All I can remember is the training. Hours and hours of it, with little to no rest in between. They said it was to prepare me for long missions. Years of weapons training and hand-to-hand combat, strategy and computer programming, hacking and assassination skills. It seemed to never end. I remember seeing Doctor J occasionally, as well as my grandmother. Of course, at the time, she was just Lady to me. A woman who always wore a mask and was my constant watcher. Then one day there was no training. Lady took me to a beach and left me there. Her last words my only possession;

"Your name is Pinkapple Maxwell. You must hide your engineering talent. When the time is right, you will know." And then she drove off.

I don't think she expected me to turn to OZ though.

I was Tasha Romaine's best friend, and Godmother to her only daughter, Marissa. She was an Oz Mobile Suit Pilot, one of the best. My under the table updates to her suit didn't hurt any. I kept to myself, making sure I was nothing more than another garage monkey with a few soldier friends. My other friend was Roshni Tuvaro Yuri. I still think about him, even now. The way he smiled, the way he always knew when Marissa or I was cheating at cards or playing a prank; he had been a good friend.

And he had died at the hands of a Gundam pilot.

Now don't get me wrong, Tasha and I believed in the Gundams' cause. They were trying to set the world right. But we were not in a position to help- not with Tasha supporting a daughter and me unwilling to leave my only family.

But Fate apparently had a way to deal with that.

For months now, I realised the other garage monkeys had been watching me. I'd already known they suspected me of having talent. Twice they'd tried to switch Tasha's Suit, only for me to remove and reinstall my updates before the Suit was sent out. Tasha wouldn't know a different Suit if it pissed on her, so I kept that little problem to myself. Of course, a good mechanic always lets her work speak for her- the one monkey brave enough to threaten me never got the chance to squeal. People still wince when they think about it- after all, dying in a slow-burning fire 'accident' is an awful way to go. Needless to say, they left me alone after that one.

I should have known someone would play smart the second time around.

I didn't think anything of it when I was called by Col. Sure to the command centre. The Suits had been sent out to deal with another Gundam problem at an outpost station. I did think something of it when two of the four guard escort stayed outside the room I shared with Tasha- Marissa was in there alone. "Wait, why do they have to stay behind? Mari's the only person in th-"

"Sorry Shadow, orders. You are to come with us and they're to guard the kid. Don't worry- she's not their type." Coming from any other guard I still wouldn't feel reassured, but if I could trust anyone else in here, it had to be Ryan; Tasha's ex-boyfriend.

When I walked into the command centre, Col. Sure greeted me personally. Every possible feeling of foreboding tripled after that. "You're Shadow? How nice to meet you. We thought you would be interested in seeing the battle, since I know you're friend Tasha is there. She has a child, yes? How is little Mari?" I said nothing, just absently found myself walking to the screen. They were focusing on Tasha's Suit, busy in battle with the dreaded Wing Gundam. Thanks to my updates, and the fact that they'd stopped trying to change her Suit, Tasha was almost a match for it. Almost. I winced when an arm was sliced off- by rerouting the system, I'd made it so that the Suit wouldn't automatically combust with such a loss. Col. Sure stepped behind me and put a hand on my arm. "Open commlink 65T- Shadow will want last words with her friend of course." I glared, even as I ran to one of the panels and spoke into the mike.

"Tash, its Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"No time, hold on." My fingers danced across the keys, transmitting the activation codes for my emergency upgrades. "Transmit code: 55151911211231."

The following silence was deafening. The Suit changed, the structure of it morphing into something else. Gundanium shields slid out and suddenly, Tasha had an arm. She was fighting back in earnest now- she still lacked the skills of the Wing pilot, but just maybe…

"Shadow, take care of Mari, and I'm so sorry you had to do this." Those were her last words before her suit was sliced in half. I knew tears were streaming down my face, but I couldn't scream. The grief was there, burning a pit in my stomach, boring a hole in my heart, but nothing. When I finally found words, they started as a whisper, and escalated into screams. "NO! TASHA! NO NO NO NO NO NO!" I was on my knees, screaming and holding my stomach. Oh God, could someone die from this? Tasha and Marissa were my only family. Tasha knew everything about me- my skills, everything- and had never betrayed me. I looked to Col. Sure, and saw the superior smile- he knew.

"I'll kill you!" And I was halfway to him before Ryan jumped in the way. I was an inch from ripping his throat out when he said, "Think of Marissa." I stopped- how could I not? Someone still needed me. I slumped, knowing Ryan would catch me- I had seen the shine of tears in his eyes.

Sure cleared his throat, "Please take Shadow to her new lab- I'm sure she will like it. She can visit with Romaine's child after she's done working."

Would you have put up a fight? Good for you. But I couldn't- I hurt too much. I kept thinking any moment now Tasha and Roshni would jump out and say "Gotcha!" and everyone would laugh and I would laugh too, because they were alive…

My two man escort led me two levels below where I knew Mari to be, and Ryan was the one to open the door. I stepped in and did what came naturally- I took everything in. Small, despite the size of the door and perceived wall length- thickened walls, probably at least nine inches. There were no corners- the room was built like a block, more than likely to prevent you from hiding anything from the four security cameras in the high corners. There was a medium height worktable bolted to the centre of the floor, as well as an arrangement of tools and wall-integrated computers.

"What is this about?" I looked to Ryan but his partner answered.

"This is your new lab. You are to sufficiently update the OZ standard and special suits with the same technology you used for Romaine," he snarled at the name and I hated him even more, "you will work from 1000 hours till 1600 hours, and you will spend your free time monitored by no less than four guards. You will eventually be expected to come up with even better upgrades than the ones required of you now. You are also expected to improve and invent, if possible, new weaponry that will allow us to destroy the Gundams." He gave a slow smile.

"Enjoy yourself."

A/N: Hope you like.