearby. He scanned them for cargo, and when something showed up, he lifted his beam-scythe to slice it.
Something on top of the carrier caught Duo's eye. There stood Gilly. She was waving and smiling broadly.
"Gilly?" Duo called in surprise and amazement.
"It's me!" She yelled back, "You didn't honestly think I was gonna let you leave me behind, did you?"
"Never!"
"I have this carrier ready for you! You wouldn't want it to go to waste now, would you?"
"You shouldn't be outside of Knightsaber!"
"I'll be fine! Get Deathscythe ready!" She yelled, than she gracefully jumped down to the loading ramp, and walked in.
Duo caught sight of the other shuttles and gave the word to the others. Carefully, Duo than loaded Deathscythe onto the shuttle Gilly had prepared.
One by one, the Gundam pilots loaded up their Gundams. And one by one, they all took off down the runway. All except Quatre.
"Quatre!" Duo called from the ground, "What are you doing? We all have to make it out to space!"
"You guys go ahead! I'll cover you!" Quatre replied.
"You fool!" Duo screamed.
He gave one last glance and went to the cockpit, and began to prepare the shuttle for take-off. First Gilly, than Duo blasted into space.
"And now, the last option for me is to self-detonate." Quatre told himself as he pushed the self-detonation button.
The siren in Sandrock went off as Quatre hit the button. Suddenly, Sandrock moved its shield in front of the cockpit and the cockpit opened.
"You're telling me to get out?" Quatre asked, "Thank you Sandrock!" He called as he jumped down from the massive Gundam.
Sandrock began to walk slowly towards the enemy, and Quatre issued his thank you. He than ran for one of the remaining shuttles and got in. As he took off, Quatre saw his precious Sandrock blow up into oblivion. With a sad sigh, Quatre took off towards space.
* * * * *
On the way to space, Gilly was separated from Duo and she had no idea where to go form there. She had Knightsaber, but she'd never fought in Knightsaber before, so the concept of fighting in space in a mobile suit originally designed for battle on earth, seemed a little weird to her.
Once Gilly had made it through the atmosphere she encountered an Oz troop of mobile dolls. She hadn't even fought a regular mobile suit, so how was she supposed to fight a mobile doll?
"Surrender your Gundam, and we may let you live!" The soldier leading them called.