Chapter 4: A Meeting of Universes

Finally, all five of the Gundams were free as their pilots rested inside their cockpits in an effort to cool down.

"We should head back to my ship, we're in the middle of ZAFT's territory and it's too dangerous to stay out here."

The other pilots nodded in understanding.

"Hey Heero, can the Wing Zero get off the ground?" Quatre asked in concern.

The Wing Zero's transformation system had become a victim of the impact and the Wing Zero was forced to remain in its Neo-Bird Mode.

"I hope so; I don't think any of our Gundams are in any shape to try to carry it while remaining stable." Wufei said warily.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I'll try, although sand isn't exactly a good surface for the Wing Zero to take off from…" He said calmly, even though the others knew he was just as wary as they were on the inside.

A few sputters came from the Wing Zero's thrusters before silence.

Everyone watched with baited breath hoping for the thrusters to start.

Suddenly, the thrusters roared to life and the Wing Zero was airborne.

The others smiled in relief as they began to leave the crater.

"Lead the way, Kira." Quatre said as the Sandrock motioned to the Strike.

The Strike acknowledged and began leading the hobbled Gundams away from the crash site as its pilot hoped ZAFT wouldn't stumble on them. He had a hard time protecting just the Archangel by itself; but this time, the Archangel would be defenceless and he would have to protect five targets with which even walking appeared to be a chore for them.

"Once we're on this ship of his, we'll begin repairs. We can't afford to waste too much time here. We have to find a way out of this place. We can't allow ourselves to get caught up in their conflict." Heero said on their private channel.

"I know but…" Quatre hesitated to continue whatever it was he was going to say.

"Oh great, here comes Quatre's saint complex. We aren't going to help them, Quatre. We need to get ourselves back before something bad happens. We were taken away at a pretty inopportune time, if you remember." Wufei growled.

"I know, but should we really just use their services and leave without at least trying to repay them in some way?" Quatre asked. He was quickly becoming irritated with Wufei's apparent lack of courtesy towards the person that just helped them.

"Quatre does have a point. Back when we were on our own, it may have been all right because we were trying to remain hidden… however, now all of that has changed. We should repay our debt in some way, even if it is only until they escape from their current situation." Trowa said calmly as they kept a wary watch on their radars and hoped they weren't malfunctioning.

"We'll decide everything once we're aboard their ship, if they'll take us…" Heero said warningly, silencing all other conversation for a time.

Kira was nervous about bringing them back to the ship without actually confirming that it was all right with Murrue.

I only asked if I could help them take their Gundams out of the sand, I didn't actually ask if it was all right to bring them back to the ship, or even if they could repair their suits in our ship…

He decided to radio ahead to warn them about what was happening.

Murrue was waiting for something from Kira and sighed in relief when he reported in. "What's going on, Kira?" She asked as Miriallia brought his line up on the main screen.

"Uhm, I'm bringing them back to the ship so they can repair their Gundams. Is that all right?"

Murrue sighed. She knew something like this was bound to happen because of how nice the boy was. Although he called their mobile suits Gundams, she dismissed it as a habitual mention on Kira's part. "Yes Kira, it's all right. We could use some extra suits to ease the burden we've placed on you for so long."

Kira glanced over his shoulder uncertainly.

"Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing ma'am." Kira said. "Thanks for permission; I had unintentionally begun bringing them towards the Archangel before remembering that I hadn't cleared it with you…"

Murrue chuckled. "That's fine Kira. I knew you would. I don't want any messy situations springing up in the middle of enemy territory, so I'm not going to put up a fight in any way."

"Thank you, Ms. Murrue. We'll be there in an hour, I promise." He said before cutting off communication.

Mwu couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "Should we go see to our guests, Captain?"

Murrue nodded. "Ensign Badgiruel, please stay on the bridge and alert us if there's any incoming trouble."

Natarle saluted Murrue, although a flash in her eyes said she'd rather not have any strange suits brought on board. "Yes ma'am. I'll alert you the moment there's any movement."

Murrue nodded as she followed a still amused Mwu off the bridge.

As the Archangel came into sight, Wufei felt the need to pelt Kira with questions. "Tell us… what year is it?" Although it was a strange one, it was the first question that had come to his mind.

Kira blinked in surprise and confusion, but decided to answer him anyways. "It's 71 C.E., why do you ask?"

"C.E.? What the hell does C.E. stand for?" Duo muttered. Apparently, he was unaware that his communication system was still active.

"It stands for Cosmic Era…it came into effect after the A.D. calendar system ended." Kira answered as his confusion mounted.

Heero's eyes narrowed. "That means we weren't thrown through time like we had been speculating… we were thrown into another universe all together…"

The others paled at the thought.

Kira stared at the image of the Wing Zero as it flew near the Strike. What they were saying was considered nearly impossible by both Natural and Co-ordinator scientists. "What makes you say something like that?" He asked, though he doubted he wanted to hear the answer.

"Where we come from, the After Colony calendar system follows A.D., I know it sounds crazy, but it's true."

Kira nodded reluctantly. "For some reason, I believe you. There are far too many differences and yet similarities between your suits and the five suits that were made by the Earth Forces. The Strike is the only one that's still in the Earth Forces' hands. ZAFT stole the other four."

"Ouch. That sucks." Duo commented.

"And the clothes you're wearing Duo… they haven't been worn by clergymen for… I think it's been several years before the Cosmic Era calendar was introduced. I don't even think museums have any for displays."

Duo's whistle was heard as the Archangel's hatch opened to welcome them.

"I guess that ends question period for now. We'll find out more at a later time." Trowa said as the Strike flew into the mobile suit bay.

The others acknowledged his words with silence, but now their minds turned to how or when they would be able to get back to their universe…

Murdoch could only scratch his head once the new Gundams were secured in the holding docks they had been led to.

The Wing Zero was forced to be secured in the same fashion as the two SkyGraspers that were aboard the Archangel.

"If those are Gundams, then I'll eat my tool belt." He said as the pilots began to leave their machines.

While the Strike turned into its typical grey colour scheme as the Phase Shift technology shut down with the suit, the others retained their colour schemes.

Kira blinked in surprise as he noticed Murrue and Mwu standing nearby.

Mwu was chuckling at Murdoch's previous statement when Kira came up to them. "Murdoch, do you think you can help them out?" He asked as the other pilots stood away from them, talking amongst themselves.

"I don't know, kid…" He said as he went over to see what they needed.

Mwu whistled as he looked at the Gundams with an impressed expression. "Despite the internal damage you said they've taken, the external damage doesn't appear to be as bad as we first thought. Whatever they're made of is definitely better than anything we could make."

"Yeah, it really makes me believe their claim that they're from another universe…" Kira said absently.

Mwu and Murrue looked at him in confusion and disbelief.

From the conversation the others were having, it appeared as though Murdoch really wouldn't be of any help to the pilots.

"They don't know what we need. We'll have to do it ourselves like we used to. Or did you forget how?" Heero asked in irritation.

"Back off, Heero… we can't blame them; at least they tried to figure out what we needed." Duo snapped as Quatre apologised to Murdoch, who looked insulted as he went to check on the Strike.

Trowa frowned at Heero. "Remember: these are new Gundams. Just because they have a similar external structure, that doesn't mean the internal structure is similar. Essentially, we know absolutely nothing about these suits."

"I know that. Do you honestly think I'd be piloting something so potentially dangerous blindfolded?" Heero asked, causing the others to stare at him in confusion.

"I heard rumours about the new Gundams months before we were spoken to. I had a feeling we'd be expected to pilot them without knowing much about them because we wouldn't be in charge of their maintenance." The others nodded.

That was one thing Relena made clear before they decided to take on their piloting duties: they were to allow trusted mechanics of the ESUN to do any maintenance, upgrades or repairs to the Gundams in their time of service.

"Once they were completed, I hacked into their computer systems and stole copies of the blue prints for all five suits. They're stashed away somewhere within each respective machine. Good luck finding them." He said simply before heading towards the Wing Zero.

Mwu let out an impressed whistle. "That man especially can't be a Natural."

Duo heard him as they began walking towards their machines. "Nah, he's normal all right… he's just being a real smart-ass today." He said before heading over to the Deathscythe Hell.

The other pilots chuckled in amusement as they went to their respective suits.

Mwu blinked in confusion, but decided to keep his opinions to himself.

Trowa blinked in surprise as he accidentally struck the base of his pilot's seat and a small secret compartment opened, revealing the blue prints for the Heavyarms. He smiled as he examined them before he opened a channel to the others. "Since I know Heero wanted us to find the blue prints for ourselves, I'll simply give you a hint: check your seats very thoroughly." He said casually.

Soon Duo and Quatre gave thanks to him as they found their blue prints.

He smiled as he began looking over the plans, only to be surprised when he heard Wufei's voice. "Thanks, Trowa. I never suspected Heero would put them in such an obvious place. They say things are always in the last place you look, I guess they were right."

Trowa chuckled. "You're welcome, Wufei. Now let's get to work…" He frowned as something strange on the blue print caught his attention.

It had been specifically made bigger for a better look at the object, but he had never seen it before on any sort of mobile suit blue print.

"That's odd… Meet me out front of the Heavyarms with your blue prints, guys."

The others complied out of curiosity.

"Have any of you seen this before?" He asked and pointed to the same device on the Deathscythe Hell's blue prints.

They shook their heads before glancing at Heero, who had just joined them.

"Don't ask me. I only delivered the blue prints; I know the same information you do."

"It's connected to the nuclear reactor…" Quatre said, tracing a line from the device to the reactor that powered the Gundams.

"I wonder what it could mean..." Duo asked quietly.

"Well, it doesn't seem to affect our Gundam's performance, so there must be another reason known only to Relena and the Defence Council…" Wufei said dismissively.

"I really wish they would have told us, if something had happened to that in the crash without us knowing anything about it…" Quatre said in concern.

"We'll have to examine it closely some time. But for now, let's just get our Gundams up and running again." Heero said before heading back to the Wing Zero.

The others watched his back with concern. "Do you think he's all right?" Quatre asked.

"It could be stress. We have a lot of work ahead of us and we've got no clue when or if we'll be getting home. I know it's really pressing on me hard." Trowa said, receiving hesitant nods of agreement from Wufei and Duo.

Quatre sighed. "You're right; I know I'm feeling it pretty hard. Let's get back to work to help keep our minds off it."

The others nodded as they went back to working on their mobile suits.

Murrue, Mwu and Kira continued to observe them as they had their meeting. "I wonder what's going on…" Mwu mused.

"I don't know, but since the Strike doesn't need any work, I'm going to go get something to eat. Is that all right?" Murdoch asked as he came up to the group.

"Yes, it's fine Murdoch. Thank you for trying." Murrue said, receiving a nod from the mechanic before he left.

"So what do you think we should do about them?" Kira asked worriedly as they went back to their suits.

"I… have no clue. I honestly don't. For now, the only thing we can do is keep an eye on them but also make them feel welcome. It's going to be hard to do both things, though." Murrue said, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it for now. Just do what you can with what we do know." Mwu said as he patted her shoulder. "That Heero guy may be the troublemaker of the group though. He'd be one I'd keep an eye on."

Kira's narrowing eyes didn't go unnoticed as Mwu clapped him on the back.

"Come on, kid. Let's go get something to eat."

Kira nodded as he followed Mwu out of the hangar.

Murrue continued to watch them work on their Gundams for a few moments before sighing with a shake of her head. "You all seem to have everything under control. When you're ready to call it a night, wave and I'll send somebody to escort you to some spare rooms we have available." Without waiting for a response from them, she left the hangar.

Quatre, Duo and Trowa paused to watch her leave.

"Who was she?" Duo asked.

"I don't know, but she appears to be somebody of great importance or else she wouldn't have spoken to us like that." Trowa observed.

"Well, at least we're not forced to sleep in our Gundams." Quatre said gratefully.

"That's probably because she doesn't trust us sleeping in the hangar where we could steal that suit of the kid's." Heero said as he stood atop the Wing Zero.

"Hmph. Trust Heero to bring out the negative points in a situation." Duo said, shaking his head.

"Like always." Wufei said. "Come on, let's get back to work. We want to have these suits up and running as soon as possible."

The others agreed and quickly got back down to work.

Some time later, Duo cracked his back in exhaustion, causing Wufei to wince in annoyance.

"Do you mind?"

"Hell, you think that's bad? I had to hear Heero put his busted leg back together! After you've heard that sound, nothing else comes anywhere close to being as annoying or disgusting."

The others winced and looked at Heero, who ignored them. "I assume we're done for the day?" He asked.

"I guess so; these repairs are going to take some nearly non-stop work." Quatre said.

As soon as the others nodded, Heero made a quick waving motion into the air before climbing off the Wing Zero. His eyes made a quick scan of the room and they could tell he was making note of where the cameras were as they joined him.

"What do you think?" Trowa's lips barely moved as he muttered to Heero.

"It's easy to disable from within. Duo can probably have it done in less than a minute." He replied with the same minimal movement of his lips.

"Glad you have so much confidence in me, considering we know next to nothing about this place."

Quatre restrained himself from shaking his head. He realized what they were planning: a late night break out should the Archangel's crew try to keep them for longer than they planned on staying.

A girl with red hair came storming into the hangar with a disdained look on her face, though she quickly hid it behind a smile. "I'm Flay Allster. I guess you're done now?" She asked with a false friendly tone.

It was obvious that she'd rather be doing something other than escorting a bunch of strangers around, even though she was trying to hide it.

They nodded, keeping their silence.

"All right then, follow me." She said. Her eyes flickered quickly to the gun on Heero's leg and a flash of fear was visible in her eyes before she turned and led them to their rooms.

"Sorry, but we could only find one room for you. However, there should be enough space for you, so make yourselves comfortable." She said before turning and leaving quickly.

"Cheerful girl, isn't she?" Wufei said sarcastically.

"She's obviously a civilian that's been forced to do things for this ship. Something really big must have happened to them." Quatre said worriedly as they entered their room, which contained only four bunks.

"We'll deal with everything in the morning. Today was probably the roughest day we've seen since the Eve Wars. And we've had four years of peace to go soft with." Duo said, shaking his head as he leapt onto a top bunk.

Trowa cringed at the size of the bunks before climbing into a lower one and allowed his legs to hang on the floor.

Heero simply stole a blanket from Duo's bunk before curling up on the floor.

"Are you going to be okay?" Duo asked worriedly.

"I've slept on worse surfaces." Heero said simply before closing his eyes.

Two crew members came in with panicked faces, with a folded cot visible behind them. "We're sorry, we couldn't find the cots." One of them said.

"Don't bother. He's already out." Wufei said dismissively as he crawled in under Duo.

"What about you, Trowa? Would you be better on that thing?" Quatre asked as he jumped into the bed over Trowa.

"I'm fine." Trowa said dismissively.

"I guess we won't need it, then." Duo said, shrugging.

The two crew members could only shake their heads in confusion before leaving them.

"Tomorrow we'll learn about what's happening in the morning, and then get back to repairing the suits." Trowa said before closing his eyes.

Wufei was already sleeping, leaving Duo and Quatre to wish each other a good night before joining the others in sleep.

Author's Note: A new feature has been added! "Author's Reply" will be below this section to reply to reviews that I can't reply to using the PM system. Hope those reviewers read my responses!

Author's Reply: Mega1987 - I'm quite familiar with Mr. Purple Kitten and rightly fear him. He is almost as dangerous as a Malboro. Please don't unleash Mr. Purple Kitten on me! *hides in a corner* The updates are every Monday, so sadly, I can't hurry up with them. I'm glad to see previous readers returning and hope this rebuild is up to the original's standards or, better yet, surpasses them.

Secret Weapon Unit 06 - This story is a REBUILD. The original story was done shortly after Gundam Seed had aired in Canada. Which means everything is set in stone, and I had never heard of Gundam Seed Astray back when I made it. I'm sorry if this disappoints you, but it got rave reviews back in its first two versions and I'm not messing with that. Don't worry about me comparing Cagalli or Lacus to Relena. I know they're all separate characters. And, admittedly, I dislike Relena. I actually like the other two (although Destiny brought Cagalli close to Relena-level disliking for a time). However, in writing fanfics, I take a neutral stance to let the characters come out naturally no matter what my personal feelings are for the character. I hope you'll keep reading my story even if it isn't what you want.