Disclaimer: I don't own anyone that was ever on the show.
Author's note: Another chapter. Here you go.
The five Gundams stood grouped together in the inky blackness of space. It had only been a few days after they had left the underground base on earth; afterwards they drove their Gundams to an airport where they were allowed to use a large shipping spacecraft to get their Gundams out into space.
Heero's face appeared on all their screens, his face visible through the visor of his helmet. "Further ahead should be the wreckage of the civilian transport. The Dolls are most likely hiding behind them. Wufei, Yasha, and Quatre will draw them out into the open where Trowa and myself will pick them off as they come."
"Right," said Quatre, nodding once.
"We're ready," affirmed Wufei.
"Let's move out." The wings of Wing Zero opened as the boosters activated, lifting the Gundam upwards as its pilot moved it forwards. The others followed, activating their weapons as they moved.
It wasn't long before the wreckage came into view. Twisted heaps of metal floated in space, offering perfect coverage from enemy fire
"Wufei, go right. Yasha, go left. Quatre, you go in from above."
The Gundam that had been dubbed Shenlong moved to the right of the wreckage, while Journey moved to the left and Sandrock moved above to drop down behind it. A few moments passed before the three faces appeared on their screens looking alert but confused.
"Nothing's here," reported the Chinese pilot, looking slightly agitated.
"There's no sign of them," said Quatre, looking at his surroundings like he was waiting for something to pop out at them.
"Something doesn't feel right." The Gundam Heavyarms' guns raised slightly. "They might have known we were coming."
Wing Zero moved closer to the wreckage. "Keep your eyes open. They might be-"
Suddenly, all five of the screens began to beep as an indicator flashed on the upper part of their screens. All five looked up to see a dozen Leos; their weapons leveled at the three Gundams behind the wreckage.
"They're here!" cried Quatre.
"Look out!" shouted Yasha as the lead Mobile Suit fired.
The three Gundams scattered, going up and over the wreckage to use it as cover. The other two moved beside them, opening fire on the opposing Mobile Suits. "Aim for the weapons! Just disable the Suits; don't kill the pilots!" reminded Heero, tightly gripping the controls as the ZERO system buzzed in front of him. The intense look of concentration of battle took over his features, making him look determined and fierce.
The Leos swerved and weaved through the enemy fire, eventually being able to go around the wreckage to meet the Gundams head on. The first one came around from the left, quickly appearing and taking aim at Wing Zero. In an instant Quatre had used one heat blade to server the hands of the Mobile Suit, rendering it useless.
More and more Leos were advancing past the barrier of twisted metal, and the Gundams had to switch to close combat weapons. Quatre was already putting Sandrock's heat blades to good use, removing the hands of several Mobile Suits. Yasha had pulled out both of Journey's daggers, while Wufei launched Shenlong's dragon fang left and right, crushing the enemy's machine guns each time. Heavyarms continued to fire, as Wing Zero brandished it's beam saber and disabled the weapons of the opposing Mobile Suits.
"Reinforcements!" alerted the pilot of Sandrock as his screen flashed a warning of an approaching enemy. "A fleet of Aries!"
Sure enough, Aries were swarming in from the same direction the Leos had, chain gun bullets flying towards their intended targets.
Then all of a sudden, a male voice came over their speakers sounding exuberant and ready for action.
"THE CAVELRY HAS ARRIVED!"
With a flash of green, the arms of a Leo were removed from the rest of the Suit.
"Duo!"
Another voice came over their speakers, this one female. "Men. Always have to make an entrance."
Two faces appeared on the screens of the Gundams: one of Sally back on earth and the other of a female in a Mobile Suit. She clearly looked Chinese.
"This is Kivi Mikora. She'll be joining you on your missions."
"Another one?" asked Trowa, surprised.
"One you just conveniently FORGOT to mention?!" stressed Wufei as Shenlong rocked with a hit from an Aries.
"Don't worry; you'll get used to her eventually."
Kivi rolled her eyes before cutting the contact, her image disappearing from the screens. Sally reached up to the side of the screen and her image disappeared as well.
The red and black Gundam then appeared, charging forward to greet the incoming Aries with beam saber in hand.
It was the night of the day the five pilots had left. Most of the people in the underground base had gone to bed, while others- the night owls of the base- stayed in the cafeteria and played cards with their friends.
Eya had gone to bed fairly early, finding an empty bunk in the women's bunker room. She completely agreed with Sally when she said it was too dangerous for Eya to go home since she was associated with the pilots and had seen the base. She was grateful to Sally for letting her stay at the base.
As it was, however, her dreams wouldn't let her sleep peacefully; at a military base or otherwise.
-Eya's dream-
The wreckage of the five Gundams were still smoking as they drifted out into space. Each of the pilots had been killed by their own Gundams one way or another. Inside Wing Zero, the prone form of the young man once known as Heero Yuy leaned forwards limply in his seat, hands still on the controls, the two wires that had electrocuted him hanging from the ceiling and resting on his back.
Trowa Barton, still inside the cockpit of what remained of Heavyarms, was pinned to his seat by the large piece of Gundanium Alloy that had crushed his ribcage and all the organs therein. His lower jaw was dropped, and his eyes were wide and shocked.
The cockpit of Journey had remained more or less intact, save the bar that had wedged itself across the small area. Its pilot was still in the seat, the bar close enough to her neck to block off her windpipe and strangle her. She sat completely limp, her eyes closed and her face blue from lack of oxygen.
Inside the ruins of Shenlong, the young man Wufei Chang sat stiffly in his seat, hands still tightly gripping the controls. His chin rested on his chest and his eyes were closed, a sharp piece of Gundanium Alloy wedged into the base of his skull. It had struck with such force it separated his vertebrae, severing his spinal cord and destroying the line in which his brain told his heart to beat and his lungs to breathe.
And Quatre; Eya's own dear, sweet Quatre; sat hunched over with his eyes closed and hands on the large piece of his screen that had broken off, running through his chest and into the seat behind him. Trapped between the screen and Quatre's flesh was the picture of Eya, the lower half stained in his blood.
-End Dream-
Eya woke up suddenly, her breathing fast and forced. Quickly sitting up, she stared at the blankets as her vision went from hazy to clear. It took her eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness of the room, but soon she was able to lift her head and observe her surroundings.
Bunk beds stacked up three lined the walls. She herself had gotten the top bunk in the back corner of the room. Nearly all the bunks were full with women quietly sleeping- others not so quietly- appearing as odd bulges in the blankets. She could make out the faces of the women that slept on their sides facing her or on their backs.
She shuddered. The dream had seemed so real; she had actually begun to believe it was true just before she woke up.
The faint sound of laughter reached her ears and her head turned to look at the closed door. Light escaped into the room through the little crack under the door, thus allowing her to see the sleeping forms. Intrigued, she slowly pulled back the blankets from over her. She was still wearing her light blue sweater and blue jeans; Sally said they would go back to her apartment in the morning to get some of her things since it would be a while before she could go home. She tightly grasped the rungs of the ladder connecting the three bunks and climbed down to the floor, her socks keeping her from feeling the full effect of the cold floor. She was sure to keep her steps quiet so she didn't wake the other sleepers, carefully opening the door just wide enough for her to slip through and quietly shut the door behind her.
The hallway was blindingly bright compared to the bunker. She once again had to pause to let her eyes to adapt before she continued her way down the hall, passing several closed doors before turning a corner and down the rest of the hallway that emptied out right next to the cafeteria. Sneaking around the corner, she peeked around the doorway to see what was going on.
Several people sat at one of the round tables in the middle of the room. One of them she identified as Sally, still in her uniform from earlier that day. The others included a female with red hair tied back in a braid and green eyes; another young woman with black hair held back in a red bandanna and dark eyes; an older looking man with hair a shade of dirty blonde and amber eyes; a tall, bald man with his back to her; and another woman with blonde hair down to her back and pulled into a tight ponytail, with green eyes. Each person had a pile of small, red, plastic poker chips in front of them with a smaller pile in the middle of the table. Sally was finishing dealing the cards; each person had two cards, one face up and the other facedown. Each person looked at their cards.
"Hit," said the young woman with red hair. Sally passed her another card facedown and she picked it up and looked at it. "I'll stand," she said, the edges of her mouth quirking upwards.
"Hit," said the black haired female. Sally passed her a card and she looked at it, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Hit." She looked at her next card and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I fold; I'm over." She placed all her cards face up on the table.
"I'll stand," said the older man, his face lacking any expression.
"Hit." The man with his back to Eya looked at his card and shook his head. "I fold."
The blonde woman tapped the table. "I'll hit." After looking at the card, she put all her cards facedown on the table. "I'll stand."
Sally dealt herself a card and looked at it, making a face. "Good thing you stood, Cass. I fold." She laid her cards face up on the table.
The blonde woman, Cass, flipped over her cards. "Sixteen."
Everyone looked at the man who didn't fold. He nodded to the redhead. "Go ahead, Fayla."
Fayla smirked and flipped her cards. "Nineteen."
The man didn't change the look on his face. He just flipped over his cards. "Twenty."
The smirk suddenly dropped on Fayla's face, being replaced by a look of shock. "What? But- but I- I was sure!" Any attempt to look remotely upset was failed as a grin appeared on her face. She shook a finger at him. "Darn you and that poker face of yours, Ron!"
Everyone laughed as Ron's face cracked into a grin as he collected the pile of poker chips in the middle. "Just because you're sure doesn't mean you're right."
Eya quietly backed away from the doorway, being sure to not let herself be seen by the group. She crept back into the hallway and passed the cafeteria, walking quietly to the hangar where the Gundams were once held. She stopped in the middle of the vast room, looking at the port that had, at one time earlier that day, held Sandrock. She lightly rubbed her arms as a sudden chill ran down her back.
It was true. Everyone that she had gotten to know before she met Quatre was dead; and they were all her fault. She didn't want it to happen; it was the last thing she wanted to happen; but it happened just the same. She always kept to herself when it came to meeting others; at least, until she met Quatre. He was the nicest person she had ever met; he was kind, sweet, thoughtful, and caring- how could she not want to know him? She knew she shouldn't have, but she just couldn't help herself. She was surprised he had lasted this long; the others didn't last nearly as long as he was. But now... Now he was off fighting, and she felt for sure this would be it. And it would be her fault, just like the rest of them.
She lowered her head as the childish voices came to her mind, reminding her of how she had gotten her reputation.
'She's the Grim Reaper; she kills everyone she meets!'
'Look out! She'll get you!'
'Don't get near her; she's the Grim Reaper.'
'I looked in the obituary in the newspaper today; they must've all been friends of the Grim Reaper.'
'No wonder nobody adopts her; they don't want to die.'
She forced back a tear that was threatening to emerge. 'I've done it now... I've gotten too close to him... Now he and his friends are going to die... and it'll be all my fault...'
There was very little time for thought in the battle up in space. Most actions were done on instinct. There were still a lot of remaining active Aries; they were faster than the Leos and could avoid attacks better. The damaged Mobile suits that had lost their hands or all their weapons had begun to leave. Not one soldier had been killed.
An Aries had been lucky enough to avoid being disabled. Now he took a few shots at Journey, who had been removing the hands of another Aries with her daggers. The blasts hit her back, causing her to lurch forward towards earth. The attacking Aries was suddenly put out of commission with a hail of bullets from Heavyarms, who was quite a ways off.
Yasha grimaced as she was suddenly pushed forward, her screen flashing brightly. She began to type furiously at a keyboard, trying to find what had been damaged. A small diagram of Journey appeared on her screen, the section just above her boosters flashing. She tried to use her boosters, but they just sputtered before going out completely.
"I'm hit!" she yelled, turning on her communications. "There's no power to my boosters; I'm a sitting duck!"
Heero's face appeared on her screen. "Reroute the power to the secondary line. I'll cover you."
Yasha continued to type franticly as Wing Zero made it's way to her. Just then, three Aries crowded around him, firing at the enemy. A handless Leo, whose pilot had refused to be out of commission, charged his boosters and took off towards Journey, going full speed.
Yasha cried out as her Gundam was hit, her body jerking forward in her seat. She quickly straitened to find herself moving towards the earth at a fast speed, Shenlong right in front of her. "Wufei! Move!"
The 05 pilot had very little time to react. By the time he had realized what was going on, he was slammed from behind and pushed towards earth, the Leo's boosters forcing them towards the planet. Soon gravity took over, pulling the three Mobile Suits to the ground below.
The voice of the pilot of the Leo came over their speakers, sounding almost insane as he laughed. "Let's see you Gundam Pilots get out of this one!"
Wufei immediately activated his boosters in an attempt to slow them down. However, with the weight of the two Mobile Suits added to his own, it was useless. Their speed was reduced just enough to keep their Gundams from being completely destroyed when they landed; there was no telling if the Leo would make it, or if it's pilot would survive.
Up in space, Deathscythe had just disabled the weapons of another Aries when Wufei's face appeared on his screen. His eyes were wide and tense, and the American could hear the sound of the alarms in Shenlong. Duo immediately became alarmed, knowing that something was definitely wrong. His back was to where the incident had occurred, and thus had no knowledge of it. His brow furrowed and his blue eyes darkened. "Wufei?"
"We're going down! Yasha's with me; we're both being dragged down to earth by a Leo! My booster's aren't enough to slow us all down! I just-" The communication was abruptly cut off; black and white static replacing the image of Wufei and the sounds of the alarms.
Duo's eyes shot wide open in shock and he gasped. "WUFEI!"
It was the second night after the pilots had left. Eya had once again found herself waking up in the middle of the night and unable to sleep. Once again she quietly crept out of the room, this time in light green sweatpants and T-shirt. The hallways were still bright and empty; the doors were still closed. Most of them, she learned, were meeting rooms. She moved on and stood at the doorway to the cafeteria, where the exact same group was playing cards, just like the night before. They looked like they were having fun; Fayla had won the last round and was grinning as she pulled in the chips in the middle of the table. Eya wanted to join them, but she couldn't just forget what happened each time she made a friend.
She suddenly sneezed. She instinctively covered her face with her hands. The talking in the cafeteria suddenly stopped, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Eya!"
She let her hands fall to her sides and looked into the cafeteria. Sally was leaning to the side in her seat, a small smile on her face as she looked at the blonde girl in the doorway.
"What are you doing up so late?"
She shyly stepped into the cafeteria, her hands laced behind her back and she stared at the floor as she shrugged slightly. "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, I guess."
"If that's the case, you could join us in our late-night Blackjack game. It takes the stress off of our day."
She looked up. "I'm not very good," she said as she shrugged again.
The young woman named Fayla stood up. "That's okay, not a lot of us are either. We just play to relax while everyone else sleeps." She moved her chair closer to the girl with black hair and took a chair from a nearby table, moving it between her and Sally.
"Well, I guess I could try, at least." She walked to the empty chair and sat down. Sally began to deal out the cards. "What time is it, anyway?"
Sally checked her watch. "Oh, about midnight." She continued to deal out the cards, giving each person two cards, one face up and another facedown. "I'll introduce you to our players. You already know me." She nodded towards the red head. "She's Fayla; she repairs Deathscythe; Duo Maxwell's Gundam."
Fayla grinned. "Hi!"
"Then we've got Zara; she helped build Wing Zero. She repairs it too, but, well, knowing Heero..."
Zara snorted, a half smile appearing on her face. . "He doesn't want anyone even touching his Gundam without him there and watching your every move."
"And then we've got Ron; he fixes Heavyarms."
He smiled kindly and nodded. "Hello." Eya smiled weakly back.
"Then we've got Peter, or Pete for short; he fixes Shenlong."
The bald man, who Eya saw was Latino, smiled and nodded.
"Then there's Cassandra, but we usually call her Cass. She fixes Quatre's Gundam."
The blonde woman, who still had her hair up into a ponytail, smiled at the blonde girl. "Sally's told me a bit about you. You're a lucky girl to have Quatre; he sounds like a nice young man."
"Thanks," said Eya, her face turning a light shade of pink as a slightly embarrassed smile came to her face.
"Right!" announced Fayla, picking up her cards. "Now that introductions are over with, let's get her some chips and start playing!"
A pile of ten poker chips was placed in front of her and she carefully picked up her cards. "I'll stand."
"Hit," said Fayla, glancing at her cards before looking up at the other card players. "So anyway, I still think Duo's the guy. I mean, the hair and the eyes; they just point right to it."
Zara rolled her eyes. She's heard this story every night since the pilots had shown up.
Sally leaned towards Eya in her chair, talking quietly. "She thinks Duo is some kid she used to know when she was living in the streets of L2."
"He is!" exclaimed Fayla, pretending to look hurt. "I'm almost sure he is!" She turned to look at Eya. "You see, when I was about five or six- it was so long ago it's hard to remember- I was with a group of orphans who were all watched over by a boy named Solo. He was like a big brother to us younger ones. But there was one little boy that I liked the most; he had no name, much like the rest of us, but he had long brown hair and big blue eyes. He liked me too; he was my best friend, he called me 'shortstuff' because I wasn't as tall as him; but Solo was like a big brother to him. So when Solo got sick with a virus that was going around, Duo-"
"The kid," Zara interrupted sternly. "Hit."
Fayla rolled her eyes. "He left to steal the antidote for him. I followed him, but I, well..." she paused, her face turning pink from embarrassment. "I, uh... got caught. I was sent to the orphanage and later got adopted."
"So, you think Duo was your best friend from L2?" asked Eya, making sure she understood.
Fayla nodded
"I'll stand," said Zara.
"Well, he certainly does match the description."
Fayla nodded again. "Yup. Long brown hair and big blue eyes. It's got to be him. I just know it!" She smiled broadly as she brought her cards to her chest, holding them over her heart as she sighed. "I hope he just remembers me; it's been so long..."
"That's IF it's him," said Zara sternly, pointing her cards at the red head. "You're not entirely sure until you talk to him."
"Oh, I'll talk to him," Fayla said as she nodded. "The next chance I get; I'll talk to him."
Author's note: Well, here's this one. I don't like the battle scenes for this one though; it just bugs me. They just don't seem very good to me. Anyways; next chapter coming as soon as I get reviews.