Ayashi no Yuugi

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.

Chapter 13: Nautilus Strike Part V

So, the Mission Nautilus Strike is winding down, but that by no means, means that this fic is over yet! Not by a long shot…

Warning: Rated T for language.

Previously, on Ayashi no Yuugi…

…"Twenty hundred Nautilus uniforms have been reported in hotels in a two block radius of the Emperor Hotel!"

"Two hundred unidentified MS and MD lining up along the path of L4 shuttle 5983 to colony L2. Possible target, Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Dorlian Peacecraft, Princess of the Sanq Kingdom!"

…Soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Nautilus…

…swarmed in.

Mission Nautilus Strike had begun.

…the wall blasted apart and a … figure dressed in black wearing a silvery mask entered.

…several grenades flew forward… and the only thing left of the Nautilus soldiers in the room were bits and pieces of flesh and bone and… a corpse or two or three lying around in large pools of blood.

…"Enemy MS are coming to life! They are taking on an attack formation!"

"MS Team Dark reports that more enemy MS are approaching the target!"

"Contact Battleship Goldstreak! Order her to D5, H6!"

…Duo frowned as his sensors picked up something. He typed in a command and his eyes widened in shock. He flipped on the vid-link and snapped, "On second thought, Kaze, make it a Condition Red. There are over twenty Tauruses coming from E6, G7, Delta, and they've got four positron cannons with them."

…Milliardo's eyes widened and he snarled a curse and his hands flew over the keyboard of his gundam's console.

…"Four positron cannons, seven electron shields, and twenty electron cannons," Milliardo growled, "It looks like that damned virus sent out more than we originally thought."

"Nuclear weapons and energy shields," Duo said, his voice flat, icy, and emotionless. "They came prepared. They were hoping – no, they knew that we, as Gundam Pilots, would not allow anything to happen to Relena or the peace that we worked so hard to bring about, so they came with an arsenal that is strong enough to destroy us. This is no longer a scuffle for power between two military organizations; this is now an all out war for control over earth and her colonies."

…Duo's eyes narrowed and he… said, "This is Admiral Shinn Asuka, First Class, Type Two Unlimited of the CSA. Identify yourself and your vessel."

"This is Alexa Morse, Captain of CSA Battleship, First Class, Level 12, Goldstreak."

"This is Admiral Kaze Haruka, Second Class, Type Two Unlimited, Commander of CSA L4 Orbital Base, Futune. Goldstreak, what are you doing?" Milliardo snapped.

"We thought you might like some help, Admiral Kaze, Admiral Shinn." Morse replied.

"Your help is very much appreciated, Goldstreak, but not yet neccessary."

"Roger that. We await your instructions, Admiral Shinn, Admiral Kaze."

"Stand by, Goldstreak," Duo said.

"Roger, Goldstreak out."

… Morse ordered a transmission to be sent to Duo over a private frequency.

"The pods have all been collected. Seventy-six crew, and the Vice Foreign Minister have been safely retrieved."

"Were Agents 07 and 08 among them?" Duo asked.

"No, Admiral. Agents Gaia and Cosmos were not in any of the pods."

"Does the Vice Foreign Minister know why her bodyguards are not with her?"

"The Vice Foreign Minister and the crew of the shuttle report that Agents Gaia and Cosmos are still on the shuttle, most likely preparing to self-destruct the ship."

"They are preparing to WHAT?"

…Cosmos …sighed and turned the shuttle around and plunged into the hordes of enemy fighters, firing blindly.

"You little bitch." A voice hissed behind her.
Cosmos spun around… and… The woman smiled, revealing her fangs as her grip on Cosmos' neck tightened.

"My name is Kali." She lifted Cosmos off the ground and raised her hand, which she curled into claws… "And you are dead."

Kali's hand moved forward… Then jerked to a sudden stop. She paused and looked over her shoulder in shock, staring at the slim hand gripping her wrist.

"Drop her…" Gaia's voice was dull, as were her eyes… dull and blank.

Kali froze as she probed Gaia's mind and found… nothing. Cosmos…kicked her firmly in the stomach. Kali grunted in surprise and pain, dropping her. Gaia slipped behind Kali, and… snapped the Shadowmancer's neck.

Gaia and Cosmos smiled sadly…

…They watched in silence as the ship self-destructed.
…"The self-destruct took out about a hundred fifty of the enemy." He said matter-of-factly, hoping to snap them out of it. "If we take them out now, they won't be back to bug us later on."
Duo sighed… "Back to back," He ordered quickly. "We'll take it from there."

The other's images nodded… waiting for the battle… preparing… for the inevitable…

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Gaia sighed as she and Cosmos appeared in the hanger of a hidden space colony (The L6 colony cluster to be precise), and the two, without bothering with protective suits, leapt inside their Gundams and began powering up.

"Gundam Miyuki, ready for launch."

"Gundam Phoenix, ready for launch."

"Depressurizing cabin," a female voice said over the link. "Opening bay doors. Miyuki, Phoenix, you are cleared for launch."

"Roger," Gaia said. "Gaia, Phoenix Gundam, launch!" The electro magnetic cannon flung her Gundam out into space, and Gaia hit a button and the black, burgundy and gold version of Gundam Deathscythe only with black bat wings changed into flight mode.

"Cosmos, Miyuki Gundam, launch!" Cosmos hit a button as the electromagnetic cannon flung her Gundam out the bay doors and the silver, blue, and white version of the Wing Gundam changed into flight mode.

"Accessing hyperspace in T-minus ten seconds," Gaia reported as she flipped down a screen and flipped several switches on the console just over her head. "Now!" Gaia flipped a switch and in a burst of light, the two Gundams vanished.

The two Gundams raced through the… tunnel, would be the closest term for it… ignoring the grey-green swirls and the black trails that were left in their wake, the two girls concentrated on emerging from the correct exit.

"Thrusters at eighty percent, speed at seventy percent, the nearest exit to the battle is twelve degrees to the left, and it should take us an estimated two minutes to get to the field," Comos said.

"Understood," Gaia said calmly.

"How do you think the others are doing? Last I saw, there were seventy MS about six kilometers away, approaching the others from the rear," Cosmos said worriedly.

"The battleship Goldstreak is there. If they needed any help, Alexa would send out the MS that are in there."

"That's if Shinn and Kaze aren't allowing their pride to do the thinking."

"Hnn."

Cosmos studied the monitor and frowned. "Exiting hyperspace in T-minus twenty seconds," she said briskly, falling easily into her place as a soldier.

"N-jammers at thirty-five percent, range, four point five kilometers."

"SC cloak at thirty percent, limit, ten minutes."

"T-minus ten seconds."

"Beam cannon at sixty percent, range, one point six kilometers."

"T-minus five seconds."

"Positron deflectors charged and ready, total, three uses."

"Aa. Exiting hyperspace."

The two Gundams blasted out of hyperspace, and Gaia began rattling out coordinates and directions to decrease speed and to change their trajectory. Cosmos rattled off the readiness of her Gundams various weaponry, and occasionally tossed a good-natured barb toward Gaia, which was good-naturedly returned, to lighten the tense atmosphere that was inevitably building up in the cockpits.

Nearly a minute later… "Gaia?"

"Hnn?"

"Are those what I think they are?"

"Sixty Aries coming at Shinn and the others from the left?"

"Aa."

"Yep."

"Tch. Let's take 'em down."

"Hnn."

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Duo glanced at the sensors as the scythe took out three MS and two MD in one swipe and swore. Sixty Aries were coming at them from the left, and his scythe was almost out of juice.

"Need help, Shinigami?" a familiar voice called over the com-link.

"Gaia?" was Duo's incredulous reply.

"That was a yes, ne, Shinn?" Cosmos' voice came lightly over the link.

"Were the two of you trying to give us a heart attack?" Milliardo roared into the link.

"Ouch," Gaia said lightly, "Does that mean you were worried about us?"

"Dammit, yes, we were worried!" Duo yelled.

"Well, incase you've forgotten, we are GAIA and COSMOS. We don't die easily," Cosmos said calmly.

"Let's take care of the bakas," Gaia said.

"Roger that!"

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

Quatre flung one of his heat shotels at the enemy, taking out two at once. He frowned at his sensors and sighed. Times like these, he wished there were more Gundams. Of course, there were at least ten Gundams in existence, and two were unavailable as their pilots were most likely with Relena on that battleship, Goldstreak. He quickly dodged under the blow of an MS and quickly dispatched it.

It was then he detected something else on his sensors. It flashed differently from the rest of their enemies. Come to think of it, if he didn't know any better, he would have thought it was not one, but two gundams. He braced himself, looking to his left and expecting an all powerful new enemy to appear.

What he did see made him gape. An enemy could have easily killed him during that moment of distraction. He blinked once, very hard, before closing his mouth, and switching on the speaker.

"Uh guys? There's something odd to my left," He said, rattling off the coordinates.

"We're a bit busy, Winner." Wufei grunted.

"I thought you might want to know though."

Quatre watched over the vid-screen as Duo glanced in the same direction, and his eyes took on a dangerous gleam. The Sandrock pilot gulped as Duo flipped several switches and snarled angrily over the link.

"What are the two of you doing!" Duo yelled. "I thought you were going to intercept those Aries!"

"We are," Gaia's voice came over the link, dangerously calm.

"Well if that's the case," Milliardo's voice was deceptively good-natured, "you might want to know that you're both about a kilometer off course."

"Don't you think we don't already know that?" Cosmos snapped.

"You were the one doing the directions, Comos," Gaia said dryly, "if anyone is to blame for leaving the Hyperspace at the wrong position, it is you."
"It wasn't my fault!"

Quatre watched, fascinated, as the American's eyebrow started twitching while the only two known female Gundam pilots in existence threw insults, accusations, counter-accusations, and death threats at each other. If he didn't know any better, Quatre would have said that the braided pilot was working himself into a killing rage. Of course, he had seen so many different sides of the boy since the attack began, that the Arabian had begun to feel that nothing about Duo would ever surprise him any more.

"Stop your bitching and haul your pretty little asses over here!" Duo and Milliardo's voices blasted through the link with the force of an exploding supernova, causing more than one pilot to start in surprise in the cockpit of their gundams.

"Hai, hai, otou-san!" Gaia and Cosmos snarled in unison, making no effort to hide their annoyance or irritation.

A quiet bleep was heard, signaling that the two females had closed the link, and Milliardo glowered at the blank monitors while Duo snarled an impressive stream of multi-lingual curses. Trowa and Heero exchanged a look over the vid-screen and simultaneously raised a questioning eyebrow, which the Deathscythe and Tallgeese pilots ignored while using hand signs to communicate over the vid-link. Obviously, whatever they were talking about, they wanted no one to know about, which caused the other pilots' curiosity to peak further. Heero simply filed this incident away in his 'interesting, annoy someone about it later' file in his brain.

It was nearly two hours later that the last of the Nautilus MS and MD were destroyed. The positron cannons had been loaded onto the Goldstreak, where at the command of Milliardo, Duo, and Captain Morse, they were put into high security storage until they could be transported to the CSA Colony L4 Research and Development Center. At Duo's command, the Gundams had landed in the hanger in the Goldstreak, and all ten pilots were on their way to the Ceres Point Safehouse on the hidden colony cluster L7…

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

KamuiGaia07: So ends the Nautilus Strike. This happens to be one of the bigger missions that we came up with for this fic.

Mitsuki Cosmos: We originally intended for Nautilus Strike to include an attempted assassination of Relena, with an Odin Lowe type assassin after they leave the shuttleport. But let's be realistic. No matter how good a pair of Gundam Pilots Gaia and Cosmos might be, there really is no way they can stop a bullet from killing Relena without revealing their secret, which is actually a bad thing, since it would cause Kamui to panic, and as a result, he'd disappear again.

KamuiGaia07: According to a side story, which we may or may not post, 'Kamui' is very powerful, and has been in hiding ever since January 1, 2000 AD, since he's been through a lot of hardship, and he knows that his power can inevitably destroy the planet. He's doing this to protect Earth, but what he didn't know was that the 'Kamui' power is very volatile, and if it remains in the open after the Year of Destiny, the power could easily run rampant and destroy the Earth anyway.

Mitsuki Cosmos: Kamui doesn't know this, so through out the last 195 years, he's been running from the five immortals sent to retrieve the power. He's trying to protect the earth, but has no idea that he is threatening it. He's actually assuming that the five immortals want the 'Kamui' power for less than savory purposes, hence the running from the immortals.

KamuiGaia07: The CSA don't exactly worry about how many years it'll take for a supply shuttle to reach earth from Pluto, or something like that since they have access to hyperspace, which actually allows them to travel light-years in mere seconds or hours, depending on how fast or slow they're traveling. Therefore, no! Relena and the crew of the shuttle are not still on Goldstreak. None of the CSA people are too worried that someone will find out the location of the hidden colonies, since if by some chance this does happen, they will simply move the colonies even further away.

Mitsuki Cosmos: However, the CSA does follow a motto of better safe than sorry, and Relena and the rescued crew from the shuttle have been sent to L1 on the Goldstreak Transfer Shuttle, Pallas. Certified CSA bodyguards who are also Preventer Agents will be taking over Gaia and Cosmos' places as Relena's bodyguards while they are at L7.

KamuiGaia07: OK, so this chapter wasn't as long as the others, but hey, this ought to be good enough! We've been working our pretty little teenaged behinds off to crank out these missions, so we hope you're happy!

Preview of Chapter 14…

"Maxwell! What is the meaning of this?" Heero snapped.

"Sorry, Yuy," Duo said, his eyes blank, his face impassive. Nothing in his posture showed any emotion, and his voice had taken on a flat quality the sent shivers down the Japanese pilot's spine. "This is standard procedure. If you're not a certified CSA agent, and you spot a CSA ship and/or learn the identity of a CSA Agent, you get brought to L7, and your memories of the CSA are erased."

"Will we even remember you, Duo?" Trowa asked.

Duo raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Have memories of one of your comrades in arms erased? You will still remember pilot 02; you just won't remember anything about pilot 02 being CSA Pilot 04 or a CSA Type Two Unlimited Admiral."

"This is…"

"If I even hear the word injustice in that sentence, Chang, I will personally make sure that you spend the rest of your days convinced that you're a six year old girl," Duo said, a murderous gleam appearing in his eyes before disappearing under a stoic mask.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Quatre asked.

"I'll even go as far as to have Noin, Dorothy, and Sally braid his hair and put him in a frilly pink dress with lots of ribbons," a spark of amusement flickered in the American's eyes before disappearing under the stoic mask as well.

"…not fair," Wufei finished.

Duo sighed. "Don't fight us on this; I don't like this procedure any more than you do. Trust me; it'll make it easier on the both of us, not to mention, it'll hurt me more than it hurts you."

"Gentlemen," Milliardo said, entering the room, "we are ready for you now."