Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Force ❯ 2GP - Trial by Fire ( Chapter 2 )

Alarms sounded loudly in the compound.

Sitting bolt upright in bed, Essien's first thought was for his bother; before remembering that he and the rest of the 2GP team had been transferred from the Gundam Base, which had once been known as Area 51, to the Lake Victoria Base, far away from his younger brother.

`Nove's safe.' He thought, as he got up and pulled on his bodysuit and flicked his long black hair over one shoulder.

~*~

In another part of the compound, Tretton flung open the shower stall door, and ran to his gym locker, getting dressed quickly and pausing only to fasten his auburn hair back with an elastic band.

~*~

Trinity immediately got out of bed, upsetting her lover.

"Wazzit?" The short haired figure muttered from the bed.

"We're under attack."

"Obviously."

"Get up, Jackie."

"Yeah, yeah; I'm getting!" Jackie caught the bodysuit Trinity threw, and dressed quickly.

They walked to the door and stopped before opening it, turning towards each other. Their hands met; their fingers entwined.

"Love you, Jack."

"Love you, Trin."

They leaned in for a hungry kiss; then they carefully put their masks together, before opening the door and facing their war.

"2GP, get a move on!" A deep voice boomed over the com units attached to their belts. "This is a Code Red!" Trinity palmed her CU and brought it to her mouth as she ran.

"01 this is 03, situation?" Trinity asked.

"Five Birds just dropped a load of shit on our heads, and the birdwatchers saw ten more inbound."

"FUCK!!!" Jackie shouted. "HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THIS CLOSE!?!"

"03, was that 04?"

"Affirmative, 01."

"ETA?"

"Two minutes."

"TRIN, LOOK OUT!!!" Jackie shoved Trinity out of the way, as the wall in front of them exploded.

A red mobile suit appeared through the debris; firing at the various soldiers and other military personnel in the corridor. Jackie pushed Trinity through a partially opened door, but a laser blast through the chest cut short the strawberry blonde pilot's life.

"JACKIE!!!" Trinity caught her lover's body before it hit the ground; but Jackie was already dead.

Trinity screamed.

~*~

"Who's still unaccounted for?" Davis Brooks, Pilot 01 and commander of the 2nd Generation Pilots, or 2GP, asked Tretton as they entered the underground briefing room, where the other pilots waited.

"03, 04, and 07." Tretton Khushrenada, Brooks' second-in-command, replied. "05 and 10 are confirmed dead, 08 has been captured, and 12 is permanently out of commission; his right leg was completely severed above the knee and one of the vertebrae in his neck was crushed, he'll be lucky if he survives."

"So, that leaves Williams, Merquise, Conner, Arthur, you, and I."

"Without our Gundams," Tretton pointed out. "We don't stand a chance, all we can do is hope they don't find the lower levels. What of the General?"

"The officers' wing was hit first; we're in charge of this base now.

"02, 11, set up explosives at the entrances; remote detonate." Tina Williams and Jared Conner acknowledged the order and left immediately. "13, 09, assess remaining personnel and round up anyone who's able-bodied and unoccupied. 06, send out a general distress call and shut down all communications."

"What about Trin, Jack, and Vi?" Essien asked.

"Presume dead until proven otherwise."

"And Louis?"

"Shoot on sight."

"WHAT!?!" Essien shouted.

"If you see him, that most likely means he's being used as bait; we don't have room for slip-ups. If the other three are found, and circumstances allow, they will be kept in the Med Lab until we're sure they're clear."

"But-!"

"No, buts, 06," Brooks said. "Don't you remember what happened with Lieutenant Uric? And they only had her for two hours."

"I understand, sir."

"Now, get to communications."

Brooks watched the two men leave, then he dropped into the nearest chair and covered his face with his hands; his shoulders slumping with a weight far heavier than a twenty-year-old should have to bear.

~*~

Essien shut down the last of the communications equipment and sighed.

"Essien?" Tretton stood in the doorway. "Kevin's dropping off the personnel assessment with Brooks. Let's go find the others."

"I don't think Tina and Jared are finished with the explosives."

"I'm not talking about them." Tretton said. "We have three pilots unaccounted for; at the least we need to know where their bodies are."

"Did Brooks okay this?"

"He said that you and I should get some rest for the next three hours; he won't be looking for us until then."

~*~

She shivered in the darkness; the cold, wet, tile against her cheek, the section of ceiling that had her pinned, and the broken ribs that pricked her lungs forcing her to take short breaths of misty air, as the broken shower behind her poured icy water onto her back, washing away the blood, and sticking her long, red hair to her shoulders.

~*~

Armed to the teeth, the two young men hurried down the corridor, following a reverse of the path, that Trinity and Jackie should have taken. They ducked as they passed a window, catching a glimpse of the deadly armada of blood red Ares Suits surrounding the compound; and, interspersed among them, were the midnight black Hades Dolls, the blades of their burrowing equipment glinting in the early morning sunlight.

"Shit!" Essien cursed under his breath. "If they find the location of the lower levels, we don't stand a chance."

"We'll tell 01 to collapse the tunnels once we get back."

"If he doesn't do it while we're out here."

"Hm…" Tretton carefully went over their commanding officer's tactics. "He'd collapse all except the one that connects to the bathroom in the officer's wing; that wing's already destroyed, so no one would think to look there."

"Shhh…" Essien put up a hand and stopped, dropping into a defensive crouch. "Listen."

The sounds of a woman crying floated softly in the air, coming from a room two doors down.

Tretton stopped outside the open door, kneeling and touching a pool of red fluid. Blood. Essien entered the room, the sounds stopped immediately, he saw no one. Tretton followed Essien in and looked around the empty room, then walked back to the door and shut it; revealing a pair of intertwined figures, the mess of hair on their heads white-gold and strawberry blond. The white-gold head looked up, revealing a pair of green, tear reddened eyes.

"I tried." She stated. "I tried I tried I tried everything…"

"Trin." Essien whispered.

"You were supposed to stay," She told the body in her arms. "You were supposed to STAY with me, Jackie!!!" She shook the corpse, tears pouring down her face. "You PROMISED me!!!" She screamed. "YOU PROMISED ME _FOREVER_, JACKIE!!!"

"Trinity, stop it!" Essien shouted. "Stop it!!! We need you HERE now!!!"

Trinity pulled her lover's corpse close to her again, burying her face in the strawberry blond hair.

"Come back, Jackie, come back to me please I need you, you said you never lied to me you said you'd never hurt me you said you'd always be HERE!!!"

Tretton calmly knelt down in front of the hysterical pilot, yanked her head up by her hair, making her cry out, and slapped her across the face hard enough to split her lip.

"Pull yourself together, soldier," He said, firmly. "This is not the time to fall apart."

"Khushrenada? Merquise?" She asked, her professional mask sliding in to place; cracked though it might be. She gathered herself and stood up. "What happened?"

"We were attacked," Essien said. "The officer's quarters were hit first and hardest, the 2GP is now in charge of this base."

"2GP status?"

Tretton calmly rattled off the statistics:

01 - Davis Brooks, negligible injuries.

02 - Tina Williams, negligible injuries.

03 - Trinity Winner, psychological and emotional trauma.

04 - Jackie Tesh, deceased.

05 - Ken Shiro, deceased.

06 - Essien Merquise, uninjured.

07 - Violet Ramsey-Brooks, missing.

08 - Louis Brooks, captured; shoot on sight.

09 - Jared Conner, uninjured.

10 - Jean D'Mer, deceased.

11 - Kevin Arthur, negligible injuries.

12 - Hank Jacobs, not expected to survive.

13 - Tretton Khushrenada, uninjured.

"So, we find 07 and return to base." Trinity said.

"Exactly." Essien replied.

"Brooks doesn't know about this." She stated.

"No, he doesn't." Tretton acknowledged.

"I know where she is."

Footsteps echoed through the darkness, the prone figure shifted slightly beneath the rubble; caught between the instinct to call out and the training to stay silent in case the feet belonged to an enemy. The feet stopped in front of her, and their owner crouched down. She held her breath.

"Vi?"

She let out the breath at the familiar voice.

"Trin?"

"Merquise! Khushrenada! Over here!" Trinity turned back to Violet, starting to remove some of the pieces of wood and tile from the pile covering the other girl. "Are you alright?"

"'side from th' brok'n ribs, th' headache, an' the fact tha' th' bloody ceiling jus' fell on me, I'm peachy."

Essien and Tretton joined Trinity in removing the chunks of ceiling.

"Wu'd som'un mind turn'n on th' bloody lights?"

The work paused for a moment as the three pilots looked at each other in shock, before resuming.

"The electricity is out, Violet." Tretton said, not mentioning the fact that the early morning sunlight was pouring into the room through one of the holes in the walls; now was not the time for Violet to find out that she was, at least temporarily, blind.

The work progressed quickly, and Vi was freed after ten minutes. Essien knelt down and placed his hands on Violet's ankles.

"Can you feel my hands?"

"Yup, an' would ye mind gittin' th' itch unner my left shoulder blade whilst yer at it?" Essien chuckled and complied. "Thank ye ever so much."

"Did you get the backboard and the neck-brace like I asked?" Trinity asked. Tretton got them from where he'd left them, and they carefully braced Violet's neck and negotiated her into the backboard, strapping her in securely.

"You were extremely lucky to be in here, Vi; this wing was completely destroyed, except that the bathroom's built like a bomb shelter.

"I don' feel p'rticul'rly lucky, Trin; the damn'd _shelter_ bombed _me_."

Tretton and Essien lifted the backboard, as Trinity opened the passageway to the lower levels, stepping into the elevator and holding the door opened for the others.

~*~

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO TAKE UNNECCISSARY RISKS, PILOT 06!!!!!!!" Brooks bellowed. Essien had been the first one through the entry to the lower levels, since the three of them had switched off during the walk, and Tretton and Trinity were now holding the litter; but no one saw that, since they were still in the tunnel.

"I just thought you might like to know that your _wife_ is still alive; though you might want to get her to the medic as quickly as possible, seeing as she certainly has a concussion, and she lost consciousness five minutes ago."

"What?"

"The missing pilots are accounted for; 03 and 07 are alive, though not well, and 04 was killed in the line of duty." Essien came the rest of the way in, followed by Tretton and Trinity with Violet. Violet had lost consciousness a few minutes before their arrival.

Essien pulled Brooks aside while the medics took Violet and Trinity to the med lab.

"You should be aware that Violet's at least temporarily blinded."

"What? Shit!"

"Also, I'm not sure how well Trinity can function, she saw Jackie gunned down. She was hysterical when we found her."

"Were the rumors of her relationship with 04 true?" Brooks asked.

Essien thought a moment before replying, "It doesn't matter."

"06, were the rumors of their fraternization _true_?" Brooks asked, authoritatively.

"You have no room to talk, Commander; you're married to one of your subordinates."

"We were married before we were enlisted, she isn't my direct subordinate, and, as I've proven, I don't let personal relationships stand in the way of duty."

"I noticed." Essien shot back, as he walked away. "It takes a very cold man to order the death of his own brother, and the abandonment of his wife."

"Not cold enough," Brooks whispered, turning to follow the medics.

~*~

After a battery of tests had proven that she was clear of drugs, tampering, or tracking devices, Trinity was sent to her new quarters, where she dropped into a devastated heap on the bed; crying out her broken heart until her eyes were nearly swollen shut.

Her tears had abated to soft whimpering when the door opened to admit Tretton and Essien.

"This is why they don't allow fraternization in the ranks, Trinity." Tretton said.

"Enough," Essien said. "She doesn't need this now."

"No, he's right." Trinity said. "If we hadn't slept together last night, Jackie wouldn't have died."

"You don't know that, Trin." Essien said. "The commander's going to ask you about it though."

"I'll tell him the truth." She choked back a sob.

Essien sat down on the bed and pulled the girl into his arms; Tretton followed suit and the girl fell asleep, cradled in the arms of her teammates.

~*~

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm afraid there probably isn't anything that can be done for 07's vision, there was significant brain damage in that area, and the concussion is only worsening it; we're lucky we could even wake her up. It's possible that the damage isn't as severe as it looks, but not likely."

"I understand." Brooks said. "And 03?"

"Physically she's fine, but psychologically…" The medic shrugged. "Only time will tell."

~*~

"We need to be sure that 08 is eliminated, before they have a chance to remove him from this base." Brooks said.

"How do we know he hasn't been already?" Conner asked.

"Surveillance indicates that none of the attackers have left the base yet." Brooks replied. "02, 09 and 11, you're with me. 13, hold down the fort. 13, 06, you are excused. Now by the images taken from the operational security cameras…"

Brook's voice was cut off as the door shut behind the other two pilots.

~*~

"I don't know why, but I have a very bad feeling about this mission." Tretton commented, as he and Tretton made their way to the mess hall.

"Maybe it's the overwhelming odds, or just the fact that the mission is to kill one of our teammates?" Essien commented. "Either way, I'm glad I'm not part of it."

They arrived at the mess hall, got their food, and sat down at one of the tables.

"You realize that there must be a leak, for them to have known where to find us." Tretton said. "Eliminating the 2GP would destroy any hope we have of defeating the Peacecraft Alliance in the near future."

"Perhaps; but if a few of us survive we should be able to hold them off long enough to finish training another group." Essien replied.

"Is that so?"

"Originally there were only five pilots, remember?"

"01 was trained as an assassin from childhood; 02 grew up on the streets, you have to be tenacious and lucky to survive that; 03 was raised by mercenaries; 04 had empathic abilities and an army to back him up; and 05 came from a warrior clan." Tretton said. "We are just elite soldiers."

"So, who do you think the leak is?"

"I don't know," Tretton replied. "If we get out of this, we'll have to weed him, her, or them out."

~*~

The beeping of his CU woke Essien from his sleep.

"06." He said into the device.

"We have an emergency," Brooks said. "Someone sent a message from communications."

~*~

Essien met Brooks and Tretton in the communications room.

"You realize that the only ones who have the codes to reactivate these consoles are the Commanding officers, who are dead, the other pilots, and ourselves?"

"Yes," Brooks said, grimly. "We have a traitor in the fold. 03, 07, 12, and the three of us are cleared; 03 was in the medlab having a few more tests done, 07 and 12 are incapacitated, you two were in the mess hall, and I was with 07. That leaves 02, 09, and 11 unaccounted for."

"I doubt it's 02," Tretton said. "Her grandmother is in the second Triad, she's dedicated, she has no motive to betray us."

"Okay, so it's pilot 09 or 11," Brooks said. "The camera outside this room is not operational, the same as the one outside pilot 11's room; if we find out were one of them was at the time that should give us enough evidence to arrest the traitor.

Essien pulled up the security video from the hallway outside Conner's room, backing up until he saw the man leave the room and walk down the hall; following his progress until he went into the area where the surveillance cameras were broken. He didn't come out of the area until after the message had been sent; the cameras also showed Arthur leaving around the same time.

"Now what?" Essien asked.

"We ask around." Tretton replied.

~*~

"Jared Conner, you are under arrest; the charge is treason." Brooks said calmly; as soldiers handcuffed the traitor's hands behind his back and led him from his quarters.

"I can't believe he got this far into the Entente Amity ranks without being detected." Tina Williams said, shaking her head. "The kids are going to be upset; they really liked him."

"There's no way to prevent them from finding out." Essien said; thinking of Nove, and the boy's friendship with Conner. Nove had always looked up to Pilot 09. "He'll be court-martialed, interrogated, and executed within a week of our arrival at Headquarters."

"Did you send a warning message to the Gundam Base?" Tina asked.

"Yes, I just hope we were in time."

"Damn it, they were just waiting for an opportunity like this!"

"02, 11, we're executing our mission immediately." Brooks said.

"I don't think that would wise, sir." Tretton said. "They know what you're trying to do…"

"Which is why it must be done now. They haven't mobilized yet."

~*~

Again, alarms sounded; though in a different base entirely.

Nove Merquise looked up from his book and removed his reading glasses, looking around at the other children in the rec. room.

Deltan Winner was looking up from the card game he'd been playing with his cousin (once removed) Tavia Bloom at the speaker above them with a look of concern. Deltan's other cousin (also once removed), Darcy (or D.C., as he preferred) Vincent looked up from the shoot-`em-up he was playing on the computer, with a snarl; then shut down the game and accessed the base's central information center. Natalie Quinn, D.C.'s `sister' did not look up from the book she was reading, though her body tensed slightly, and her right hand moved marginally closer to the sword leaning against the arm of her chair.

"Hey, Deltan; what's your sister's clearance code."

"That's classified information, D.C." Natalie commented. "What makes you think he has it?"

"You have it, don't you, Del?" D.C. said, in the smooth tone of voice he used when he wanted something, or when he was trying to pick someone up; a habit that Deltan, Tavia, and Nove were extremely uncomfortable with, Nove especially, since he was the one D.C. was usually trying to seduce. "I'm just trying to find out what's going on."

"Yeah, I have it." Deltan said. He rattled off a series of random numbers and letters.

"You memorized that?" D.C. sweatdropped. He punched in the code; his eyes widened as the messages appeared on the screen. "Bad news." He said, under his breath. "They're working on an evacuation plan."

"What!?!" Deltan shot to his feet.

"Yeah, Gundams and children first." D.C. said, opening some of the more classified files. "Oh shit." The way he said it had all of his companion's attention on him. "Eight hours ago, HQ received a general distress message from Lake Victoria; full scale attack, all commanding officers killed." D.C. looked at the stricken faces of his friends. "Half an hour ago, another message was received; this one was more complete.

"Jackie, Ken, and Jean are dead; Vi and Hank are permanently incapacitated; Trin is suspended, barring a full psychological evaluation; Jared turned traitor; Louis was captured, Brooks, Tina, and Kevin just went to terminate him. Evacuation of both the Gundam Base and HQ is advised.

"And we have just been attacked."

"Jared betrayed us?" Nove whispered, disbelievingly.

"Oh, no." Tavia whispered. "What'll we do?"

"We will wait right here until someone comes to get us," Natalie said, returning to her book. "There is nothing we can do." The room was silent as Nove, Deltan, and Tavia accepted Natalie's decision.

"Ch'! Like hell!" D.C. said, getting up and going to the door.

"D.C., what are you doing?" Tavia asked.

"Look, we know that we don't have enough mobile suits to hold up to an army; we were counting on secrecy and being able to use the Gundams if we -were discovered. The pilots aren't here, but they aren't the only ones with the training to pilot a Gundam, we used the simulators as well, the only thing we haven't done is actually pilot a Gundam, and the others said that there isn't that much difference; Hank is a very good programmer."

"Are you out of your mind?" Natalie asked; finally putting down her book and standing to face him. "Aside from the obvious fact that we could be killed, do you have any idea how much trouble we'll be in if we steal the Gundams?"

"A lot less than if the Alliance does."

"I'm coming too." Tavia said. Deltan nodded.

"We can stall them long enough to let the evacuation proceed and to protect the shuttles," Nove said. "I'm in."

"Natalie?" D.C. asked.

"You are all insane," She sighed. "And so am I, let's go."

~*~

Three figures darted through the hanger; one was male, one was female, and the third could not be determined because it was a small child.

The three spoke in hand gestures, and the child headed off to a room adjacent to the hanger. The boy and girl separated and each began to climb into the Gundams. Suddenly, a light came on.

"FREEZE!!!" D.C. shouted at the boy and girl, who were climbing into the cockpits of Wing and Starlight.

"Who are you?" Natalie demanded, exerting telekinetic force to keep the strangers from moving.

The boy looked at the girl, two pairs of cobalt blue eyes communicating silently.

"Heero Yuy." The boy replied. He had short dark-brown hair and wore a white tank and dark blue bike shorts.

"Relena Peacecraft." The girl said. She had long blond hair tied back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and wore violet leggings under a white leotard with a violet half-tank.

"Yeah, right," D.C. snorted. "And I'm Hoshiko Peacecraft."

"Those are our codenames, baka," the girl said, glaring. "We were trained by Admiral Une to pilot the Gundams, incase the 2GP didn't work out as planned. Obviously, it didn't."

"Oniisan, Oneesan, I found the Stealth." A small child came out of the adjacent room. She had chin-length silver hair and wore a black bodysuit with silver plating on various parts of her body; her eyes were the color of moltan gold.

"Hook up, Imouto-chan." Heero said, in an almost affectionate tone; then his eyes snapped back to the group in the hanger. "Let us go." Natalie let them go.

"We're coming with you," Deltan said. "We've trained as well."

"Hn." Heero went into Wing.

"Just stay out of our way," Relena warned, before entering Starlight, the seventh Gundam.

The little girl had gone back into the room already, and they heard the sounds of a Gundam powering up.

"I didn't know there was a fourteenth Gundam," Tavia said.

"Whatever," D.C. said. "Let's go."

They entered the Gundams they were most accustomed to: Deltan into Sandrock, 04; Tavia into Rainsong, 08; Nove into Wavebreaker, 09; D.C. into Lighteningstrike, 10; and Natalie entered Banshee, 12.

A panel between the adjacent room and the hanger opened, revealing a black mobile suit, approximately half the size of the Gundams.

"Report." Relena's voice came over the Gundams' CU's.

"Heero Yuy, 01."

Deltan caught on immediately. "Deltan Winner, 04."

"Relena Peacecraft, 07."

"Tavia Bloom, 08."

"Nove Merquise, 09."

"D.C. Vincent, 10."

"Natalie Quinn, 12."

"Elleve Knight, Stealth."

"Objective: Intercept enemies to allow evacuation." Relena said.

"Ninmu: Ryokai." Heero replied; the others followed suit.

Deltan felt a sense of familiarity. "This is fate," he whispered.

Brooks keyed open the door of the armored van while Tina and Kevin covered him; bullets thwacked against the metal of the truck as another group of soldiers noticed them. He opened the door and entered the truck, gun drawn and pointed into the darkness.

"Davis?" Brooks took out the compact flashlight and pointed it at the source of the voice.

"08." Brooks said, his voice steely; looking at the younger boy who lay on the floor of the truck, hands and feet cuffed.

"It's alright, brother," Louis said. "I understand," He pushed himself into a sitting position against the side of the vehicle. "They injected me half an hour ago, so it hasn't had time to take effect yet."

Breaker was a drug developed originally as a truth agent; however it has the side effect of destroying the chemistry of the brain, inducing a sudden, berserker rage seven hours after injection; five hours after it's half hour use as a truth agent has ended; causing brain death two days after injection.

Brooks knelt down and embraced his younger brother. "I'm sorry."

"Take care, Davis; grow old with Vi and have lots of kids, okay? And if it's not too much trouble, could you name your first son after me?"

"Of course," Brooks let go of Louis, stood up, and leveled the gun at his head. "Good-bye, little brother."

Louis smiled, as Brooks pulled the trigger.

"Let's go." Brooks said, as he exited the truck. Tina swung around the van door and fired off a couple of shots, before turning to face her commander.

"We'll have to return by way of the storage shed." She said. "There are too many back the way we came. 11 will cover us."

"What-"

"I can't walk, sir," Kevin said; indicating the bloody mess that was left of his knee. "I'll only slow you down, it's better if I make sure you two get out of here. I have a cyanide capsule, they won't get me."

"This way," 02 said; leading her commander away from the van. A lucky shot caught her in the back of the head.

~*~

The old man silently listened to the report from the Gundam Base, his dark gray and brown streaked hair tied back from his face in a ponytail. Another man sat in the chair behind him, listening as well; the left side of his face scarred, one missing eye hidden behind a patch, the three fingers of his left hand tapped against his prosthetic leg.

"Ryoukai," The scarred man said. "Send the evacuees and the Gundams to Space Station B793, as well as yourselves, we will meet you there."

"Are you sure you want to gather two of the Triads in the same place, sir?" The older, dark blonde haired woman on the communication screen asked.

"Not two, Vishnu, all three." He replied. "And yes, I am sure."

Vishnu nodded her head in acquiescence, then asked; "Have you heard from Secret regarding the-"

"Yes; there has been little progress."

Vishnu sighed. "That's a relief at least." Someone ran up behind her and whispered something in her ear urgently. "What!?! What do you mean the Gundams have been mobilized!?!"

The messenger looked nervous. "Seven of the Gundams, plus another, smaller suit just left the hanger and have engaged the enemy."

"But who's piloting them!?!"

"The children." The man with the ponytail said.

"That accounts for five of them, Silence, and there's only one person who can pilot the Stealth…But what about the other two?"

~*~

"Heero, Elleve, D.C, and Nove; engage the Ares suits," Relena said. "The rest of you, come with me, we need to protect the evacuation."

~*~

Brooks entered the base and was immediately escorted to the medical lab, were he was tested for the drug. After he was cleared, Tretton entered the room to speak to him.

"Sir?"

"02 and 11 were killed, the mission to terminate 08 was successful."

"I see." Tretton said. "We received a encrypted transmission from HQ; the Gundam Base and HQ are evacuating to one of the privet Space Stations; they didn't say which, of course. Seven of the Gundams were mobilized as backup, along with that smaller suit Admiral Une left at the base; the kids piloted them.

"Who were the other three?"

"Don't know; but they had sufficient training, and since only the two of us, Une, and the Triumvirate know about the Stealth, and the cockpit isn't big enough to hold an adult, I would assume that the kid who piloted it was trained by Une; the Triumvirate would _never_ willingly use a child in combat.

"Anyway, four of the Gundams are assisting the evacuation; the other four will be coming here, with as much backup as can be spared, once the base has been cleared."

~*~

"'ow `r you doin', Trin?" Vi asked.

"Okay, I guess…" Trinity replied softly; sitting in the chair beside the bed. "And you?"

"'taint so bad; I think I'm gettin' used to this blindness thing," Vi said. "I'm sorry about Jackie."

"We both knew it could happen."

"Dun' make it any easier, luv. Davis is no' going to ream you out, not if I have somethin' to say about it. Besides, it's not `is place anymore."

"What do you mean?" Trinity asked.

"Nearly half `is team is dead, two on a mission to kill a third who was also `is li'l brother; two others are injured beyond repair, one of them his wife; and one of his team turned traitor.

"Davis can't command anymore, `is feelings of guilt an' inadequacy won't let `im lead without doubting `is every move; further more, with only four members, the 2GP will likely be disbanded."

"I'm still fighting," Trinity said, firmly. "Even if I must fight alone."

~*~

It was sudden death, as Gundams and second generation Leos and Aries descended on the Hades Dolls and Ares suits. The explosions reached down to the underground levels causing lighting to flicker and glass to break; people grabbed onto the nearest thing they could find to steady themselves.

The fighting went on for fifteen minutes, then there was silence.

~*~

Essien sat by the communication monitors, waiting. Finally a transmission came through.

"This is Wing…come in Victoria…over."

Essien flipped on the visuals and studied the boy in the Gundam's cockpit.

"This is Victoria. Identify yourself."

"My codename is Heero Yuy."

"Indeed."

"The base is cleared; we leave as soon as your people are able."

~*~

"What the hell were you thinking?" Essien reprimanded D.C. and Nove when they were in the shuttle headed for a supposedly derelict space station called B793.

"We weren't going to just _sit_ there and let the enemy take the Gundams!" D.C. shouted.

"They needed more firepower to allow the evacuation; we could offer it." Nove said.

"They have a point, Essien." Tretton said. "Without them all of Gundams would have been taken, instead of just Hurricane." He frowned at D.C. and Nove. "Just don't do it again."

"Niisan, my head hurts!" Elleve said, groggily, climbing into Heero's lap.

"I can help," D.C. offered. "I know some pressure point techniques; shiatsu and the like." He sat down in the seat next to Heero and ran his hands through Elleve's hair, finding the pressure points on her cranium. His fingers brushed metal at the base of her scull; he brushed the hair aside and looked at the connection points in her skin. "She's a cyborg?"

"What?" Essien asked, coming over. Heero glared at both of them in turn and the little girl whimpered and shrank closer to him.

"Of course she is," Tretton said, as if stating the obvious.

"You knew?" Essien asked.

"Brooks and I studied the specs of the Stealth that were released to us by the third Triad." Tretton answered. "It's designed to connect directly to the pilot; but it was too small for an adult to pilot. We didn't know that there was already a pilot, though." He smiled winningly at Elleve. "And we certainly never suspected that the pilot was such an adorable young lady.

"Greetings, lady," Tretton said, bowing to her. "I am Tretton Khushrenada; pilot of Gundam 13, Epyon, and you are…?"

"Elleve Knight, pilot of Gundam Stealth." The little girl said, relaxing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Come on, let's see if we can't get rid of that headache," D.C. said, massaging the muscles of her neck and shoulders; initial surprise and discomfort forgotten.

~*~

"What happens now?" A woman with white hair and indigo eyes asked.

"We mourn, Fury." A black haired woman replied. "Some of us gave our children or grandchildren to our cause; some of those children are dead."

"We understand the loss of your granddaughter, Valkyrie," a man with gray-blonde hair said. "But our choice to enlist them was to prove that we were able to make sacrifices for the greater good, now we need to decide a course of action."

"We will not disband the Gundam Project," The scarred man said.

"With only four pilots there's no way we can continue," The youngest in the group; a man in his mid-fifties with graying light brown hair pointed out.

"Three pilots, Magi. 01 has tendered his resignation from the 2GP," Valkyrie said. "And given the circumstances, there is no reason to deny him."

"We have eleven pilots," A red haired woman with electric blue eyes pointed out. "The children are fully capable of piloting the Gundams."

"Who were the two unidentified pilots, Shiva?" The scarred man asked.

"Their code names are Heero Yuy and Relena Peacecraft," The gray-blonde man said, when Shiva directed a questioning glance at him.

"Video files?" The scarred man asked.

"Hope, show holos HY01 and RP07," The gray-blonde said.

"Acknowledged, Brahma." A female voice said. Two holographic images appeared in the center of the conference table.

"Hope, set up a meeting with Admiral Une." The scarred man said.

"Acknowledged, Chairman."

"You know them?" Shiva asked.

"It seems that the rumors of our involvement in the kidnapping of the Catalonia twins were accurate." Fury said.

~*~

Jared Conner sat up in his cot as the door to the detention room of the shuttle opened.

"Tell me it's all a misunderstanding, Jared," The boy at the door said, pleadingly.

"Nove…" he couldn't meet the dark haired boy's eyes.

"How could you do this?" Nove asked, shutting the door. "I…we trusted you!"

"It isn't as bad as it looks, Nove."

"Oh, well that's a relief," Nove growled, completely at odds with his usually reserved manner. "Because it looks like Treason! It looks like you've been working for the enemy! It looks like you're responsible for the deaths of a lot of people who considered you a friend! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU LIED TO ME!!!" Nove had been coming progressively closer to Jared as he spoke, and now he punched the older boy in the jaw.

Jared wiped the blood from his mouth with the hand that wasn't handcuffed to the cot; then he suddenly reached out, grabbed Nove by the front of his navy blue shirt, and pulled him down; locking lips with the younger boy.

Nove was too startled to think clearly. Reacting with instinct born of familiarity, he responded to the kiss, letting Jared's tongue part his lips and dance inside; Jared's hand slid up into Nove's hair, brushing through it. The kiss broke and Jared pulled back to study Nove's face; Nove's eyes were still shut, and there were tears streaking his cheeks, Jared brushed them away.

"It wasn't all a lie, Nove," Jared said. "I never meant for you to get hurt."

"You should have thought of that _before_ you betrayed us!" Nove said, slapping Jared. "Before you told them were to find us!"

"I had nothing to do with the attacks on the bases today." Jared said.

"It doesn't change the fact that you betrayed us," Nove replied, moving to the door. "And it doesn't change the fact that you're a dead man."

~*~

The shuttle docked and the passengers disembarked; Relena and the other kids were waiting, along with Silence, Fury, and Shiva.

Brooks, Trinity, Essien, and Tretton saluted the three adults.

"Commander Davis Brooks, your resignation has been accepted by the Triumvirate." Fury said. "We will discuss your reappointment tomorrow afternoon."

"Will the 2GP be disbanded?"

"In a manner of speaking," Shiva said. "Our plans will be delayed while we train a new group."

"That will take years!" Essien blurted out.

"Not really," Shiva replied. "The team will be composed of people who have already shown themselves as capable pilots."

"Us?" Deltan asked.

"Yes."

"NO!" Essien and Trinity opposed in unison.

"Grandfather, you can't be serious!!!" Trinity shouted at Silence. "I won't allow Deltan to fight... I... I can't... this is wrong!!!"

"We all must make sacrifices in the name of the future," Fury said. "If the children agree to this course of action themselves, we will allow them to pilot; as we allowed you."

"Hell yeah!" D.C. said. "You couldn't keep me out of this if you tried!!!"

"Then I suppose I'll have to come along to keep you from killing yourself in the process." Natalie said, in combined annoyance and affection.

"I liked piloting," Tavia said. "It was exhilarating; and I want to help end the war."

"I will pilot," Nove said. "And you could use my scientific expertise."

"This might sound stupid..." Deltan said. "But I have a feeling that this is our destiny."

"We will follow whatever your decision is," Relena said. "We were trained to follow your orders."

"You three should come with us; the Triumvirate has some questions."

"Of course." Relena said.

~*~

"A pleasure to see you, as always, Chairman." Admiral Une said, as the Chairman entered her office on the space station.

The Chairman walked up to her, his cane clicking against the floor; the cane was more for a show of status than to help him walk. He stopped in front of her, raised his right hand, and slapped her across the face.

"Do not trifle with my family again, Une."

"That's a fine thing, coming from someone who's waging a war against that very family," She smiled, rubbing her stinging cheek. "You should be glad that I got them away from the influence of their father; you didn't want them to turn out like their sister, Dorothy, did you?"

"I didn't want them to turn out like me, either."

~*~

"Shiva, I have something to ask of you," Nove said, as she turned to leave the docking bay with her son, Tretton.

"Yes, Nove?"

"In private."

"Of course," She said. "This way."

"I'm worried about Nove." Essien said.

"When aren't you?" Tretton asked.

~*~

~Hazil eyes shining out from behind carrot red hair, dancing with laughter...

Nove walked into the chamber along with Brooks, Trinity, Essien, Tretton, Admiral Une, and eight of the nine members of the Triumvirate.

~"I love you..."

~Honest indigo eyes watch the expression in those eyes turn to surprise...

~Then...

~A feather light kiss...

Nove stood next to Shiva as Jared was brought into the room; Jared's eyes widened when he saw him standing there.

~Strong arms around his waist, pulling him against a muscled chest...

~The kiss deepened...

"Jared Conner, you have been found guilty of treason," Shiva said. "The sentence is death by lethal injection, to be carried out immediately."

~He pulled the older boy down onto the bed with him, pulling off the blue military overcoat, hands roving over the silky skin as he unbuttoned the white dress shirt...

~The red haired boy pulled back...

~"Don't you think we're moving too fast?"

~"I..."

~"There's no hurry."

~A smile...

~"We'll have plenty of time when I get back from Lake Victoria."

~Lips brush over a closed eyelid...

~A promise...

"Do you have any last words?" Shiva asked.

~"I love you, Jared..."

"Yes," Jared said, his eyes turning to Nove.

~"I love you too, Nove."

"I don't want him to give the injection, he doesn't need that on his conscience."

~"I would never hurt you. You know that don't you?"

~"I know."

~Another kiss...

~"I trust you, Jared."

"It was his choice, I tried to talk him out of it." Shiva said.

Nove picked up the syringe.

~"I would never hurt you either..."

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'm begging you!!! (I even rhymed!!!)