A/N: I gotta say that I'm getting really excited about this story. So I got this out pretty fast, heh. The next chapter of Lost Meaning is coming up in a bit. Review?

Escort Assignment

September 29th, 1775, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The sun had risen an hour ago and Heero and the Gundam Dragoons were eating their rationed breakfast.

Heero had gotten to know his men in the month they'd been together. While it was mostly a New York and Pennsylvania Company, there were men it in from every colony. A few had even hailed from as far away as South Carolina and Georgia. Heero's recruiting requirements were tough. A man had to hit a head-sized target with a rifled musket at at least 200 yards, and repeat the feat ten times out of thirteen tries. Horsemanship also had to be up to Heero's strict par.

What emerged was a relatively well-trained, tough, and hard fighting unit. Heero had proven himself to some of his critics within New York as an able officer...for now.

But the Gundam Dragoons had not yet faced the real test...combat.

They had been sitting, sitting on their asses ever since they had arrived at Cambridge. General Washington had informed Heero that as a lightning force, they would be under his direct command, which was an honor...but so far he had only ordered them to build defensive positions. His men were not trained to be manual laborers, although some of them had come from that background.

They wanted to fight.

And they were growing increasingly impatient.

As if at the right moment, a rider approached the Gundams.

Wufei's eyes opened up in recognition. "ATTENTION COMPANY!" He screamed.

Heero instantly got up and saluted General George Washington, his men following in-sync.

"Major Yuy."

"Sir." Heero acknowledged.

"The British brought out five guns in the middle of the night. They're gonna get ready to shoot at our positions. I need you to take them out!"

The men's faces instantly lit up, Heero and Trowa remained stoic, while the other officers (the lieutenants) tried to remain so.

"You have an hour to discuss your tactics." Washington saluted and then rode off.

An hour later, the Gundam Dragoons were ready for their first combat.

"Our objective is to take out the British gun crews." Heero went over one more time. "Pick them off and stay as far away from them as possible. Do not try and capture the guns, unless you want to be peppered by musketry from the garrison in Boston."

"Also, remember to keep moving. Stand still or dismount from your horse, and you're dead. There's no cover out there." Trowa warned. "You'll each only have one shot, you won't have time to reload, so once you take your shot, get back to the defenses as soon as possible."

"There are six gunners to a cannon." Heero stated. "That's in total, thirty men we have to dispose of. I know you all can do it. Take your shots carefully." Heero mounted Zero.

The other men followed suit and mounted their own horses.

"Company, advance!" Wufei barked.

Heero led the charge on Zero. Trowa lingered at the mid-point of the company on Heavyarms to keep order further back. The British gunners spotted them immediately and prepared to fire. Wufei veered to the right of the gun and lifted his Kentucky rifle, taking his shot immediately.

He hit the man who was going to load the twelve-pound solid shot artillery ball into the cannon. Wufei's .60 caliber lead ball hit him in the side of the head and he fell down dead instantly, dropping the twelve-pounder to earth. The man who had been ordered to pick the ball up and load it into the cannon in his place was soon shot in the back of the head by another one of Heero's men.

Trowa un-slung his first of two Kentucky rifles and took careful aim. One of the artillery men was preparing to ram the solid shot into the cannon with the gun's ramrod. Trowa pointed his weapon in the spot where he wanted it and pulled the trigger. The round lead ball spun through the redcoat's neck, spurting a fountain of blood in its wake. He went down and the ramrod fell to the ground.

Heero watched as his men take shots, many of them hitting the same targets at once. So far, the British gun crews had been unable to fire a single piece of their artillery as the Gundam Dragoons were swarming, presenting hard to hit targets as they continued to move. The only real vulnerability was the route to retreat back to the defensive positions of the Continental Army around Boston, and Heero could see that one of the gun crews was aiming toward that route at that very moment.

Heero took careful aim and fired the .60 caliber musket ball in his left barrel. The round hit one of the gunners straight in the face. He fell down in a spasm of blood erupting from his head, slowing the gun crew down in moving the cannon.

Trowa fired on the last of that particular gun crew, slinging his second Kentucky rifle he had just taken the shot from over his shoulder, as he carried his numerous long arms strapped to his back. But he did not dare use the Brown Bess Musket; it would never hit anything at the range they were at. Trowa gave Heero a slap on the back as he began to retreat back to the Continental fortifications.

Duo Maxwell looked on, like the rest of the men, stupefied. This dragoon unit was really something. The fact that they were accurately hitting the British gun crews at what looked to be around 275 yards was all the more amazing. Obviously, these men were excellent shots...but so was he. He should be in this unit. He was just as good as they were. How to get in?

Heero looked down his sights at his intended target, a British officer trying to rally his gun crew, as they were beginning to retreat back to Boston along with whatever other men were still left alive. Heero fired the shot in his right barrel, hitting the officer just below the neck. He fell backwards, clutching his sword close to his chest as his life left him.

Heero contemplated what he had just done as he goaded Zero back toward the Continental defenses. He had killed for the first and second time this day.

General George Washington had a triumphant smirk on his face as he put his telescopic sight down from his face. At least there was one exemplary unit in the Continental Army.

"Well done Major Yuy." George said when Heero dismounted Zero in front of his tent. "I trust the British won't be sending guns to harass us for quite some time, and I see that you have suffered no casualties."

"A shame we couldn't capture the guns sir, we desperately need them."

"Yes...but trying to capture them would bring us too close to the British defenses. Well, I am off; I have things I must attend to."

Heero saluted, George returned the salute and rode off once again. As Heero put his gear away and had the thought in mind to go find Trowa, a man approached him from behind.

"Excuse me."

Heero turned around. The first thing he took in was the man's obscenely long braid.

"What does it take to join your unit?"

Heero looked at him with some skepticism. Was this guy serious?

October 14th, 1775, Sank Manor

Relena opened her mailbox and found something important.

A letter from Milliardo.

She hurried back inside and to the kitchen, where Tabitha was conversing with the new mistress of the Sank Manor, Lucrezia Peacecraft.

"What's that you've got in your hand?" Her sister-in-law asked as Relena took a seat.

"It's a letter from Milliardo." She said with a small smile on her face.

Lucrezia's face lit up with happiness to hear from her husband as well as concern. Relena motioned Tabitha over to look at the letter. Relena had been teaching the old slave to read for the past month. Although she knew her brother would have more than a bout of anger if he ever found out, and indeed, such actions were against the law in Virginia, Relena knew that if anyone deserved such a small compensation, it would be Tabitha. Lucrezia did not seem to mind.

Dearest wife and sister,

I am glad to hear that uncle Thomas is doing well in Philadelphia.(1) Although I admit, even after all these months he has been a member of the Continental Congress, I am still somewhat concerned that there is no one to watch you, as he promised me he would do the day that I left. But I know that the two of you are strong and can look out for yourselves. Forgive me if I try to be too overprotective.

The Siege of Boston Continues to be a stalemate. But yesterday I saw one of the most amazing feats of horsemanship and musketry in my life.

The British had snuck guns out of Boston the night of September 28th. They planned to batter our entrenchments. Fortunately, General Washington sent out a recently arrived company of dragoons, commanded by a Major Heero Yuy. I assume this man is the son of the New York merchant, Cornelius Yuy.

The dragoons swarmed like a hive of bees on the British gun crews, hitting them from an amazing distance. They stopped the artillerymen in their tracks and suffered not a single casualty. Even Treize seemed to be impressed.

General Washington's quick judgment on this matter saved us a lot of trouble. Even I admit that my morale was beginning to dip with the continued inaction, but now I feel a new sense of confidence.

Remember to keep the tobacco crops rotated, I also wish to expand the growth of grain toward another one of the fields.

I must go now; maintaining this regiment, even under Treize is a hard job. But I know that our cause is worth the blood and sweat.

Your husband and brother,

Milliardo.

September 30th, 1775.

"He seems saddened by the stalemate at Boston. At least he's safe in such a situation..." Relena sighed.

"He's too much of a patriot." Lucrezia sighed romantically. "He wants to prove himself against the redcoats. Kind of like those dragoons just did." She chuckled.

The dragoons, Relena thought. Her brother certainly seemed to be impressed with them, and if they had managed to get Treize's approval, that meant quite a bit. It was in stark contrast to Treize's reported opinions on the troops of the Continental Army so far. She put the thought in the back of her mind as she prepared for the day ahead of her. But what was there, really? All of these exciting things were happening in Philadelphia and Boston and here she was living an ordinary mundane life as if there wasn't even a war going on at all. She considered herself just as much a patriot as her brother, her uncle Thomas, Treize, and General Washington himself, but it seemed she could do nothing to help out. She sighed again.

"Tabitha, did you understand any of that?" Relena asked.

"Yes...some of it Miss Relena."

"We can go over it again if you wish."

"Not now Miss Relena, I have to make you and the mistress your breakfast."

Of course, she'd been conditioned to be a slave. Even this small semblance of freedom was new to her.

What was freedom, really? It seemed everyone had trouble defining it.

December 5th, 1775, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Heero had just woken up when General George Washington entered his tent.

"Sir?" Heero asked, immediately standing up.

Trowa was quickly roused and stood at attention.

"Major Yuy, I have instructed Colonel Knox(2) to go on an expedition. He is to bring the guns of Fort Ticonderoga here.(3) We will need them to break this stalemate. You are to escort the artillery and fend off any attacks."

"Yes sir!" Heero said with a salute, Trowa quickly joining him.

George saluted back and left the tent.

"Fort Ticonderoga? That must be 300 miles from here!" Trowa showed rare emotion as he geared up.

"We have our orders." Heero answered in monotone.

"I suppose so. It will be worth it if we can break this stalemate. We need those guns to threaten the British fleet, they keep re-supplying the city." Trowa said, making sense of their latest orders.

"Hn."

"Awww man!" Why so early?" Duo Maxwell, the Gundam's latest recruit, complained when the officers had woken the unit up to prepare them for their assignment.

"Stuff it, Private Maxwell." Company First Sergeant Wufei Chang seethed.

Duo Maxwell could be annoying, but he was a hell of a good shot, the damndest good shot Wufei had ever seen. When he had asked Heero for a test, they were all skeptical, but Duo hit every single target with the Kentucky rifle that Trowa lent him-no one had ever hit all thirteen.

After some squabbling within the army about Duo's transfer to the Gundams, General Washington himself stepped in and approved after hearing of Duo's excellent results. Duo went home for a day and got his horse, Deathscythe.

Duo explained that he was from a rural area where hunting was supreme-you don't bag your game and you don't have anything to eat. So being a good shot was a necessity.

Heero found his personality somewhat obnoxious, but could not complain. Doctor Jay sent gear up for Duo, with his father paying the expenses. Duo grinned at the nice, presentable uniform and top of the line equipment; he even found he got a sword and bayonet.

It helped having the richest father in New York. He had personally financed the Gundam's supplies during these first phases, receiving a promise of repayment from congress-which really meant nothing at the moment, perhaps ever. But Heero prided himself that his father was a patriot enough not to care. Cornelius Yuy was doing his part, and Heero was doing his.

It was all for their freedom.

February 25th, 1776

The artillery was well on its way back to Cambridge. The cannon train, comprised of ox-drawn sledges, consisted of fifty-two cannon and fourteen mortars, for a total of 60 tons of heavy artillery. Heero smirked as he looked back at the train. This would definitely help...a lot, and so far, they had not run into any trouble.

Heero conversed with Colonel Henry Knox at the back of the train. He was a pleasant, gregarious man that made Heero laugh quite often. Before the war, Knox was a Boston bookseller who Washington had commissioned as commander of the Continental Army's artillery. Heero at first thought it was an odd choice, but quickly realized that Knox knew what he was doing and was one of the more capable officers he had met since joining up with the army in September. Knox had relayed his story of his participation in the Battle of Bunker Hill and Heero was impressed with his hard-fighting spirit.

Suddenly, drums were heard in the distance, and they weren't theirs. Heero's eyes instantly hardened and he nodded at Trowa, who signaled the dragoons to be on alert and got them into formation. Trowa volunteered to ride off and investigate the activity further.

A few minutes later, Trowa returned.

"It's a British infantry battalion. They must be from Canada and found out about the train. With Montgomery's disastrous defeat(4), it must have been pretty easy to get down here."

"Let's go ambush them from the woods." Rally the men.

Trowa nodded and rode off.

A couple of minutes later, they Gundams were in the woods. Heero dismounted Zero and separated his Buster rifle into two distinct guns, then knelt down. He signaled the men to form a volley line with his hands. "Duo!" Heero whispered.

Duo hurriedly ran over. "Yes sir?"

"Get up in a tree and hit the commanding officer."

Duo nodded and climbed up to a strong branch in a nearby tree. He smirked.

Officers among infantry were terribly easy to spot. They were always on horses with sabers drawn. Duo took careful, deliberate aim, and fired.

The horse neighed in fear as the officer fell down to the ground as a trail of blood spurted from his chest. The saber clanged. The British soldiers were dazed and confused as the Gundams fired upon them from the woods. The redcoats went down to the accurate fire. Heero took aim and scored a headshot. He quickly put the first rifle down and picked up his second. His second shot hit a redcoat trying to rally the infantry ranks with a saber. He fell down face-first into the snow.

The redcoats fired a hasty volley, which hit nothing, and prepared a bayonet charge at Heero and his men. Heero quickly reloaded the rifle he held and blasted an incoming redcoat. Again he reloaded; he had become an expert with Doctor Jay's loading mechanism since he had given him the Buster rifle.

Trowa had just finished reloading his second Kentucky rifle and fired. Damn, these redcoats just kept coming. Trowa un-slung the Brown Bess Musket he'd been carrying and fired the shot. Damn these smoothbores, he was so used to using rifles he'd adapted himself to their greater accuracy. The round had missed.

"Horses!" Heero called as he put the Buster rifle back together and mounted Zero.

Wufei had just finished reloading his Kentucky rifle when the order had been given. He re-mounted Altron, fired, and followed Heero's lead.

The Gundam Dragoons retreated about 200 yards when they dismounted, re-made their firing line, and poured a new volley into the British regulars.

The redcoat's faces were astonished at this tactic. They ended the bayonet charge and tried to run into musket range (100 yards) but they were getting shot to pieces by the American's astonishingly accurate fire.

They began to retreat. The dragoons cheered.

"Let's go after them!" One of the men shouted.

"No." Heero countered. "We cannot afford to take those men as prisoners at this point. You fought well, Gundams. Get back to the cannon train, now!"

Heero spurred Zero forward and the men followed suit.

"Yah yah!" Duo huffed at Deathscythe. He grinned widely. This sure beat the shit out of being an infantryman in the militia.

March 4th, 1776, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The roar of Colonel Henry Knox's artillery swept like thunder through the night. Fiery flashes signified the pounding of General William Howe's lines.(5)

"Colonel Khushrenada!" General George Washington rode up to where his regiment was encamped.

"Sir!" He and Milliardo saluted and said at the same time.

"Take your men and help fortify Dorchester Heights!"

"Yes sir!" He shouted over the artillery and proceeded to rally the men of his regiment.

That night, 3,000 Continentals in freezing cold weather dug fortifications through frozen ground. Six fortifications were constructed. Treize's and the other regiment's men were replaced at around 3 A.M.

Howe and the British awoke to the guns of Fort Ticonderoga lining the fortifications, overlooking Boston and the British fleet in its narrow harbor. In a couple of words: they were sitting ducks. Howe at first decided to attack but was saved from disaster by a snowstorm. He reconsidered and offered Washington not to burn Boston to the ground if he could leave without being attacked. Washington accepted.

Howe and the British retreated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on March 17th, 1776. Bostonians were already celebrating and calling it "Evacuation Day."(6)

A very drunk Duo Maxwell was celebrating on the streets with his fellow soldiers.

"Yes...!" He slurred. "No more redcoats or pussy Tories in Boston! Ho...hooray!" He fell down in a bit of laughter.

The men were laughing right along with him.

Meanwhile, the officers were having a more formal party in one of Boston's town centers.

"Well my friends, this marks our first significant victory in this war!" General Washington spoke. "You've all done your part, and with great men like you leading our patriot soldiers, I hope we can expect more to come. To our continued good fortune; and to our liberties." He made a toast and the officers toasted back.

Heero sat down alone, he would have been carousing with Trowa, but he could see that Trowa was otherwise busy flirting with a local woman named Midii Une, apparently she was the daughter of a local Patriot magistrate, around their age.

"Allow me to buy you a drink."

Heero looked up. He knew who it was, but had never formally met the man, only seen him during councils of war.

"Colonel Treize Khushrenada, commanding officer of the third division's first regiment."

"Major Heero Yuy."

"Yes, I know. It is good to see a few good soldiers who can fight like yours. And you are calm, cool, and focused. You have no distractions, unlike the militia that first laid siege to this little firecracker of a town. There is nothing more noble and beautiful than a warrior with no distractions, especially if his cause is just, as ours is."

"I don't know if I should thank you for the compliments or call you a pompous asshole."

Treize gave a light chuckle. "I like your style, kid. Please, allow me to buy you a drink, besides, I heard you had a birthday on the twenty-first of January that you could not celebrate properly because of your assignment with Colonel Knox."

Heero's eyes glinted with suspicion at that remark. He never really cared for his birthday, what was so special about coming out of a woman's vagina anyway?

"Don't ask kid, I have my sources."

Heero scowled as the whiskey came over. They clinked glasses and drank in a tension-filled, yet companionable silence.

1. Thomas Jefferson was, at this point, a member of the Continental Congress.

2. Henry Knox, the commander of the artillery of the Continentals, and later the first Secretary of War in the Washington Administration.

3. Fort Ticonderoga was taken in May of 1775. Knox and Washington brought its guns to Cambridge.

4. The failure at Quebec on December 31st, 1775.

5. Howe, was at this point, the commander of Britain's forces in North America.

6. Evacuation Day is still a legal holiday in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

A/N: Don't worry romance fans, Heero meets Relena in the next chapter.