Summary: Sora… a world possessing far more advanced technology than Earth, and wielding the weapons known as Gundam. Now one team is about to take the world by storm as they strive to show the rest of Sora that a Gundam team is not about money, glory, sex, fame, or power, but rather the dreams that people fight for and that hope for a better future can be a powerful motivator, despite what others may say! Note: I don't own Gundam SEED or Gundam SEED: Shadow. Both belong to their respective owners.

GUNDAM SEED

Dreams of Hope

Chapter 2

"So, what can you tell us about the upcoming tournament, Sam?" a female reporter asked. The man she was with shrugged.

"Well, Debra, the tournament is going to be one of the bigger ones, especially considering the civil war going on," Sam Winstone replied. "This will provide people with a change of pace. Not to mention it'll give them a chance to see our new Gundam Team."

Debra Glaaze smiled. "I see. And just who is your Gundam Team?" she asked.

Sam just flashed a mysterious grin. "You'll have to wait until the tournament to find out. I can't give anything away that could risk exposing the tournament to people prematurely."

Henry grunted and hit the remote, shutting off the TV. "Yeah, right. They just don't want people to know what we're capable of," he muttered.

He turned and left the rec room, heading throughout the hallways and passing by the crew until he reached the bridge. He held out his Neon Gauntlet and the scanner mounted on the side of the door picked up the ID chip within. The door unlocked slid open. Henry lowered his arm and stepped onto the bridge of the team's ship, the American Hope.

He eyed a schematic of the ship currently displayed on one of the main monitors, reflecting on its design with pride.

The vessel was 557 meters long and 125 meters wide, crewed by 275 personnel, six of which were Gundam pilots. The ship was shaped like the Minerva-class ship from Earth, but its colors were radically different. Rather than red and black, the paint job was bright white with silver accents. Golden-blue power lines went down the sides of the armor. Within the core of the ship was the S-Generator, standard power core for anything related to Gundams and Gundam Fights in general.

"Hey, Terra!" he called.

The commander of the team turned and spotted Henry. "Henry! What's going on?" she asked, walking over, giving a few technicians on the bridge a wave as she left the group.

"Oh, nothing really. Just some stuff on the news about the Gundam Fight tournament coming up in a few weeks," he remarked.

"I bet," Terra scoffed. "I don't really like it myself, but, hey. Someone's got to try and keep an eye out for those Bloods."

"Hey. Good luck with that!" a Coordinator by the name of Mike Jonson grumbled. "Those guys are the slipperiest crooks I've ever seen!"

"Yeah. No one's been able to really track 'em down…'cept maybe for our boys," a Natural from the more southern country responded.

"Hector, you really have a point there," Mike remarked as he turned from running a scan on the ship's power supply. Hector Sikosovich grunted once.

"Mike, have you picked up anything in regards to the Bloods' whereabouts on the airwaves?" Terra asked him.

The wannabe radio jockey turned and flicked through several screens on the monitor. "Nah. Got nothing," he said after a few seconds. "No mention of them anywh—" His voice suddenly trailed off as he suddenly placed his headset on his head and tapped the side.

"Hold it. I got something," he said.

"Really?" Henry ran over. "What?"

Mike held up a hand as he furrowed his brow in concentration. His eyes slipped closed and he let himself go as he drifted into the airwaves.

He was silent for a few minutes before his eyes snapped open and he ripped his headset off, letting it fall around his neck. He turned to face Terra. "There was a mention of a scuffle not too far from where we are," he said. "The radio guy said that the Bloods are involved."

Terra nodded. "All right." She turned to face one of the other crew members on the bridge. "Heidi, gather up the rest of the crew and we'll leave."

Heidi Jackson nodded. "Yes, ma'am!" She turned and ran out of the bridge.

The message was spread throughout the ship while Heidi scouted out the crew that left for a bit of shore leave. While it was uncommon for Gundam Teams to allow their crews to take shore leave, it did happen. It was just a hassle in rounding up the crew that did go out.

Yet Heidi knew where they were.

It was mandatory for all Ameros Defense Force members to have an ID chip planted within their forearm or on the back of their hand so they could be ID'd if any of them were ever killed in combat. It also acted as a tracker so separated soldiers could rejoin with their units and units being regrouped if they got separated during bad weather or in the confusion of battle. A downside to this was the possibility of the chips being hacked, but Ameros policy indicated that all chips had to be heavily encrypted using state-of-the-art encryption techniques that were decades ahead of even Myrtus.

Heidi checked the scanner on her comm unit and smiled as she spotted three blips located near the pub. She turned and headed in.

The pub was full of Gundam Fighters, soldiers, and even dockworkers. She scanned the crowd, picking out the neon hair of Frederick Stone, the scarred right eye of Bill Hawkins, and the cybernetic eyes of Lola Hilde.

"Hey! Fred! Lola! Bill!" Heidi called.

The Coordinator and the two Naturals didn't even hear her. Grumbling to herself, Heidi made her way in and through the crowd.

As she moved closer, one of the Gundam Fighters stood up and drunkenly headed in her direction. She could smell the liquor on his breath and she instantly knew he was going to make a move on her, having had this experience once before.

"Hey, hun… Whaddya ssay I show you something speshal,?" he slurred.

"Back off! I'm not interested!" she said.

"What's the matter, sweetcheeks? Do't yoy wwant to know what a real man is like?" the man purred.

"Hey! I said back off!" Heidi growled. She drew back her fist and punched, hitting the man right in the cheek. He staggered back, his balance thrown off by the alcohol within his system. He collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud, his head cracking on a table and causing him to black out.

One of the other tables emptied as the occupants got to their feet. "Hey! What's the big idea dissing our comrade like that, huh?" one of the men asked. His Neon Gauntlet flashed as he clenched his fists.

"Your buddy just tried to make a move on me!" Heidi growled. "So if you know what's good for you, you'll get him out of my sight or else!"

"Or else what? What can one woman do against us?" a second man hissed. His eyes flashed angrily as he got into a fighting stance.

"Bring it, tubby!" Heidi shouted.

"Tubby?! Why you little… I'll show you who's tubby!" the man snarled.

He thrust his hand out in a punch, but Heidi dodged and lashed out in a roundhouse hitting the man in the chest and forcing him back. He didn't even flinch from the blow, but he sure was pissed.

She gulped. 'Okay…maybe tangling with these guys wasn't such a great idea!' she thought to herself.

The thought caught the attention of the sole Newtype of the trio, Bill. His head perked up, his attention diverted from the cards he was holding in his hand. "Oh boy… Here we go again," he grumbled as he set down his cards. He stood up and pushed his seat out, turning to the others as he did so. "It looks like Heidi got into some trouble again," he said to them.

Fred grunted as he slapped his cards down. "Bah. I don't think I was gonna win this round anyway," he said as he too stood up.

Lola laid her cards down and stood up, her cybernetic eyes spotting the scuffle through the crowd. "I think I can see why," she said, pointing.

Bill flicked his eyes over and his face paled. "Oh, hell no!" he moaned. "She just had to pick a fight with a Gundam Team?"

"It appears so," Fred remarked. "And I think that I'm gonna need to be the one to end this." He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "After all, it has been a while since I got into a bar fight."

The trio ran through the crowd already gathering at the spot where the fight was going on. By now the crowd was thick enough that they had to force their way through just to reach the fighters.

Lola yelped as a broken booze bottle went sailing over her head and crashed against a wall, sending glass shards everywhere. "Ah!"

"Okay. Now this is getting old!" she grumbled. "Three bar fights in one week? Why did we even have to stop at this dump!?"

"You'd better take cover," Bill warned her. "Fred's about to go KSA on them!"

Lola turned and watched as Fred stepped into the circle, his hands clenched into fists. "Hey, bozo!"

The insult struck the Gundam Fighter before he turned to face the cyan-haired man. "What the fuck do you want?" he hissed.

Fred cracked his neck. "You leave her alone…or else!" He suddenly thrust his hand to the side, firing off a blue-greenish blast of energy that hit the wall. A few patrons shrieked as the debris went in their direction.

"Why should we?" the second of the trio asked.

"Yeah, punk?" the third hissed.

"Do you three really want to face a KSA user?" Fred asked with a smirk.

"Damn right we will!" the first man snarled. "This bitch just dissed Ran over there!"

"He tried to make a move on me!" Heidi snapped.

"Oh, is that why? Then maybe you should've taken him up on the offer," the man leered.

The blast of energy hit him dead in the nose. The sound of breaking cartilage resonated in the bar and the man fell back, howling in pain as he clutched his broken nose.

"Tuck!" the second man cried.

"Forget him, Bones. He's down," the third man said to Bones.

Bones grunted. "Fine, Scythe. We'll get him together!"

Scythe grinned as he got into a fighting stance. "Let's go!"

"Bring it!" Fred cried.

Bones snatched up a chair and broke off one of the legs, holding it like a club. Scythe grabbed a booze bottle and broke it on one of the tables, holding it like a knife. Then they charged.

Fred ducked a swing from the makeshift club and spun, his fingers and hands glowing with energy as he threw up a barrier to deflect the jagged end of the bottle wielded by Scythe. The bottle's sharp ends shattered as Scythe threw it aside and started throwing glasses and glass shards at him. Bones tried creeping around the Coordinator from behind, but Fred sensed the movement and whipped his body around, keeping the barrier up with one hand and firing a blast of kinetic energy from his outstretched right hand. The blast shattered the chair leg with ease.

"Damn you!" Bones cried. He grabbed a piece of metal and lobbed it like a javelin at Fred's chest. He only moved the hand with the barrier in front and the pipe bounced off, sticking in the wall.

"Is that all?" Fred asked.

"Hardly!" Scythe grunted.

Fred turned and was caught off guard as a blast of purplish kinetic energy struck him in the shoulder. He grunted and staggered back. "So, you're also a KSA user…" he whispered.

"Yeah? So?" Scythe sneered. "Is that a surprise?"

"Not really," Fred remarked as he dodged a blow from Bones.

"Scythe, just get the git already!" Bones roared.

Fred's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so!" he hissed.

The three fought it out as other patrons began to cheer and make bets on who would win. Some were even guessing that the double team of Bones and Scythe would do Fred in, but by the time it was nearing the halfway mark, it became clear to even the doubters that the other KSA user was holding his own against the two.

Fred was able to duck a KSA swipe from Scythe and he lashed out in a punch, his fist glowing with greenish-blue energy as the blow connected solidly with Bones' chest. He was careful to pull the punch at the last moment, resulting in the blow only knocking the wind from his lungs. He collapsed onto his back, chest heaving as he struggled to get air into his lungs.

As Scythe looked over to check on his partner, Fred took the chance to strike and end the fight. He spun and nailed the other KSA user on the back of the neck, sending him into unconsciousness. Once he was out, he draped both Gundam Fighters over their seats and knocked the third one out before doing the same to his other comrade.

He turned to face Heidi just as Bill and Lola came up. "You okay?" he asked.

Heidi nodded. "Yeah. We're gonna be moving out shortly, so Terra ordered me to round everyone else up," she explained.

Bill shrugged. "Oh well. At least we got some shore leave in."

The four left the bar and headed deeper into town, hunting down and ferreting out their crew. On the way back, they encountered Brian Higgins, the crew's engineering chief, and of course, he was intoxicated, so it fell to Bill to escort him back this time.

"You know, I still don't understand why we had to have him assigned to our team," Bill grumbled.

"Hey. He may get drunk a lot, but he knows his way around an engine better than most of us, whether his drunk or sober," Heidi pointed out.

Bill groaned. "Oh boy…"

"All right. Everyone's here, so let's go," Terra said.

"Right!" the entire crew said as one.

Terra turned to face Brian. "Hey, Brian. You sure you can operate the engines?" she asked.

The Natural grunted once before taking a swig of vodkos. "Yeah, sure. I can do it," he remarked with a slight slur to his words. He got to his feet and headed to the door, his steps slightly staggered. He left the bridge a few minutes later, the door hissing shut behind him.

It still amazed Terra that the man could hold down so much vodkos and still be able to operate the engines even in a drunken state. She guessed it had to do with his past record in the military. She chuckled a little and shook her head before she turned to face the helmsman.

"She's all yours, Jackson," she said.

Jackson Roberts smiled and flashed the thumbs up. "You got it, ma'am!" he remarked. He turned and grasped the controls of the ship, hitting the keypad and inputting the code for starting it up. The ignition code flashed across one of the monitors at the helm and within seconds all functions on the console began to flash online. A schematic of the American Hope flashed across one of the smaller screens as it showed the main power core's energy spreading out throughout the vessel.

"All systems are in the green, Commander!" Jackson reported.

Terra nodded. "Good." She turned to face the communications station.

Mike flashed the thumbs up. "All communications are functional," he replied.

She turned to look at the weapons station where the chief gunner, Andrew Harkins, sat. Andrew turned and grinned. "All weapons are hot!" he said.

The commander looked over at the radar station. The radar operator, Akan Loos, smiled. "Our radar is at maximum efficiency," he replied.

A quick glance to the shield station confirmed that Justin Holt was working on checking the shields. A few minutes of fiddling later and he flashed the thumbs up. "We're good!" he cried.

The engineering station was last. She glanced at the monitor where Theresa Wong sat. She double-checked the readouts and looked up. "All engine systems are functional!" she called.

"All right." Terra turned back to face the helm. "Jackson, take her out!"

Jackson gripped the controls and gently eased them forward. The thrusters on back of the ship flared into action, generating blue-golden flames that lifted them out of the dock and into the air. The wings unfolded and within minutes, the American Hope was airborne.

The door to the bridge slid open half an hour later and Brian came staggering in. "Engines are functional, ma'am," he said as he flopped down into one of the chairs at his station. He slipped the vodkos bottle into its cup holder and promptly fell asleep afterwards. Snoring filled the bridge seconds later.

"I still can't get over how quickly he falls asleep after drinking that stuff," Theresa grumbled with a shake of the head.

"Enough, Theresa. We've got a lead on the Bloods, remember?" Terra remarked.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," the Natural said sheepishly. She rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.

Terra turned to face Mike. "Any new word on them?" she asked.

Mike dialed in the frequency he used prior to pick up the lead. He closed his eyes and listened for a few seconds. "Yeah. There is. Apparently they've just robbed a bank in Futros," he said.

"Helm, set course for Futros," Terra ordered.

"Aye!" Jackson tapped in the command and the ship began to bank to the right as he activated the maneuvering jets on the outside of the ship's hull for quicker turns.

Terra nodded. "Good."

She turned to face the other technicians and personnel on board. "Anyone who gets any word on the Bloods' next move report it directly to me. This time, we're not letting them out of our sight!" she ordered.

"You got it!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Roger!"

"Aye, aye!"

Satisfied, Terra turned and walked out of the bridge, her trench coat billowing out behind her.

LOCATION: FUTROS

DAHYOU NATIONAL BANK

The outside of the bank was a mess as police cars and officers gathered in front of the huge double doors, blown open by an explosive. The police chief of Futros narrowed his eyes as he held up his microphone. "All right! If you don't come up with your hands up, we will come in there after you!"

Again, no response.

Chief Davin Vlados didn't like this one bit. It was almost three hours into the standoff and no one was even responding. Something didn't sit right with him at this point. It was almost like they were expecting him to come in there.

He turned to face one of the other officers with him. "Scott, any sign of life in there?"

Scott Hankerson nodded. "Hell yeah, boss. They're still in there. It seems to me like they're arguing with someone in there still."

"Then why haven't they responded?" Vlados asked himself.

"Judging by those sacks of dough, I think they're trying to get as much greenery out of this heist as possible," Scott remarked in his usual Western drawl.

"How many sacks of money?" the chief asked.

Scott narrowed his eyes as he peered through the binoculars held to his eyes. "I count at least ten from what I can see, but there may be more. Who knows?"

"I see…" Vlados turned to face the lieutenant on the radio. "Sue, how's it coming? Did you get in touch with anyone?"

Sue Wanson's eyes narrowed as she chatted a bit longer in her native tongue. She held up a hand to wait. A few minutes later and she turned to face him. "Yes, sir. I got in touch with a few friends of mine and they said that the Dreamers are heading this way."

Vlados' eyes widened briefly. "The American Dreamers?"

She nodded. "Yes. They're coming, sir."

The chief smiled. "That's excellent. They've been after them for some time now, I hear?"

Sue's expression was ecstatic. "You bet, sir. The latest word among the people is that they've been doing some illegal activities regarding their Gundams, such as illegal modifications, and even tampering with the Gundams of their opponents. The American Dreamers got wind of this, but they can't prove it until the tournament in a few weeks."

"Well, if they're behind bars, then they won't be able to participate," Vlados remarked with a smirk.

"I sure hope this works, though," Sue murmured. "This is no ordinary Gundam Team. They're slipperier than a scorpeel."

"Sue's right, boss. The last time anyone tried to catch them, the Bloods eluded them for weeks and no one saw them until they turned up in Gunthers before they were chased back across the border," Scott chirped from his position lying on top of the squad car.

Vlados rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me on that one," he grumbled.

A loud scream suddenly ripped across the plaza, followed seconds later by a loud explosion as a grenade cluster went off. Flames erupted out the shattered doors and the windows on the ground floor exploded outward due to the force of the explosive.

"Shit!" Vlados ducked as a few shards of glass sailed over his head. "This is getting worse now!" he remarked.

The chief poked his head up over the door just as one of the team members walked over to the door. "Any of you law types come in here and we'll make sure this entire place goes sky high…unless our demands are met!" the man shouted.

"What kind of demands?" a woman shouted from her squad car.

"We want at least ten million dollars and an escape copter!" the man yelled. "And we want it now!"

"We need to stall for time, sir," Sue said softly. "At least until the American Dreamers get here."

Vlados nodded. "Right."

He turned and stood up, raising his megaphone to his mouth. "We can't just hand over ten million dollars," he called. "But maybe we can work out a deal."

"Sorry, lawman, no deal!" the man shouted. Then a sneer crept across his face. "Unless you'd like to see one of the workers here get blown up by a grenade!"

"This is not going to help! Just release the hostages and we'll hand over three million dollars and a helicopter," Vlados shouted.

"Ten million or she goes!" the man roared.

"Five million, a helicopter, and bulletproof vests!" the woman called. "That is our final offer!"

"No!" the man yelled.

"Damn! This isn't getting anywhere!" Vlados growled. He glanced up at the sky worriedly as the sun began to set.

"C'mon…where are you?" he murmured softly.

Alright, my peeps! Here's chapter 2. Terra and her friends head out to intercept and go after the Bloods, a Gundam Team managed and run by a gang known as the Tyke Devils. They get a lead and head over to Futros to help in stopping a bank robbery in progress. But the robbers are getting a little more than just money...

Let me know what you think!