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Chap. 16

QZ HQ.

Lady Une made her way to Trieze's office after the battle in Siberia. Trieze had signaled her to come and she strode into his room. Currently, he was looking out the window with his back toward her.

You wanted to see me, sir." Inwardly, she thought that he would commend her on how she dealt with the gundam problem. However, that hope was utterly crushed by Trieze's words.

"Lady Une, I must say that I'm disappointed."

She blinked, "Sir?"

He turned around, "Human beings are fragile creatures. Anyone is capable of killing. But you must never overuse this ability. You must precede with more elegance from now on, Lady."

She bowed her head slightly, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll try harder."

Trieze continued, "Oh, I you should get to learn more about the OZ organization."

"Yes sir."

The conversation now over, Lady Une turned and walked away. As she did, Trieze's words continued in her head. Learn more about OZ? Is it possible that I do not understand Mr. Trieze?

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Siberian area.

Zechs looked at the site of the Wing Tekkaman's apparent destruction. A crew of OZ soldiers was scanning the area. Zechs walked over to one of them.

"Have you found anything?"

The soldier shook his head, "No Colonel, nothing at all. But with such an explosion, I don't believe anything could have been left of him sir. Energy or otherwise."

Zechs nodded. In truth, he didn't know why he wanted the area checked. He wanted to see if the Gundam Tekkaman was truly gone. But it did self-destruct, so there's no reason why it should be alive. Perhaps I'm expecting too much out of this.

Suddenly, one of the workers called out, "Sir, we've detected something. There seems to be two energy signatures here."

Zechs eyes narrowed underneath his mask, "Someone else?"

"I believe so, even though this one hasn't been weakened by the explosion.

Zechs took this into consideration. Meaning someone else went through it. He nodded to the officer, "Thank you lieutenant. That'll be all."

____________

Desert location, unknown

Duo and Quatre had hidden themselves away in a small town after the battle. With the colonies used as shields, their options are limited.

"I...can't believe Heero did that." Duo muttered to himself.

Quatre added, "He gave his life to protect the colonies. But we're still at a disadvantage"

"So where do we go from here?"

Quatre sat up, "I know a place. Follow me."

The two boys walked down the streets of the town. Duo found it strange that Quatre seemed to know this place. They reached one building in particular and Quatre walked in. At that moment, several men came out and aimed rifles at them. Duo put his hands up, but Quatre remained as he was.

"Hello Rashid."

The large man in front widened his eyes and lowered the rifle, "Master Quatre? It is you!"

At the sound of the name, the other soldiers put their weapons down as well. Quatre smiled as Rashid walked forward to greet him.

"You've grown much since the last time, master. Oh, where are our manners? Come in and rest. You can tell us what brings you here."

Quatre began walking and Duo followed. But some of the men stopped him and began raising their rifles again.

"It's alright. He's with me. This is Duo Maxwell. He's a Gundam as well."

The men lowered their weapons and nodded to him to which Duo quickly went by Quatre. As they walked in...

"Quatre, who are these guys?"

Quatre turned to him, "They are the Maganac corps. They are friends of mine."

Duo gave him a skeptical look, "Friends?"

"I'll explain later."

The group reached a room and sat down to talk. When the other men left, only Duo, Quatre and Rashid were left alone. Quatre explained to Duo who they were. The Managacs were a group of fighters from Quatre's colony, all primary bodies. Long ago, Quatre managed to save their lives from the Alliance and they swore fealty to him. They were the only other ones that knew of Quatre's secret and mission. But they still wanted to protect him, so they let him know that if he needed any assistance that he could come to them. After explaining this to Duo, Quatre next related to Rashid what had happened in the past few days.

Duo looked out of the window at the town, "I just don't understand. Why would OZ target the colonies? Are they not colony citizens themselves?"

Rashid rubbed his beard, "It looks like there's more to OZ than what we originally know."

"In any case, now that OZ has control of Earth, they will move to the colonies next."

"Then that is where we should go."

Quatre thought about his statement, "I don't know. If there's more to OZ than we know, then maybe attacking them might not be in the best interest of space."

Duo turned, "Are you serious? They've just conquered the Earth. Who knows what else they will do?"

Quatre frowned. They are using the colonies as shields. We can't just stay here and do nothing. I guess we have no choice.

"You're right, Duo. There's a hidden agenda in all of this and it can't be good for anyone."


Duo grinned, "Now you're talking. So our next mission is to return to the colonies."

Rashid stood up, "Shall you need us to accompany you?"

Quatre hesitated. It would be better if he didn't. But still... However, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion from outside. Looking out, the three of them saw object falling from the sky. Upon closer inspection, they were recognized as...

"Radham attack!" Rashid quickly picked up his walkie-talkie. "All units, battlestations!"

The Radham hit the sands and began attacking. While people fled in terror, the Maganacs rushed out to face them. With rifles in hand, the desert warriors transformed into their armored forms and began fighting. The Radham were shot down, but they continued to come. Duo, Quatre and Rashid came out of the building. Quatre pulled out his Tekka-Set crystal, but Rashid stopped him.

"No, master. You and your friend have to escape now. We have a route that'll get you out of here."

Both Duo and Quatre looked at him wide-eyed, "But we can't just leave you here."

"Forget about us. We can handle this." Rashid shimmered in energy and transformed. His armor was desert-colored like the others.

"Now go. The route is underneath the base. It can take you out with no problem."

Duo looked at him and then at Quatre. As much as he hated to do this. "Quatre, let's go."

"But...?"

Duo stopped him, "We can not help here. Think about it. If OZ finds out that gundams were here, they'll come and destroy this place. You can't afford to be caught now."

Quatre looked at him and then back at Rashid who nodded to them

"Don't worry, master. We'll meet again."

With that, Rashid joined his troops as they continued fighting while Quatre and Duo left them behind. They re-entered the building and went into the lower level where they found a walkway tunnel. They traveled down it, still hearing the sounds of battle behind them. The tunnel ended and they emerged, a far distance from the battlefield. A jeep was waiting for them, but Quatre continued to watch the battle.

"Quatre?"

"I wish I could help them somehow."

Duo looked over at the fierce battle and came to a conclusion.

"Tek-Setta!"

Quatre suddenly turned just as Duo transformed. Dark armor encased the boy, transforming him into Tekkaman Deathscythe.

"Duo?"

Deathscythe turned his head to him slightly, "Don't worry. I don't like it either. This should help at least."

Quatre nodded, "Thank you, Duo."

Deathscythe's Voltekka cells opened and began to power up.

"Voltekka!"

The wave of energy flew across the desert and impacted with the Radham. It swallowed the alien invaders while they were still in battle with the Maganac. Rashid followed the source of the blast and waved at the distant figures that aided them and disappeared.

__________

At the Space Knight HQ, it is found out that Heero is still alive. Meanwhile, both Zechs and Lady Une also determine the same possibility and Lady Une seeks him out at the Space Knights. At the same time, Relena herself visits to find answers of her own. Next on Gundam Tekkaman: Tangled Lines.