ZT: Hey, it's me again. Y'know, I really hate disclaimers; there's absolutely no reason for them. All it does is give the author the chance to go on and on about how much it sucks that they don't own the show they're writing about and complain about writing the stupid disclaimer in the first place. I mean COME ON! Ain't it obvious that we don't own the show! This is for crying out loud! It's not like the author is gonna write a free story when the writing business is as cut throat as it is! Not to mention it puts all us fic writers down. Ain't it enough for us to know the show's not ours? We don't need to be reminded every time we write a chapter that this is not ours (Empty pockets say that enough). So really, all this does is make the author rant and rave for so many lines and completely throws off the reader and makes the reader question the sanity of the writer because they're just rambling line after line about absolutely nothing in particular and it just takes up all this room and throws off the reader because it really has nothing to do with the story line whatsoever and then the reader gets bored as Hell or just skips over the whole disclaimer in the first place completely abolishing the reason the disclaimer was written in the first place and-
Heero:Aims gun at ZT's head, safety off Shut up.
Duo: She doesn't own us. Enjoy the show.
Fate sucks
Chapter 1
He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. He never expected to ever be sitting in this cockpit again, to hear the four familiar voices coming through the intercom, and to get that familiar adrenaline rush that he always got right before a mission.
Yet, here he was in the middle of that very world again that had held him captive for eight years of his life. He was once again working in a team of five known as "Gundam". He was once again on a mission to thwart a conspiracy by Oz. He was once again the Perfect soldier.
Everything that led up to this happened so fast that it was difficult for him not to let it turn into one big blur. Someone had managed to get a message to him, instructing him to go to a secluded place in Old Tokyo. He was still contemplating exactly HOW someone could possibly get a message to him when he reached the instructed destination. There, he found that Quatre, Duo, Wufei, and Trowa had received the same message and were already there. They all had the same question in mind: Who brought them here and why?
The question wasn't answered right away. Instead, the five received another message to go to some place in L1. The only reason that Heero allowed himself to go was because the destination had a personally strong memory for him, and now he wanted to know exactly who the hell would go through so much trouble just to get their attention.
Once they got to their new destination, they found a warehouse built where an old Oz base used to be. Inside, they found something that none of them had ever imagined seeing: the Gundams! All five of them were there in peak condition with all of their upgrades just as they were when their trip to the Sun was suddenly cancelled.
But the Gundams weren't all that they found. There was information of a new organization that had arisen called New Oz, and they planned to restart Operation Meteor.
After checking this data over, the pilots immediately got a hold of the Docs, thanks to Mr. Anonymous, and planned their next step in dealing with this problem . . .
"Hello? Earth to Heero, come in Heero!" A certain braided-haired pilot shook the Perfect soldier from his thoughts. "Hn?" he answered.
The grinning face of none other than Duo Maxwell popped up on his screen, "I hope you're ready. We'll be arriving in less than five minutes."
"WE should be the one's giving YOU the heads up, Maxwell!" Wufei's scoffing voice came through the intercom.
Heero saw Duo's head turn to face, presumably, another screen that was linked to the Chinese pilot's cockpit, "Aww, that was mean, Wu-man!"
"How many times have I told you not to call me that!" Wufei exclaimed.
"Now now, you two, the enemy's out there, not in here," Quatre tried to reason.
Heero turned off his intercom and concentrated on the mission. They needed to get the blueprints for some new mobile suit, or at least get rid of them. It was nothing that he wasn't used to, but he couldn't help but have this weird feeling in his gut. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to get them all of this information, and even more for the Gundams. Was this New Oz tougher than he and the other pilots were giving them credit for? They HAD been oblivious to its existence until their anonymous provider had given them a heads up . . .
He shook his head. No time to think about that now! The base was coming into view . . .
"Ah-ha! There they are!" Sparkle exclaimed, seeing the Gundams pop up on the radar. She whistled as the camera caught pictures of the oncoming Mobile suits, "Wow! This is the first time I've actually seen the Gundams. That Wing Zero looks pretty tight! Don'cha think, Maji?"
Dark Majic looked at the screen, "I don't know . . . I've never been one to look in awe at angels, but that Deathscythe Hell is quite a piece of art. It's a pity we have to destroy it."
" 'Pity'? You're a mercenary! 'Pity' is not allowed in your dictionary!" Hell Fire growled, typing in something on a fancy looking computer. After a minute, the sound of typing turned into a growl of frustration.
Desert rose swallowed a pretzel and looked at her partner, "What's up?"
"I can't think of a path for the dolls to follow," Hell Fire's voice gave away deep concentration.
Sparkle looked at her leader in confusion, "A path? Excuse me, but aren't you the one who knows how to kill ANYTHING with those stupid tin cans?"
"Yeah, but that's for killing them off. We don't wanna do that just yet. Y'know, gotta let those pawns know who the knights and bishops are," Dark Majic answered for the concentrating leader.
Desert Rose grinned, "Well, if we're knight's, lets give them an unusual move." She tossed one of her snacks onto the screen in front of Hell Fire, "Have those Dolls move on a path shaped like a pretzel. If the Dolls come in on different sides, it'll be hard for those boys to figure out their movements."
Hell Fire nodded, "Okay . . . I guess. One group of pretzels, coming up." 'I can't believe I just said that!'
Duo put on his famous "God of Death" grin when he heard the familiar beeps of incoming mobile suits on the radar, "Time for the God of Death to take a few more to Hell!"
"Sorry Duo," Trowa's voice came on the intercom, "Turn on your heat seekers and you'll see that these are mobile dolls."
Duo shrugged, "No biggie. The God of Death takes scrap metal, too." He checked the radar again, "There's not that many . . . Hey Heero, Trowa, you two take care of the blue prints. We'll handle the dolls."
There were two consecutive "Rogers" before Wing Zero and Heavyarms sped off for the base. The remaining three Gundams turned to face the mobile dolls . . .
Hell Fire watched as the three dots that represented the Gundams slowly took over the dots that represented the mobile dolls, "Not bad, but level one's always easy . . . let's skip to level ten."
Just as Wufei slashed through the last mobile doll, the radar started beeping again, "What the-!"
Suddenly, two mobile dolls whipped past him at a speed he thought only Deathscythe Hell could reach.
"What the-! Where'd these guys come from!" Duo exclaimed, seeing hundreds of mobile dolls pop up on his radar from all sides. He quickly slashed through some oncoming dolls with his scythe. The rest of the dolls passed him up, made a u-turn, and came back at him. He just couldn't understand! One minute they would bombard him and the next they would deliberately miss him. They were doing the same for Quatre and Wufei.
"What's going on with these things!" Wufei exclaimed through the intercom. He couldn't figure out how they were programmed to battle.
"Someone must be controlling them from inside the base. They don't seem to be just locking on and giving their all. Just try to keep them at bay," Quatre said, slashing through some oncoming mobile dolls. He dodged a beam from another one with some effort, 'I hope Heero and Trowa are having better luck than we are . . .'
"Here comes the two heroes, goin' to save the day," Desert Rose said, looking at the screen. She whistled, "That Heavyarms has quite a bit of fire power on him." She grinned, "However, that won't save em from MY toy!"
Trowa and Heero both swerved their Gundams to the side as two beams erupted from the base and almost crashed into them. "Aww, you're not supposed to dodge my beams, you're suppose to get hit by em!" came a scrambled voice through the intercom.
"Who the-!" Trowa was cut off as another beam hit the side of his Gundam.
'Damn!' Heero thought, turning for a split second to Heavyarms. It looked like it's rockets were out, but that was about it.
Suddenly, Heero was thrown against the side control panel as another beam nailed his own Gundam. A stream of curses left his lips just as he accidentally turned on his microphone.
"Now, now, there's no need for that kind of language," the scrambled voice said.
"Who are you!" Heero heard Trowa's voice through the intercom. He guessed by the tone of his voice that the usually poker faced soldier was very ticked off, but couldn't tell by looks because his screen had blanked out.
"You may call me Dark Majic, one of the four LAVA mercenaries. Now, it seems to me that you both have two choices. Desert Rose has successfully took out you Gundams' main control circuit, so there's no chance of you running. So, either surrender to New Oz, or . . ." almost as soon as Dark Majic paused, the two noticed the hissing noise of escaping air, " . . . Well, you two can be the brave warriors who die a slow, suffocating death as the deep dark void of space drains the air out of your Gundams through those leaks. Hmm, those must've got there when we blew your circuit. Such a pity . . . heh, so what'll it be: option one, to surrender? Or two, to die?"
"They'll choose option three, where WE get them outta here!" Although he would never admit it, Duo's voice coming through that intercom at that moment was like music to Heero's ears. Knowing that there was really nothing he could do at the moment, Heero did what he normally would never do in his Gundam and relaxed his tense muscles. He placed a hand over a gash in his side that he got when he crashed into the control panel to slow the bleeding and closed his eyes. He felt Wing Zero shake slightly as Deathscythe Hell grabbed a hold of it.
With Altron working as a guard from the few remaining mobile dolls, Sandrock and Deathscythe Hell towed the two broken down Gundams and their oxygen deprived pilots back to home base which, thankfully, was not that far away.
"Darn!" Sparkle exclaimed, snapping her fingers, "We almost had two of em!"
"Its no big deal," Dark Majic stated, "we'll just get them next time."
"We're almost to home base. You guys hangin in there all right?" Duo asked. He heard two "Yes's" but from the sound of it, they were hanging a little more out than in.
They got back to the home base not a moment too soon. Heero and Trowa were so oxygen deprived that they were fading in and out of consciousness. The remaining three pilots helped them get to a place where they could rest and treat Heero's wound.
"Man! I can't believe we fell right into their trap!" Duo exclaimed after making sure Heero and Trowa were going to be okay. He was sitting in a room on a couch next to Quatre and across from Wufei at the window that stared out into space.
"Let's just be grateful that no one was seriously injured, or worse," Quatre said.
"LAVA . . . who are they anyway? I know I've heard about them somewhere, but where?" Wufei wondered aloud.
"You probably heard one of us refer to them," the three Gundam pilots looked up to see Master O standing in the doorway.
"Huh? You mean to tell me you old geezers KNOW these creeps!" Duo exclaimed.
Master O resisted the urge to smack the cocky pilot for the "Old Geezer" remark. "No, we don't know them, but we've heard of them. And, in fact, now that we know who our provider was giving us aid against, we know who our provider is. But, we'll tell you everything later when Heero and Trowa are well enough to join us," Master O explained before walking back out.
Duo looked at the other two pilots, "Why do I get the feeling we'll be traveling again really soon?"
The next evening, all five pilots were sitting around in the room from the night before. The docs were in the next room over, arguing about something from the sound of it. It made a few of the boys nervous; the docs never argued about anything, meaning that the . . . whatever was either stupid of dangerous. And it was most likely the second one.
Just then, the docs came in. Professor G was grumbling something about pathetic, hopeless chases, and whatever that meant, Instructor H seemed to agree.
Duo raised an eyebrow, "What's a 'Hopeless chase'?"
"We'll get to that later," Doctor J said before Professor G or Instructor H could say anything, "But first, I suppose you five would like to know who these LAVA mercenaries are." When he saw the five pilots nod, he continued, "These four have been around as long as the Gundams have, if not longer. From what we've heard, their skills could probably match your own."
"Then why is it that we just now ran into them and not during the war?" Wufei asked.
"That's the odd thing: With the people on their list of assassinations, it's obvious that they were fighting with our own views in mind during the war," Doktor S explained.
"What happened to change their views?" Trowa asked; he had actually heard of LAVA during his nameless days, but he always heard that there were five of them . . .
"Night Star's what happened. He was the leader ofLAVA until the war ended. Everyone thought he died, but apparently not," Instructor H said.
"Why's that?" Quatre asked.
"Because that's who our anonymous provider is," Doctor J explained, "The style of getting a hold of us and actually having the resources to do it proves who it is."
"Wait a minute! If this person is a mercenary himself, then why did he bother getting a hold of us? Couldn't he deal with New Oz himself?" Wufei asked doubtfully.
"I don't think so, Wufei. If they worked together all those years, I don't think this mercenary would have the heart to personally kill his old friends," Quatre explained.
"And like Gramps just said, we're really close in skill level. It's only obvious that he'd call us," Duo finished.
"However, it seems that our four friends have been studying our tactics for awhile since they knew just how to deal with you. So-"
"So these three want to send you five on an impossible mission!" Professor G interrupted Doctor J.
"Not an 'Impossible mission', Professor G," Doctor J corrected, "This can be done. It will just be slightly challenging."
Suddenly, a light bulb flickered on in Duo's brain, "No way! You guys want us to go find this Night Star guy, don't you!"
"No one knows LAVA's techniques better than he does," Doktor S said patiently.
"And how exactly do you expect us to find this guy?" Duo pressed, knowing that the other pilot's were thinking the exact same thing.
"We were able to track down one of Night Star's most well known confidences," Doctor J tossed a picture on the table. The person looked about their age with shoulder length blond hair, messy bangs, and sapphire blue eyes.
Wufei snorted, "A woman!"
"Her name is Sai Moonblaze, and apparently she's the only one who knows Night Star's whereabouts," Master O explained.
Quatre was now thoroughly confused, "Then why-"
" 'Why is it a wild goose chase?' Well, sure we know who to go to and where she is, but I've heard of Ms. Moonblaze. She has always worked for Night Star and knows how to keep her mouth shut. Trying to get her to talk will be impossible!" Instructor H exclaimed.
"We'll be the judges of that. Where can we find her?" Heero inquired, speaking for the first time that day.
"You're not going to like this," Doctor J said, a little sympathy in his voice.
A collection of groans sounded from the pilots. "Not the psychopathic stalker's place!" Duo whined.
Professor G sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. Ms. Moonblaze is currently a resident of the Sanc Kingdom.
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