Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam.


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Gundam Gemini

Episode One

The Scarlet Wolf

Part B

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After changing into their form-fitting white spacesuits and helmets first, the four pilots took the elevator down to the hangar bay to find it in complete chaos. Orders were being barked over one another and the mechanics and crew scurried to follow them as the Baselard readied for battle. Of the dozen Garm mobile suits on board, eight were already missing, leaving four towering white suits for each of the girls to leap and float towards. Once inside the cockpit of her Garm, Laura activated the power and wasted no time opening her com system first.

"Bridge, this is Garm Team Two reporting. What's the situation?" the blonde asked, even as she flipped her controls and checked her instruments. Freya, Alice and Tully linked their coms so they could listen in and their faces popped up on the monitor.

"LIRA mobile suits detected to the rear of the fleet. Garm Team One has already engaged," the operator answered.

"Flyboys are already out there?" Freya clicked her tongue. "They're going to steal all the glory!"

"Wait, how did LIRA get behind the fleet?" asked Alice.

"We don't know. Extreme caution is advised," a deep voice took over from the operator and an old man with a thick white beard appeared on screen. A white cap rested on his head, indicating his rank as the ship's captain. "Operation Arrowhead will still proceed as planned. Meanwhile, your orders are to defend the Baselard."

"Yes, captain!" the pilots responded as one.

"This will be your first battle, but I'm expecting great things of the academy's top graduates. Just remember your training and never underestimate the enemy."

"Understood, Captain Turner," said Laura and the captain signed off.

"Team Two, you are cleared for take-off!" Junko's familiar voice joined them, only to be followed by a series of rumblings that rocked the Baselard.

"What was that?" Tully cried, looking around her.

"I think we might have to go and save Flyboys' butts," said Laura, who thumbed her necklace through her suit as her Garm was positioned onto the launch pad. "This is Laura Hartmann, taking off!"

The catapult propelled her Garm down the runway on blazing sparks, pushing Laura back in her seat as the tunnel on her monitor rushed past until the screen went dark. The mobile suit left the rails and drifted out of the Baselard into starry space, where it floated for a moment before Laura engaged her thrusters and blue fire erupted from her Garm's feet and back, transforming the mobile suit into a white blur against the stars.

Three more Garms followed and Team Two circled the Baselard, one of scores of battleship class vessels of the RDF fleet which were spread out in a box formation. Looking down the wing of the formation, the girls saw lights and explosions as their allies engaged with the enemy. Below, in the distance, the yellow glow of Lemuria was a constant and silent witness.

"Where's the enemy?" Tully asked aloud, her soft voice frantic.

"And where's flyboys?" Laura demanded, opening her com. "Team One, come in. Team One, do you read?"

"Uh, Laura… I think I found flyboys," Freya interrupted, and shared a live-video feed of the burnt-out wrecks that were once Garms floating in space.

"How horrible…" Tully gasped.

"Enemies incoming!" Alice alerted them and their radars lit up with moving red dots. "Wargs, four of them."

"Ok, let's do this like we trained – Freya, Alice, go left. Tully and I will go right," Laura ordered and gripped her controls tight. "Let's go, Team Two!"

The others shouted with her in unison and their Garms rocketed away in blue-lit pairs. Within moments they could see the moving black shapes of the enemy Wargs surging towards them on azure contrails, no longer the blinking dots on their radar and all too real. Tully felt her breath shortening before she willed it steady and copied the others in raising her Garm's beam rifle past her shield. Three red circles appeared on the monitor and slowly converged on the moving target until the circles became one with a high-pitched tone. Tully pulled the trigger.

Blue and red beams lit the small section of space simultaneously as the Garms fired volley after volley and the Wargs returned the favour. Hot lasers whizzed past Tully's Garm or were absorbed by her blast shield and the tremors she felt with each hit made her adrenaline pump. The Wargs weren't like the ones in the simulator at all – they were faster, more aggressive and were piloted by humans.

The intervals between volleys were getting shorter. They were getting closer. Tully clenched her teeth as a feeling of dread sunk in. It was kill or be killed.

"Now!" Laura ordered, just as the Wargs were upon them.

Freya and Laura broke away in a burst of speed, maxing out their thrusters and flanking the enemy. Now it was LIRA's turn to be surprised as the two Garms closed in on them in an instant, threatening them with crossfire from the front and side. Junko's genius when it came to tinkering with mobile suits and the orphans' superior technopathic talents would be their downfall.

"Got you!" Laura shouted, successfully getting behind a Warg and firing. The beam made a clean hole through its back and out its chest, before the black mobile suit exploded into a thousand pieces that ricocheted off Laura's shield. Not wanting to be outdone, Freya drove her Garm forward.

"Don't underestimate me!" she cried, ramming the opposing Warg with her shield. As they careened into space together, she jammed the point of her rifle into the body of the Warg and fired at point blank several times, before breaking away from the explosion. As she did another Warg took the opportunity to creep behind her, only to be shot through by a third party.

"Not on my watch," said Alice, watching the Warg explode through the scope of her smoking barrel. "Tully, the last one is yours!"

Tully trained her sights down on the remaining Warg and fired relentlessly, but the black mobile suit dodged and weaved every beam as it charged straight at her. Beads of sweat were forming on the slight girl's forehead and as she squeezed the trigger faster and faster panic began to set in. Suddenly the Warg was right in front of her, close enough to see the reflection of her Garm's white form in its shiny black armour firing its rifle with abandon.

Instinctively, Tully slammed on her reverse thrusters, but in her panic only half activated and her Garm bent backwards instead. The Warg flew overhead and with Tully still pulling the trigger, it was peppered with holes.

Tully screamed as the explosion sent her Garm tumbling into space, but training took over and she righted the machine in time to see Laura fly to her side.

"Tully! Are you ok?"

The girl heard Laura over the com, but she couldn't answer – her thin frame was bent over her knees as she panted for precious oxygen. When she finally regained her breath without vomiting into her helmet, Tully answered.

"…I'm fine," she croaked, shaking the image of her brush with death from her mind. "That was too close for comfort…"

"See, what did I tell you?" Freya's cocky voice assaulted her ears and her pleased visage appeared on the monitor. "The four of us are unbeatable!"

"Indeed, considering two Garms are shot down for every Warg, this is quite an achievement," said Alice, and the blonde's calm portrait appeared next, but their celebration was marred by more flashing red dots on the radar. "Two more incoming!"

"I have them!" shouted Laura, blasting off before the others could even react and they were left to watch open-mouthed as her Garm spiralled above them into the hot beam-fire of the approaching Wargs. She weaved through the lasers effortlessly before lining up her own rifle in one motion and pulling the trigger, sending a single blue shot through the first Warg's chest. Without dropping her speed, Laura arced her Garm around the explosion and into the second Warg's blind spot, activating her beamsabre at the last moment so that it sliced through its torso and the two halves exploded while she flew back to her friends.

"Hey! Leave some for us, show-off!" Freya hailed Laura when they caught up to her, but even she couldn't entirely hide the awe in her voice.

"That was incredible, Laura…" Tully whispered. "It's like you were made for this."

"I just did what came naturally…" Laura replied with modesty, before shaking her head. "But forget that – did anyone see where those two came from?"

"Negative," said Alice as she performed a scan in her cockpit. "We should be cautious and expect more."

"Alright, let's head back to the Baselard. We can–"

Laura froze and something like electricity shot up her spine which straightened with alarm. The technopath couldn't explain it; nothing like this had ever happened before and it had only lasted for a split-second – but suddenly she could feel someone else's presence. They were so close she could sense them.

Instinct took over and Laura jerked her Garm around in time to see a flash of red. She raised her shield and the next moment was one she would never forget.

A crimson mobile suit was pushing against her blast shield with its equally red beamsabre, the two grinding close enough for its demonic head to fill Laura's trembling monitor. This was no Warg – it was even sleeker and burned with fiery red exhaust from its back. Everything about it shouted an aura as deadly as the bloodied coat it wore. Laura lips curled into a dangerous smile.

The pilot could only be one person.

"No way…!"

"That's…"

"The Scarlet Wolf…" Tully finished for Freya and Alice, the three of them shaking with a mixture of excitement and fear.

"…Vega Aurelia!" Laura shouted and pushed her throttle to the hilt, forcing her Garm past the red mobile suit before swinging around and chasing it through space.

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"Impressive."

Within the tiny confines of a black cockpit, a woman's voice praised the white Garm on the monitor as it fired its rifle at the screen repeatedly. The owner of the voice barely batted an eyelid and avoided the blue beams with deft movements of her control stick and a smile formed behind the visor of her helmet. Wisps of silver hair framed her noble features but a white mask hid her eyes from sight, the signature accessory of Vega Aurelia, LIRA's ace pilot.

"I see your Garm has been modified to be lighter and faster, but that alone cannot explain this remarkable performance," Vega commented aloud to herself, before she slammed on her reverse thrusters and somehow manoeuvred behind her surprised opponent with ease. "No, I imagine you must be a technopath of some talent."

The Scarlet Wolf unleashed a spray of red beams from her rifle and the Garm pilot did not disappoint. They barrel-rolled with perfect timing, twisting in mid-spin to face backwards and the Garm returned fire while upside down. Another smile cracked Vega's red lips, particularly when she opened up her thrusters and boosted under the Garm so that she was behind it again.

"I'll give you full marks for finesse and execution, but your experience has been found somewhat wanting," said Vega, sticking to the Garm's rear of dazzling blue thrusters as it tried every manner of manoeuvre to shake the Scarlet Wolf to no avail. "You underestimate the speed and power of my Fenrir, prototype though it may be."

With a steady hand, the ace centred the Garm on the monitor until her targeting reticules converged and turned red.

"A shame really," she whispered, wrapping her finger around the trigger.

But before Vega could squeeze it, her radar went off and she found herself veering to avoid enemy fire, allowing her prey to escape. In its place two white mobiles suits swooped in, putting themselves between their comrade and the Scarlet Wolf, who found herself chuckling.

"How gallant," she remarked, guiding her Fenrir into a spiral to avoid the pair's rain of blue beams. "And interesting – not one, but three who can keep up with my Fenrir. But how long will you last, I wonder?"

With a whirl of her control stick in one hand and a sound grip on the throttle in the other, Vega transformed from defence to offence like a switch-knife. She charged forward and fired off several red beams, shocking the Garms with her precision and forcing them to hide behind their shields. The rifle of the nearest one was hit and burst into scrap.

The Scarlet Wolf smelt blood, switched to her beamsabre and closed in. The Garm rushed to meet her, attempting to ram the Fenrir with its shield. Bold but brash, thought Vega. She kicked the shield aside on impact before quickly thrusting backwards, correctly anticipating the blue beamsabre that lunged for her cockpit. It pierced only black vacuum, allowing LIRA's ace to slice the arm clean off and the Garm was sent into a frantic retreat. So they at least knew when to run away, Vega smirked, and raised her rifle to finish it off, but made a rapid thrust sideways instead at the first sign of danger.

Blue beams scorched past, just missing the Fenrir, and the Garm in the distance trained the barrel of their long rifle down on the red mobile suit again. Patient and cunning, thought Vega, marvelling at how the pilot had flanked her so quietly, waiting for just the right shot while their partner took the brunt of the Scarlet Wolf's fangs. Their aim at this distance was noteworthy as well, but two could play at that. Vega fired back in the midst of evasive manoeuvres, striking the Garm's blast shield as it took cover before aiming at its unprotected feet. One was severed, sending the white mobile suit spinning. The next shot would have ended it – but again Vega was thwarted.

Enemy fire from behind distracted her aim and the ace whipped her gun around instead to find a lone Garm attacking her. Something told Vega the pilot was not as talented as the other three; their shots were spread too wide and their piloting was too straightforward. They were either brave or foolish for facing the Scarlet Wolf alone. As expected, a few blasts from her rifle were enough for the Garm to falter and cower behind its shield, giving Vega ample time to close in with her beamsabre.

Only for another Garm to slip out from behind the first with guns blazing. For once the Scarlet Wolf was stunned and Vega took a sharp intake of breath, before jerking her trigger. The rifles of both mobile suits shattered simultaneously, but they did not falter and charged straight into one another with beamsabres drawn. When the red and blue swords met there was a mighty crash of sparks and shimmering light. As they wrestled for dominance, Vega's lungs finally exhaled and her lips curled into a smile.

"You again," she said, recognising the Garm on her monitor as that of the most talented pilot. "That was some excellent teamwork… but I won't underestimate you or your friends a second time."

"Major Aurelia," a voice interrupted her musings and another LIRA pilot appeared on screen. "The next stage of the operation is ready to proceed."

"Thank you, Ursula, but you'll have to lead the strike in my place," Vega replied, finding time to speak even as she struggled with her opponent. "I have unfinished business here."

"Major?"

"Don't fret," the Scarlet Wolf assured her subordinate, who saw her commander only had eyes for whatever was on her monitor. "I'm done playing with my food…"

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"Laura!"

Tully's cries over the com were a distant voice in Laura's mind. She was struggling to contain a flood of emotions. Fear and excitement. Disbelief and awe. The scarlet mobile suit on her monitor forced its neon beamsabre even closer and the technopath pushed her own back in kind, feeling the steam of hot perspiration in her space suit as she gripped her controls.

So this was Vega Aurelia. Ever since Laura had learnt of her existence five years ago, the Scarlet Wolf had awakened something within her – a single-minded obsession to be the first to defeat her. The reports and rumours over the years had extolled her skill and daring, but the proud and unrivalled young pilot Laura had been stubbornly refused to believe them. They had told her she was the best – that she was a future ace. How could anyone be her equal?

But now she knew the truth. Vega Aurelia was her equal and more. How else could someone pilot a mobile suit so confidently without a single wasted thrust? Or handle a rifle so accurately even in the midst of a high-speed dogfight? Even if you took away that high-tech red mobile suit, those uncanny technopathic reaction times had truly earned her the moniker of the Scarlet Wolf.

Laura Hartmann had finally met her match – and she had never felt more alive.

"Laura! Get out of there!" Tully's voice finally registered with the blonde pilot.

"No! I've got this!" she managed to reply through gritted teeth.

"Don't, Laura!" Freya tried to convince her next. "Even the four of us together wasn't enough!"

"More bad news," Alice interrupted, and the edge of their radars crowded with beeping red dots. "Eight more Wargs incoming – it's the Scarlet Wolf's pack!"

It was well known the Wargs that flew with Vega Aurelia were her own personal squadron known as the Space Wolves – handpicked pilots that were a cut above regular LIRA pilots. They would not be as easy as the previous Wargs they had fought, especially with the conditions Freya and Alice's Garms were in. Things just had to go from bad to worse, Laura groaned.

"Tully! Take Freya and Alice and get back to the Baselard! You can hold the Wargs off there!" she barked, communicating her hastily formed plan.

"And you?" Tully asked.

"I'll deal with Vega Aurelia!"

"But you can't!"

"We don't have time to argue!" Laura cut her friend off and smashed her shield into the red mobile suit's head sensors, giving her the opportunity to break away. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing!"

Tully could only watch as the white and red mobile suits blasted off together, leaving a contrail of azure and crimson lines like two entwined threads as they clashed again and again. Each spark of their colliding beamsabres had her heart leaping into her throat and the brunette had never felt so powerless.

"That idiot! Come on, Tully!" Freya took charge and called for her. "Help me with Alice!"

"I appreciate it," said Alice, and they pulled her Garm along while it faced backwards so she could take pot shots at the approaching horde of Wargs. Together the trio jetted back to the Baselard, which had remained in position above Lemuria with the rest of the RDF fleet while it repelled LIRA's fighters.

"Baselard, this is Garm Team Two," Tully hailed them. "Eight Wargs are en route for your position. Requesting assistance."

"Roger, Team Two," the operator replied. "Anti-mobile suit orders have been issued. The Baselard will intercept them with you."

"Maintenance, come in!" Freya yelled into her com next just as they touched down onto the Baselard's deck. "I need a new rifle, stat!"

"I got you covered, Freya," the welcome voice of Junko replied, and several pillars shot up on deck to reveal an armoury of weapons. "Give them hell, ok?"

Freya discarded her shield and picked up a new rifle with her remaining arm. She may not be able to use a shield anymore, but at least she was still mobile. It was the opposite for Alice, who had lost her leg thrusters, but could still hide behind a shield. Tully was the only one still intact, but against eight Wargs, this was going to be a slog even with the Baselard's help. Freya's radar sounded its alert and the pink-haired pilot grimaced.

"Here they come!"

The Wargs swooped in like black hawks from all directions, firing their weapons from above, below and to the side. The Baselard responded with a barrage of cannon fire from the multiple turrets positioned across its hull, but their marks were too quick, too agile, and darted about like flies to livestock. Tully and the others did what they could, but despite the lessons learned five years ago, Rem's battleships were still slow targets too big to defend and their ship's thick hull was peppered with holes. Furthermore, it worried them that only half the Wargs had attacked – the other half that hung back were armed with ship-busting RPGs and cannons. What were they waiting for?

Just when it looked hopeless, two mobile suits tore across the battlefield, causing every combatant to freeze in place – Laura's white Garm and the Scarlet Wolf's red Fenrir twisted and clashed like two zigzagging comets. When Tully saw Laura, she had a sharp intake of breath for the Garm had lost its pristine white paint job and was all scratched up. But the technopath fought on, keeping her battered blast shield close as Vega coiled around her Garm like a snake snapping at her blind spots, and lured the Scarlet Wolf to the portside of the Baselard.

"Baselard!"

Laura shouted into her com and Captain Turner got wind of her plan in an instant. At his order, rows of square shutters on the portside of the Baselard flipped open and from them erupted dozens of screaming missiles; the RDF's trump card against LIRA's mobile suits. Like living hellfire, the missiles searched for victims and followed the Wargs as they scattered. Some were hit, transformed into speeding fireballs before their burnt-out husks were left to hurtle through space – but the majority of the missiles had gathered behind the Scarlet Wolf.

The corners of Vega's lips lifted, almost smiling. She should be flattered her enemies had sacrificed a whole barrage of missiles to eliminate her, but they were seriously underestimating the Scarlet Wolf and her Fenrir. Pulling her stick back, the masked pilot broke away from the pursuit of her prey and climbed high above the battle with the swarm of angry missiles chasing right behind her.

Together they twisted and turned in what looked like a futile escape, until Vega threw her beamsabre down and the spinning blade caught the leading missile, cleaving it in two. The warhead detonated and the other missiles were caught in its blast, causing a chain reaction of explosions that rippled downward. The resulting shockwave shook the Baselard and mobile suits of both sides, leaving a trail of smoke which Vega paused to admire. But the clouds began to stir and out of them blasted a familiar white Garm at full tilt with its beamsabre at the fore.

Laura released a war cry and charged directly at the Scarlet Wolf. This was it; she could feel it in her gut – the final crossing of blades to decide who was better. Only the best would live – the other would fall.

The technopath was so close; the red mobile suit was right in front of her and unarmed. Laura's beamsabre was reared above her Garm, poised to sunder the Scarlet Wolf apart. But from the Fenrir's hips, Vega Aurelia activated a spare beamsabre that would have surely impaled Laura had she not thrusted back from its fiery point.

The Fenrir followed, blasting forward in a sudden burst of speed. Laura hastily raised her blast shield, but it met not with a beamsabre, but the clenched fist of the red mobile suit. The impact finally shattered the worn shield and at the same moment a red beamsabre sliced up through the debris, severing her Garm's arm.

Laura slashed in front of her, acting out of both instinct and shock, but Vega had anticipated her reaction. The RDF pilot cut nothing but space dust and a red beamsabre came down with impeccable timing, severing her other arm. Breath shortening and panic rising, Laura hit her reverse thrusters, only for the Fenrir to grab the head unit of her Garm, holding her in place.

The technopath's breathing paused. On her monitor, the red mobile suit had its beamsabre pulled back, poised to run her cockpit through. Laura's purple eyes went wide and her heart raced. For the first time she could remember, the young orphan thought she would die.

In the cockpit of the Fenrir, Vega regarded the white Garm on her own monitor before her playful lips smoothed into a grim line.

"It's over… I win."

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When Tully saw Laura's battered Garm plunge into the clouds of smoke to go after the Scarlet Wolf, she felt a terrible premonition wash over her like a chilling wave. From her knotted gut to the marrow of her bones, something shivered inside, screaming to the young orphan that if she let Laura go now she would be flying straight to her death.

"No, Laura! You mustn't!" Tully cried out and chased after her without a second thought, setting her panicked green eyes for the hole in the clouds and ramming her throttle hard.

"Tully! Get back here!" Freya saw Tully's Garm out of the corner of her eye disappearing into the smoke, but the Wargs began their assault again, pinning her down. "Damn it!"

She thrusted to behind the safety of Alice's shield and they weathered the barrage of beams together, before it suddenly stopped.

"What the…?" Freya peeked around the shield and her jaw dropped at the sight of the retreating Wargs. "Why?"

"Freya, look!"

The technopath followed the point of Alice's rifle below the ship and at first saw nothing but space, but if she squinted her eyes hard enough what came into view made her blue orbs stretch with alarm.

"That's impossible!" she shouted, double-checking her radar and Alice agreed.

"We have to warn the Baselard!"

Unbeknownst to the events below, Tully continued her frantic ascent through the clouds until the smoke peeled away to reveal Laura's Garm – but her sigh of relief was short-lived. The white Garm, once a towering and invincible symbol like its pilot, had been dismembered into a miserable torso that was now at the mercy of the Scarlet Wolf's blood-red beamsabre.

The very sight overwhelmed Tully with a tumult of emotions and time seemed to stand still. She found herself thinking of her first day in the orphanage, when a little girl with golden locks and fearless purple eyes had offered a tiny hand to the meek child that was her. She thought of how Laura had defended her from the bullies at school and made her feel safe and accepted. When Tully wanted to enrol into the academy with everyone else, she remembered how Laura had encouraged her and hugged her when they passed together. From their time in the academy to when they became pilots, Laura had continued to stick by her no matter what – the hand she had extended all those years ago had never let go.

When time flowed again, Tully was already propelling her Garm forward on blue fire and gritted teeth. There was no question she was scared – she had never been more terrified in her entire life – but what scared her more than death was the idea of losing her best friend forever. Laura had always been by her side, protecting her – and now it was Tully's turn to return the favour.

"Laura!"

Vega didn't see the speeding Garm coming until it was too late. The white blur slammed into the Fenrir, ramming the red mobile suit away from its intended victim and deep into space. But Tully didn't stop there – with some technopathic gymnastics, she overloaded her thrusters and stuck to the LIRA ace like glue, driving her backwards with a mad fury.

Finding herself a reluctant passenger, Vega tried to slice through her assailant, but was blocked by the Garm's blast shield. Without a shred of hesitation, Tully jammed the end of her rifle into the struggling Fenrir's torso and squeezed the trigger – only to be thwarted when a red metal knee speared the barrel from below, causing the beam to glance off the Fenrir's head. Its legs lifted next with foot thrusters blazing, blinding Tully with crimson light from her monitor before she heard the Scarlet Wolf kick off her Garm with a metallic crunch.

The impact sent them careening off in opposite directions. Tully braced her stricken body, kept in place only by her pilot's harness, the only thing protecting her from the devastating g-forces threatening to toss the girl about like a ragdoll. Her breath was hoarse. Her blood boiled with adrenaline. Her heart raced and every instinct in her body told her to flee. But throughout the ordeal, Tully's mind was clear.

She had to fight back. She had to protect Laura.

Summoning her strength, Tully yanked at her controls and blue fire erupted from the Garm's thrusters, correcting its turbulent freefall. She could have turned tail and run then and there, but instead the orphan rolled back towards the Fenrir's last position with her rifle at the ready. The nimble red machine had already recovered and was blazing straight for her on the monitor, grasping its menacing beamsabre so that it hung at its side like a flaming sword.

The moment was not lost on Tully – victory would belong to the one who could strike back first. Again, it was kill or be killed.

Red circles flashed on the monitor. The Garm's targeting system, calculating. Beeping slowly, while her beating heart sped. The Scarlet Wolf only grew larger on screen.

Tully's finger rested on the trigger. Waiting. Anxious. She thrusted backwards, buying time. The Fenrir extended its arm, beamsabre burning brightly. Tully stopped breathing. Death was mere seconds away.

A familiar tone reached her ears. The red circles merged into one. Tully squeezed the trigger… and a neon beamsabre flew into the monitor.

It was simultaneous. Vega Aurelia had thrown her beamsabre, impaling Tully's Garm in the head just as she had fired, causing the beam to miss by a nanometre. That was the last the orphan had seen before her monitor blacked out, but even without her sensors she knew what was coming.

A split second later, a terrible groan pierced Tully's ears – the sound of her Garm being torn asunder. The Scarlet Wolf had retrieved her beamsabre and was carving her prey straight down from the head. When crimson light flooded her cockpit, the orphan screamed and jerked her trigger repeatedly. She heard the buzz of the beamsabre before it slashed down to her left with a flash, missing Tully by inches and leaving her in darkness. When she heard the buzzing again to her right, the sound of her blind firing rifle came to sudden halt and all she could hear was her own ragged breathing.

In the darkness, Tully made out a jagged gash where her monitor used to be, now an open window into cold space – from the blackness of which the red face of the Scarlet Wolf appeared. She froze at the sight of its glowing ruby eyes, which seemed to consider her for a moment before the LIRA ace took off, leaving her with a view of starry space. But the orphan had no time to admire it; sparks were dancing across her instruments, her seat ejector had been disabled and she could feel heat building up behind her from the Garm's ruptured engine.

She didn't need a fortune teller to know it was going to explode.

"…Tully… Tully!"

By some miracle, the com crackled and Laura's frantic voice patched through. All the fear and panic in her bones faded away and Tully found herself smiling. She realised she could see Laura's Garm in the distance through the tear in her cockpit, along with the Baselard further behind where all their other friends were, floating like white angels. If this was the last thing she would ever see, Tully was grateful.

"Laura…" she whispered, her green eyes welling with tears. "Thank goodness…"

Tully had done it. She'd protected her best friend. Her family. She stared out into space until the heat consumed her and everything went white.

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When the explosion came, it was nothing but a silent fireball on the monitor; a tiny orange dot against the expanse of black space. But for Laura, it was an all-consuming supernova and it had caused her entire world to collapse.

At first, she tried to hail Tully on the com, calling her name over and over, but there was no response. Disbelief gave way to bitter realisation and the technopath's lips trembled. She would never hear Tully's soft voice ever again.

Laura would have drowned in her sorrow if not for the whining tone of her radar. A red mobile suit appeared onscreen and the sight of it broke the young woman from her numbed stupor.

The Scarlet Wolf. Tully's killer – Tully's murderer.

Vega Aurelia.

Grief gave way to blind rage and Laura's purple eyes darkened into slits. She found her hands squeezing her controls so tightly her fingers burned with pain. The next thing she knew she had wrenched them forward, sending her maimed Garm bursting forth on blue fire and she carved a path straight for the Scarlet Wolf like a one-winged angel of vengeance.

As the hated red machine came into view, Laura screamed her lungs out, expelling anguish, pain and fury. All she could think about was how she would make them pay.

Vega Aurelia would pay.

Consumed by revenge, the technopath never heard the alarm wailing in her cockpit. When she finally saw the bright light shining from below, it was too late. The light grew, expanding across space until it threatened to engulf both mobile suits.

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In Vega's experience, people rarely put themselves in harm's way if given the choice. Even on the battlefield, self-preservation ruled their decisions – particularly when faced with the Scarlet Wolf. That was why she was so stunned when the Garm – the weakest pilot of the four – had gotten between her and her prey.

So, when Vega found herself carving the Garm open, she couldn't help herself. She looked inside.

She wished she hadn't.

It was a young girl, probably no more than eighteen, fresh out of the academy. It left a bad taste in her mouth, but what was done was done. Vega blasted off and the Garm exploded behind her with a faint tremor, another victim of the Scarlet Wolf.

For a moment, she mulled whether to hunt down her original prey, only to find it coming straight to her from across the battlefield. The maimed Garm had no arms or weapons or any discernible tactic other than charging directly at Vega. Was this tenacity or just plain foolishness?

Ah… it was for revenge. In that case, the pilot was a fool, thought Vega.

"You should have escaped and bided your time instead," she chided them.

Death was the end of everything. You couldn't exact revenge if you were dead. No, you had to live, no matter what the cost so vengeance could be served. For the first time in their short meeting, as she watched the Garm fly towards her like a wild boar, Vega frowned.

"Your friend's sacrifice will be for nothing," she said, but the pilot did not change course. "So be it."

The Scarlet Wolf readied her beamsabre, fully prepared to put an end to the story of another talented pilot – until she noticed white light shining from below. With a flash, a wall of energy shot past like a coursing river, flooding her cockpit with blinding light and blocking the enemy Garm from view.

A blast from a ship's beam cannon, Vega realised, her eyes shielded by her mask. Once it passed and its energy had dissipated, she was confronted with an empty void. Her hands quickly went to her sensors and they showed the beam had passed through two RDF battleships – one below and another above that had been coming as reinforcements.

Two birds with one stone, Vega whistled. The reputation of her ship's captain was well-deserved, even if the RDF battleship below had somehow managed to avoid being obliterated. But other than the ship limping away with a smouldering hull, the enemy Garm was nowhere to be seen.

"Major Aurelia!" Ursula's worried voice on the com was followed by her Warg and the rest of their squadron thrusting to Vega's location, whereupon the captain began her report. "One RDF ship appeared to catch wind of the Blue Crow's position and only received moderate damage, but otherwise the ambush was a success."

"Yes, I can see that, Ursula," Vega replied, studying the surviving ship on her monitor. "It would seem our new stealth technology isn't entirely foolproof."

"Should we give chase?"

"…No," the major ordered after some thought. "They are no threat to us – and we have more pressing matters to attend to."

She had no sooner finished speaking when a long shadow passed over the Wargs. The sleek hull of the Blue Crow, the latest in LIRA's new stealth cruisers that used relic technology, was as quiet and shrewd as its captain.

"I'm pleased you remember why we are here, Major Aurelia," the aged voice that joined them on the com betrayed no emotion, but the moustached face that appeared on the monitor was grey and stern. "For a moment I believed the war had slipped your mind completely."

"Nonsense, Commodore Sparrhorn," Vega replied with practiced ease. "I always keep to the mission."

Ursula rolled her eyes and more than a few of the other pilots chuckled. Commodore Sparrhorn didn't appear to react at all, but anyone paying attention would see the edge of his lip had risen ever so slightly under his bushy moustache.

"Command reports that while Operation Eclipse has been a success, our ships are already being bombarded with RDF reinforcements," he informed them, before a twinkle entered his eyes. "However, we have no such impediments here. As such, this presents a unique opportunity for personal glory and victory… unless the major objects to straying from our mission parameters?"

Vega couldn't wipe the grin from her face.

"No objections, commodore."

"Excellent. Take your squadron and forge ahead. The Blue Crow will provide support."

The commodore disappeared from Vega's monitor, which only left the image of the retreating RDF ship. Something told her the Garm pilot had not been incinerated by the Blue Crow's beam cannon at all and while the Scarlet Wolf hated to leave a duel unfinished, so long as the war raged on she had a feeling they would meet again. After closing the image, she accepted a new beam rifle from Ursula and blasted off in a red line towards the heart of the RDF fleet with her squadron of Wargs in tow.

"Follow me, Space Wolves! Glory to Lux"

.


.

"Let me go!"

Laura screamed and thrashed at her controls, but it could hardly be called a struggle when her Garm had no arms. The technopath thought she had been vaporised by the beam of light, but the next thing she knew Freya and Alice were carrying her away. They hid under the scorched hull of the retreating Baselard and watched as the Scarlet Wolf and her allies shrunk into distant figures. It made Laura feel powerless – as powerless as she had been when Tully was killed.

"No! She's getting away!"

"Stop, Laura! You're in no condition to fight!" Alice begged her over the com and tightened her Garm's grip.

"Please, Laura…" Freya whispered, as quiet as they had ever heard her. "We don't want to lose you too."

When she heard that, Laura finally settled down. Knowing no one was watching, she curled into a ball and rested her head in her hands. The anger she had used to shield herself from her sorrow faded, but it was only when she was back inside the Baselard's hangar bay that she broke.

The moment she exited her cockpit, a pair of arms wrapped around her and tackled the pilot so they floated across the bay's zero-gravity space.

"Laura…! I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Junko…" Laura recognised her friend's black head of hair and it all came flooding out. "Junko… Tully is… Tully is…"

"I know…" Junko pulled back and the young women saw their eyes were both welling with tears. "I know…"

They embraced again, squeezing each other even tighter than before. Watching on, Alice let her tears flow freely, marring her pretty face. Freya turned around and punched a wall before hanging her head, convulsing controllably until Alice went to comfort her.

The five orphans were now four and things would never be the same again.

.


.

It was only later they learnt LIRA had won the battle.

The RDF fleet had been completely routed, courtesy of Lux's new stealth relic technology and Vega Aurelia. The Scarlet Wolf and her pack had carved a path of destruction straight to the centre of the embattled fleet, destroying the RDF flagship, the Flameberge, and sending the rest of the fleet into disarray. The surviving ships withdrew, giving Lux complete control over Lemurian space and the first major victory in the fifteen-year conflict.

Operation Arrowhead was labelled a disaster. It was a humiliating defeat for Rem that would lead to a storm of blame, finger-pointing and soul searching – but the orphans had no time to care. They were burying their friend.

En route back to Rem, the crew of the Baselard held a ceremony for those they had lost. A glass coffin was prepared and one by one the crew laid a wreath inside, each emblazoned with a name of the fallen. When it came to the final wreath, Laura, Freya, Alice and Junko all walked forward and laid it together, before standing back to reveal the name it bore.

Tulip Smith.

At Captain Turner's signal, the coffin was launched into space and the crew watched from the viewing room, saluting as it drifted into the void. While her friends lingered to pay their respects, Laura slipped away back to their quarters. She had not been able to sleep since it happened and felt like a zombie. Sometimes it didn't really feel like Tully was gone – any moment Laura thought she would hear her voice or see her smile – and then she would feel the hole in her heart that would never be filled.

After floating aimlessly through the halls, the technopath found herself at the door of the orphans' shared room. She had to take a breath before opening it, but when it hissed ajar she felt a pang at seeing Tully's empty bed. It was still well-made and tidy by her hand.

Yearning or grief or both took over Laura and she sat on Tully's bed, smoothing the covers with the back of her fingers. Only a few days ago they had been talking in here like always. She looked up and saw the group photo of them in front of the Libra Orphanage, stuck to the bunk's underside where she could always see it before sleeping.

Tully was smiling. So were the matron and the children. Laura's heart sunk. What was she going to tell them?

That's when she saw it. Resting on the table, where they had sat since the battle, were Tully's tarot cards. Laura's unfinished reading, forgotten since Tully's death, came rushing back. They never found out what the final card had been.

But Tully had.

Laura reached over, placed a gentle hand on top of the deck and paused. Something told her she might be better off not knowing, that only more pain awaited her, but even so she could not deter herself. She had to know.

With a technopathic touch, Laura demagnetised the top card and brought it up to her face. Steeling her purple eyes, she flipped the card around. One gasp later and she stared at the revealed image with stunned pupils. All colour drained from her face.

"Oh, Tully… you knew…" she whispered, and covered her quivering lips. "It was meant to be me…"

The room echoed with the sound of sobbing. But in space tears cannot fall; instead they floated forth, splashing off the picture on the card. It was of a black robed skeleton riding a dark horse and wielding a long scythe. The name printed underneath was mere decorum.

It was Death.

.

END OF EPISODE ONE


Next Episode Preview

TULLY: Did you know, Laura? The Death Tarot Card does not actually mean physical death. It symbolises spiritual transformation; a time of change and new beginnings.

Next time, on Gundam Gemini:

Orthrus.

Goodbye, and good luck, Laura. Your journey of a thousand miles has only just begun.


Thank you to anyone who's read this far! I'd love it if you left a comment below!