Author's note: Others own the rights to the G-Gundam characters.  All other characters are my creations.  Please do not use them without my permission.

Shadow Life – Part 6

By:  Diane Maher



          When Shadow Gundam approached the place that Schwarz called home on Earth, he saw the transport vehicle parked outside and landed next to it.  He looked around before opening the cockpit door.  It was the middle of the night and rather eerie.

          "I assume that's your transport vehicle?" asked Schwarz.

          "Yes," replied Karla.  "Before we part ways, will you tell me who am I looking for?"

            "If I can borrow your computer, I'll show you.  The Shuffle Alliance is made up of five members," began Schwarz as they jumped down and headed for the transport.

          Schwarz followed as Karla led him inside and to a dimly lit room where there was a terminal.  She turned it on and opened the gundam fight information database.  He typed in a search request by country of origin in the fighter database, pressed the enter key and the faces of five males appeared on the screen.  "There is one fighter from each of the following nations:  Neo-America, Neo-France, Neo-Russia, Neo-China and Neo-Japan."

          "Okay.  Are you certain about George de Sand after what happened to me?" asked Karla apprehensively as she recognized the Frenchman.

          "Yes," replied Schwarz.  He looked into her eyes for a moment before continuing, "I want you to concentrate on the fighters from Neo-Russia and Neo-France.  I'll take care of Neo-China."

          Karla pressed a button that brought the information about these two fighters and their gundams up on the screen one at a time.  She looked at Neo-Russia's Bolt Gundam first.  After reading about its mode of attack, she pulled up the picture of the pilot.

          With a sharp intake of breath, Karla glanced at him and exclaimed, "This one was a space pirate?!"

          "He is a fierce fighter and you cannot underestimate him.  His goal is to win the gundam fight and freedom for himself and his fellow pirate crewmembers," commented Schwarz.

          A soft chuckle came from behind them.  Karla and Schwarz turned towards the sound.  "I see you're still as practical as ever, father."

          "What?!?" whispered Schwarz, incredulous as he turned to face the newcomer.

          Niklas came to stand next to Karla.  "Yes.  You do remember me, your son Niklas, don't you? I'm Karla's mechanic."

          "Of course, I remember."  Schwarz replied, though he backed away from the light given off by the monitor.  Mein Gott! Niklas!



          Karla noticed Schwarz's odd reaction and wondered what had caused this.  Was it Niklas' sudden appearance? She tucked this tidbit into the back of her mind for later.  For the moment, she sat in the chair and focused her attention back to the computer and began searching for Bolt Gundam's whereabouts.

          A hand touched her shoulder.  Karla looked and saw Schwarz's mask as he leaned close to her.  She asked, "Do you need something, Schwarz?"

          "No," replied Schwarz.  "I just wanted to tell you good-bye, Karla.  I will see you in the Guiana Highlands.  Find my gundam the same way you did before.  Good-bye, Niklas."  Schwarz stood and held out his hand to Niklas.

          Niklas firmly shook his father's hand.  "It's good to see you again.  I was afraid you were gone after we hadn't heard from you in so long."

          Schwarz chuckled and replaced his hand on Karla's shoulder.  "I won't die that easily."

          Karla placed her hand on his and replied quietly, "Until the Guiana Highlands, then.  Auf Wiedersehen, Schwarz."  With that, he turned and left.

          Karla suddenly felt alone until Niklas came over and placed his hand where Schwarz's had been.  Her hand moved to rest atop his.

          "You care about him, don't you?" asked Niklas.

          "Yes," whispered Karla.  "I've striven to emulate him in his mastery of our school's techniques and skills.  I think I have a long way to go in that regard.  But I care about him a lot and something tells me that we could never be lovers, no matter what romantic notions I may have to the contrary."

          "And why do you think that?" asked Niklas as his other hand reached over and touched her opposite shoulder.

          Karla felt herself trembling.  "I...I...don't know.  I just have a feeling.  Call it intuition.  I guess I just miss having someone nearby that I can trust."

          Niklas leaned close and replied softly, "You can trust me."

          She looked at him and whispered, "Please...hold me!" As she stood, Niklas' arms encircled her; he pulled her close and Karla broke down into tears.



          Outside, Schwarz listened to Karla and Niklas briefly before silently making his way back to his gundam.  He thought, One of Karla's barriers is coming down.  She is learning to trust again after being betrayed.  She will gain strength from it and from Niklas, though she doesn't realize it yet.  Schwarz disappeared and reappeared inside his gundam's cockpit.  A moment later, he was on his way to find Dragon Gundam.



          "According to this information, the Bolt Gundam was last seen heading northwest out of Shinjuku and heading towards Neo-Russia," said Niklas.

          Karla nodded.  "Let's head that way.  On the way there, you can tell me about this new Midnight Gundam's weapons, capabilities and improvements."

          Later the next day, as they approached the western slopes of the Ural Mountains, Karla and Niklas witnessed a battle between Neo-Russia's Bolt Gundam and Neo-Afghanistan's Desert Raider Gundam.  They stopped the transport to watch from a distance.

          Karla watched the fighters fight as Niklas pulled up the information about Neo-Russia's gundam.  Bolt Gundam began spinning its hammer weapon over its head.  His opponent was stirring up a sandstorm by racing around him.



          "Graviton Hammer!" shouted Argo Gulskii.  The ball from the left shoulder of Bolt Gundam ejected from its place and flew into the air.  A laser chain materialized from a grip in the gundam's hand, streaked through the air and attached to it a moment later.  Argo began spinning the hammer weapon over his head.

          "You filthy Russian scum, I'll claim your head today!" the pilot of Desert Raider Gundam shouted.

          Argo grunted in reply as he focused on that one spot, that one instant in time, when his hammer would make contact with his opponent.  He let his hammer fly and it struck down Desert Raider Gundam.

          As Argo approached, the pilot of Desert Raider Gundam tried one last time to get up.  Argo reached down, took his opponent's head in both hands, and with a quick twist, removed it.  Desert Raider Gundam's body crashed to the ground.

          Inside Bolt Gundam's cockpit, Argo relaxed and tried to catch his breath.  Then his screen lit up with Nastasha's face.

          "Argo! We have spotted another gundam in the area! I order you to go over there and challenge them!"

          Bolt Gundam's head turned until Argo spied the distant observers.  He magnified the image until he was able to see the masked person standing atop the transport.

          Grunting, Argo said, "Humph! It's only Neo-Austria's gundam.  I should be able to take care of this one easily enough."



          As the Russians approached, Niklas was doing a final diagnostic on Midnight Gundam when suddenly, his screen lit up like a Christmas tree.  "Damn it!" he swore.

          Karla looked out from the cockpit.  "What is it, Niklas?"

          "There's a major system failure here.  It just showed up on the diagnostic."

          She walked over to where he stood on the platform outside the cockpit.  Her brow furrowed in frustration as she asked, "It just showed up? Where's the fault?"

          He looked at the screen and after pressing a few buttons, found that the fault was in the data card that had been inserted by the Neo-Austrians.  "It's something to do with the data card.  Remove the one that's in there."

          Karla went back inside, opened the panel where the data card was and pulled out the one that was in the slot.  Turning it over in her hands, she realized it wasn't like the one that came from the damaged Midnight Gundam, but it seemed to be a dummy.

          She poked her head out of the cockpit and said, "I've removed the card.  Run another diagnostic."

          A few minutes later, Niklas called out, "That must have been the problem, as now the system reads okay except for no data card being installed.  Do you have your other card?"

          "Yes, but what about this one? Can you analyze the system first and ensure that there are no viruses present?" asked Karla.

          "Of course," Niklas replied and executed a virus-checking program.  He watched as the program's readout came up on the screen.  It indicated that there was a virus present in the system.  "Karla! Don't put your data card into the gundam.  There is a virus present.  The anti-virus program is evaluating and cleaning your systems!"

          "Let me know when it's finished!" she called out.

          Karla watched intently as the Russians got ever closer.  How did this virus infected data card get in my gundam? She looked at Niklas and saw how outwardly calm he looked despite the circumstances.  Could he have planted it or does someone in the Neo-Austrian government want me to fail?

          "Okay, Karla, your system is clean.  Try inserting your data card now," Niklas said.

          Karla did and Niklas analyzed the readings.  "How's it look?" she asked.

          A smile came over Niklas' face as he reported, "It's one hundred percent."

          "Good, because the Russians are here," said Karla.  She watched as a dark haired woman in a dark uniform came striding out of the Russian transport and headed for them.  The woman had a riding crop in her hand that she slapped impatiently in her other hand.



          "You up there!" Nastasha called.  The masked woman jumped down and approached her.

          "Yes?" the woman asked.

          "So, you're the fighter from Neo-Austria, Karla Geist," Nastasha commented.  Her gaze wandered over the woman in front of her.  "You don't look like much."

          "Well excuse me for not being some muscle bound freak!" Karla said flatly as she folded her arms across her chest.

          "Argo!" Nastasha called.  Argo Gulskii came and stood next to her.  "This is your opponent, Karla Geist.  Crush her now; don't worry about a gundam fight."

          Argo moved his arms and a blue laser chain appeared between his arms.  He towered more than a foot over his opponent and Karla did not seem to be intimidated when he stepped toward her.  Her gaze was steady as it met his.

          Karla commented, "At least we don't chain our fighters."



          An angry shout came from Argo as he pulled back and threw a punch at Karla.  She caught his punch in one hand.  He's powerful! thought Karla.  His blow stung my hand, but I can't let on that it hurt me! The look of utter surprise on both Nastasha and Argo's faces was worth enduring the pain from his punch.

          "I think this will best be settled in a gundam fight," said Karla.  She stepped back and snapped her fingers and Midnight Gundam came to life.  Argo returned to where Bolt Gundam stood, entered its cockpit and waited for battle.

          "Gundam fight, standby!" exclaimed Argo.

          "Ready!" shouted Karla.

          "GO!!!" finished Argo.  He charged towards Karla.

          As she charged, Karla watched Argo's movements.  The next instant, her hands were locked with his.  She changed tack and shifted her weight enough that she could gain leverage and throw Argo.

          Bolt Gundam flew through the air and threw up a large dust cloud as it struck the ground a short distance away.

          Karla charged as Argo stood and at the last moment, she jumped into the air.  She extended one leg towards him and as she landed, began stepping rapidly on his face.  Bolt Gundam stumbled and fell backwards under this attack.

          "Argo!" Nastasha commanded.  The next instant, she inhaled sharply.  "No!"

          "Shall we call this match a draw or shall I take your gundam's head?" asked Karla.  She had her two midnight swords crisscrossed over Bolt Gundam's neck and his arms and torso pinned by the weight of her gundam as it sat on him.

          Argo closed his eyes for a moment.  The battle was hers; she could take his head anytime she wanted to and he knew it.  Shaking his head, he replied, "All right, Karla.  This match is a draw."

          Karla stood and moved back so Argo could stand.  Now all she had to do was convince him to go to the Guiana Highlands.  Before the Russians left, Karla opened the cockpit door, jumped down, and headed for Bolt Gundam.

          Argo stood at his gundam's feet and watched as his opponent approached.  When she stood in front of him, the guards cocked their weapons, pointed their guns at her and he asked, "Do you have a death wish?"

          "No.  I am here for a different reason," replied Karla.

          "Oh, so defeating me wasn't enough, now you're going to humiliate me?" asked Argo as he turned away from her.

          "Get away from him!" Nastasha ordered.

          Karla ignored her.  "Argo, I believe that if you are going to assist the Shuffle Alliance in defeating the Dark Gundam, you will need to train and fight much harder than you have been."

          Argo turned to face her and a frown came over his face.  "What do you know of the Dark Gundam?" he demanded.

          Karla folded her arms across her chest.  "I know enough to realize that in its current state, the Shuffle Alliance has no chance to win against the Dark Gundam."

          "What should I do?" asked Argo.

          "You will get into the transport so we can leave!" barked Nastasha.

          Karla glared at Nastasha before continuing, "You should go to the Guiana Highlands in South America.  There you will find what you need to defeat the Dark Gundam."

          Argo nodded once before asking, "But what...?" Karla turned and headed back to her own transport without looking back.  Argo pondered her last words to him.

          When she entered her transport, Niklas was leaning against the wall next to the door and asked, "Well? What happened?"

          "Argo Gulskii will make his way to the Guiana Highlands," replied Karla.

          "Are you certain?" asked Niklas.

          Karla shrugged.  "As certain as I can be without following him there."  She continued down the hall to her quarters.  "I'm going to shower and clean myself up.  When you're ready, we can continue searching for Gundam Rose."

          After she closed the door to her quarters, Karla quickly searched her room and the adjacent bathroom for surveillance devices and found none.  She heaved a sigh of relief and pulled off her mask and started removing her mobile trace suit.  A few minutes later, she was in the bathroom and adjusting the water temperature in the shower.  When it was to her liking, she stepped inside with a washcloth, shampoo and some soap.

          As Karla allowed the water to wash away the dirt of the day, her muscles loosened and relaxed.  Her mind drifted to the virus Niklas had found in her gundam.  Surely he wouldn't have put it there himself! she thought as she shampooed her hair, rinsed it and quickly finished in the shower.  When she stepped out, she toweled herself dry, pulled on a black terrycloth robe and brushed her hair.  She walked into the bedroom and lay on the bed to try and rest while she could.



          The next morning, Karla crawled from her bed and dressed.  She pulled on some navy blue pants and a light blue shirt as well as her mask.  When she walked to the computer room, she found Niklas already there.

          "You're up early," commented Karla.

          Niklas shook his head.  "Have you looked at the clock yet? You're up late."

          Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at the clock on the wall.  It was almost noon.  "Why didn't you wake me sooner?" she demanded.

          "Well, I figured that you needed the sleep and we've only just arrived in the town where George de Sand is supposed to be.  Besides, you didn't want me to come in there and see you either without your mask or your clothes on, did you?" asked Niklas with a wink.

          Karla laughed.  It was the first good laugh she'd enjoyed in a while.  "Okay, you win! I was tired, that's all."

          Niklas shrugged nonchalantly.  "I decided to conveniently forget where that button that remotely sets off your alarm clock was."

          "I appreciate it, Niklas.  I really did need some sleep.  And thanks for respecting my privacy.  It means a lot to me," said Karla.  Looking over his shoulder, she continued, "Where are we?"

          "We're in Neo-Lithuania," Niklas began as he activated the external scanners and put it on the big screen.  There were several explosions nearby.  "What's going on?"

          "Zoom in on that area," Karla commanded.

          What the zoomed in picture showed was Neo-France's George de Sand fighting with Neo-Lithuania's gundam.  It was a ferocious battle on George's part.  Suddenly, as Karla watched Gundam Rose push off the head of his opponent, she felt afraid.

          Someone touched her shoulder and she jumped and cried out in surprise.  Turning, she saw it was Niklas.

          "I didn't mean to scare you.  Schwarz has contacted you and is waiting on the line."

          Nodding absentmindedly, Karla turned and went to the communications console.  "What's going on, Schwarz?"

          Schwarz replied, "I called to see how you were doing.  Have you made contact with either Gundam Rose or Bolt Gundam?"

          Karla replied, "Yes, I persuaded Argo to head for the Guiana Highlands last night after I fought him.  Niklas and I have just arrived in Neo-Lithuania where we just witnessed Gundam Rose remove the head of the Neo-Lithuanian gundam."

          "What do you plan to do about it?" asked Schwarz.

          "I...um...don't know yet," whispered Karla.

          "You're afraid of George, aren't you?" asked Schwarz.

          Karla closed her eyes in shame and looked down at her hands resting on the desk in front of the console.  "Yes," she whispered.

          "In order for you to continue improving as a fighter, you must fight strong opponents.  Only then will you improve.  Unless you do that, you will be ruled by your fear of those stronger than you," said Schwarz.  The screen went blank.

          Karla stared at the screen for a minute before her hands balled into fists and she slammed them on the desk hard.  I know that Schwarz is right! I must face my fear and fight George de Sand again, no matter what his state of mind is or how furiously he comes at me!