“Mmmmm,” Nyah groaned.

“Come on, get up. Mr. Young is awaiting you in the mess hall.” She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Come on.”

Nyah looked up into the brown eyes of a woman. Nyah sat up to study her easier. She was Oriental, and looked Japanese. She was very beautiful. Nyah remembered something her father had said. “Oriental women are the most beautiful people in the world. Except for my little Nyah of coarse.” She forced away the feeling of remorse that arose.

The woman smiled and stood back as Nyah got up. “Where am I?”

“Didn’t they tell you? You’re at the base where you will begin your training.”

Nyah looked up at her. “Yes, but where am I?”

The woman sighed. “You’re far, far away from home. Don’t worry about it. You’ll probably enjoy your schedule. I know you love to learn. Now come on. Here.” She handed Nyah a jumpsuit. “Put that on. Tray will explain things more over breakfast.”

Nyah got dressed and they walked down the corridor in silence for a little while. “What is your name?” Nyah asked.

“Kaldea. I’m your physical trainer, hand-to-hand combat instructor and your schoolteacher.”

“Oh.” Combat? she thought. What could they possibly by training me for?

They went into a room that was filled with people, mostly sitting at long tables. There was a window in the wall at one end where they appeared to be serving food. Kaldea went over to a table where a man sat eating.

He looked up. “About time, Kaldea,” he grumbled.

“I’ll see you later Nyah,” Kaldea said, glaring at the man. “Be nice to her.” She left.

“Sit down,” he said gruffly. Nyah sat. He pushed something over to her. She looked at the ‘food’.

“It’s a little bad, but you’ll get used to it after awhile. My name’s Tray. Tray Young. I’m your instructor in everything except hand-to-hand combat and mobile suit piloting.”

“Mobile suit piloting?” she echoed.

“Yeah. You’re a little young, but they’re saying that you’ll do the best if we train you young.” He looked distracted.

“Who is saying this?” Nyah asked.

Tray looked back at her, wiping his face back to calm indifference. “Doesn’t matter,” he said.

Nyah sighed and looked down at her plate. She would have been sad but she was too confused to be sad.

“You’re probably confused, but that’s okay.” He glanced at his watch. “Come on,” he said, standing up.

They left the mess hall and walked down a corridor. Tray spoke in a business-like tone. “Your day will begin at oh-eight-hundred hours. Therefore, you’ll get up at oh-seven-thirty to get dressed, shower, eat, etcetera. You’ll have two hours of training with me, then you’ll go to Kaldea for two hours of school. Twelve to twelve fifteen is lunchtime. Then two hours and forty-five minutes mental training followed by two hours physical training. Then at seventeen hundred hours, off to the simulators for pilot training till twenty hundred. Then you have free time until twenty-two hundred. Which isn’t an accurate term, because you’ll have reading assignments to do then. You must be in bed by twenty-two hundred.”

They came to a door. It opened at their approach, revealing a large, white-paneled room. It was empty except for a desk in the middle. Tray moved to the wall and activated a switch. Lights flickered on and there was a whine as machinery powered up.

“With me, you’ll learn everything from setting explosives, to hacking into the most secure computer networks around. You’ll learn how to shoot everything from a twenty-two-caliber rifle, to a shoulder launched nuclear warhead.” He indicated the desk. “Sit down.” She obeyed. He walked over to the wall and entered a code. A panel slid open, revealing a variety of guns. He pulled a small handgun out and tossed it on the desk. “What is this?”

“A gun.”

“What kind?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“It’s a CM-7. A fairly old design, but still widely used because of its compact size and relative power.” Next he pulled out a clip of bullets and tossed them next to the gun. “Now see if you can load it.”

She looked up at him. “Why?” she said.

“Why not?” he answered.

She snorted. “Because I have no idea what is going on, that’s why. What am I being trained for? Who trains children in combat and weapons?”

To her surprise, Tray actually laughed. “Man, are you fiery.” He straightened his face. “But seriously. I know what kind of girl you are. Would you rather be playing with dolls? Even tinkering with old computers is under you. You’ll actually learn how to hack a computer. To perform tasks and physical maneuvers that you would never believe you could do. Here, you can expand your knowledge and your skills to incredible levels. Tell me you didn’t think you were being held back before.”

Nyah hesitated. The words did have a ring of truth. “But my parents. Marie? Why would they abandon me?”

Tray’s eyes grew dark. “I don’t know,” he said. “And I am sorry. But you can trust me. And Kaldea. And most everyone else that works here. We’ll take care of you. Just give us a chance.”

“And Doctor M?” Nyah asked.

Tray raised an eyebrow. “Hm. Perceptive to. You won’t have to worry about the good doctor. She doesn’t spend much time loitering around the base. Now…”

Nyah sighed, then reached down and slowly picked up the gun and clip and slid the clip into the butt of the gun as she’d seen in many movies and shows. It slid easily into place with a satisfying click.

“Good,” Tray said, businesslike again. “That’s all you need to do. Now stand at this line, cock it and shoot the target.” He indicated a line on the floor and a target at the other end of the room.

She pulled back as far as she could on the back of the gun. It moved easily and she let it slide back into place. She looked questioningly at Tray and he nodded. She aimed at the target and tentatively pulled the trigger. She almost dropped the gun as it jerked in her hand with a bang.

Tray grinned. “Lots louder than they are on TV, huh?”

She couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah.”

He indicated the target. “The gun jumped in your hand. The bullet hit high.” He stepped up next to her and gently positioned her hands and feet. “Always stand with your feet apart when you shoot. Hold the gun tightly with both hands. Keep your elbows bent, and your arms tight to absorb the recoil. Now, shoot again. Remember, you don’t have to reload.”

She aimed and pulled the trigger again. This time the bullet hit not more than a few millimeters from the center of the target. Tray looked impressed. “Good. Now, empty the clip as fast as you can. There are ten shots to a clip.”

She pulled the trigger repeatedly, making a cluster of holes around the center of the target. The gun clicked when there were no more bullets to shoot.

“Good. I can tell you’re going to move fast.” He handed her another clip. “Push this button to drop the empty clip, reload, and shoot again, this time with one hand.” She did as he said. “Remember,” he said. “When you shoot with one hand, it won’t be as stable. Try to compensate for this by accounting for the recoil when you aim.”

She emptied the clip again, with almost as much accuracy. “Good,” Tray said. “Now, you learn how to take it apart and clean it. Then you read all there is to know about it.”

Feeling somewhat excited she eagerly sat down at the desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, she walked through the halls alone. Reaching the door with the appropriate number, she walked in. It was a seemingly normal classroom, with a teacher’s desk and one smaller desk. Kaldea stood up from the teacher’s desk and smiled at her. “Nyah, have a seat.” She walked to the display panel as Nyah sat down. “I trust you learned a lot from Tray?”

Nyah nodded. “Yes. It was fun.”

Kaldea looked at her with an almost sad look. “You’re adjusting to the routine well then. Now, it’s time for school.”

Nyah waited patiently. Kaldea continued, shuffling through some papers. Nyah recognized them as her school papers, from her private tutor. She didn’t question how Kaldea got them.

“Pretty basic stuff. Reading, writing, arithmetic; you’ll probably finish those pretty fast. Some of your greatest weapons will be your knowledge of science and math, and your vocabulary.”

Nyah’s mind picked up something Kaldea said. Marie’s words echoed in her head. Your vocabulary will be one of the greatest instruments you ever have. Did it mean something?

Kaldea set a book down in front of Nyah. Great Expectations. “Your only homework here will be to read this for thirty minutes a night before you go to bed, which will be at exactly twenty-two hundred hours. Ten o’clock. Are you familiar with twenty-four hour time?”

Nyah nodded. “Tray explained the schedule to me.”

“Good. Read the book, write down any words you don’t know, and at the beginning of every class, we’ll go over them. The majority of our class will be spent on science, then math, then history. I don’t use books, save the novels you will read. You will listen, write, and memorize.” She smiled. “And, if you wish, I can teach you music. It’s not mandatory, but I find it really helps the intellect.”

“You mean, learn to play an instrument?”

“Yes, several if you wish. Plus the many aspects of music theory. It would mean doing it during your free time, but...”

“I’d love to.”

“Excellent.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the short lunch of re-sequenced protein supplements, she returned to Kaldea’s classroom. The desk was now gone, and the room was ringed with candles. Kaldea lowered the lights and lit a stick of incense.

“This is the time that you will spend developing your mind,” she said as she moved around, lighting the candles. “What we’re doing, is trying to activate a portion of your brain that isn’t normally used. This is called the latasphere. When you learn to access it, you’ll be able to perform a number of functions, such as; controlling your heart rate and brain waves, putting yourself into a state called suspended animation, where your body can live for several days without food, water, and several hours without air. And you’ll be able to do advanced calculations in your head incredibly fast. The program is called Meta-Enhanced-Efficiancy-Latasphere-Advancment or MEELA. It involves meditations, mental exercises, herbs, minerals, and incense smoke. These will also be used in your physical training to help get your body in excellent shape.”

Kaldea indicated for her to get up, then moved the desk over against the wall. She pulled out a thick blanket and indicated Nyah to sit down on it. She sat beside her and set in front of her several cups, measuring spoons and ingredients. She began carefully mixing them.

“This is ginko biloba, to enhance memory. It’s been soaking in a mixture of mineral water and an ancient Japanese formula called Kampira Sauce for the last fourteen days. Now, we add just the right amounts of ginseng, Chan bay, san astol, ashwaganda, and a few other things. These are all specially blended to balance your Vata, Pita, and Kapha.”

“What are those?” Nyah asked.

“An ancient Indian healing system called Ayurveda. Those are the three energy forces that move through your body.” She poured hot water into a cup and dumped the blend into it. “We’ll let that steep for awhile.” She reached behind her and brought forward a stack of books. She set one in front of Nyah. The girl struggled to read the title.

“Wu... sh...”

“Wu Shi Er Bing Fang. It means `Formula's For Fifty-Two Ailments.’ Then there’s Sho Kon Ron Bei Ji Zhou. Emergency Herbal Formulas to Keep Up Ones Sleeve. We’ll do a little bit of reading on these during class, to let you know how all of these herbs work.” She set the books aside. “Now, we’re going to learn how to meditate. Cross your legs, let your arms hang loosely at your sides, and close your eyes.” Nyah complied. “Now, take a deep breath, and try to relax your thoughts. Don’t think about anything in particular.”

Nyah felt herself relax as the smells from the incense and candles filled her nostrils, spreading through her body, relaxing her muscles. She took another deep breath, letting her senses relax, not focusing on anything.

“Good,” Kaldea whispered.

Nyah stayed like this for ten minutes more. When she opened her eyes, Kaldea smiled at her. “Very good. You have a lot of discipline for someone your age.” She handed the herbal tea to her. “Here. I’ve strained out all of the herbs.”

Nyah took a sip. “How is it?” Kaldea asked.

“It’s... Well, actually, it’s disgusting.”

Kaldea nodded. “It’s not supposed to be good. If it was good, then it would probably kill you.”

Nyah spat out the drink that she had just taken. Kaldea smiled. “Just kidding. Actually, it tastes different to everyone, depending on their dominant Ayurveda energy.”

Nyah nodded and took another sip. “What’s next?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Physical training. She and Kaldea had moved to a large gym, with a padded arena, track, and weights. They changed into loose fitting clothes and moved into the arena.

“You’ll learn from me, many forms of martial arts fighting. From Tai Chi Quan, to Ninjitsu, to fencing and knife throwing. We’ll start with the basic moves of Tai Chi Quan. It, Ninjitsu, and She Quan will be your primary forms of fighting. I’ll also teach you some things from Tai Quan Do, Jeet Kune Do, Pi Qua Quan, and Zui Bo Xian Quan.”

After two hours of martial arts, running, and weight lifting, she left Kaldea and moved to the simulator room for her flight training. She stepped into the room. It was just a corridor that ended in a blank wall with doors on both sides of it. Six in all. She hesitated and stepped into the corridor. It was empty. She started to open the first door when a door suddenly appeared in the seemingly blank wall at the end of the corridor. A young man stepped down into the hallway and looked up at Nyah. He smiled.

“Hi Nyah,” he said. “Come with me. Dr. M has you scheduled for a tour of the hanger. I’m Lieutenant Michael Edwards, and I’ll be your piloting instructor.”

She stepped over to him. “So Doctor M won’t be teaching me?” she asked, hoping the man would verify what Tray had said.

“She’ll come in every once in awhile, but I’ll be teaching you,” he said. “And besides, don’t ever tell her I said this, but she’s not that great a pilot. I am,” he said with a smile.

She held back a sigh of relief. “Okay.” She looked past him through the open door. It was a dimly lit hanger.

“Come on,” Michael said, indicating the door. “These sim rooms connect to the main hanger. This base has three hangers. You’ll become familiar with all of them.” He stepped up through the door and she followed.

The hanger was massive, sporting a main floor the size of a soccer field, with narrow catwalks thirty feet off the floor. Against one wall were several indentations, and in each one was a mobile suit. Nyah’s jaw dropped as she looked up at the machines.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Michael said.

She looked sharply up at him. “How is it that you have them? Are you with the Alliance?”

He shook his head. “No. I honestly don’t know where they came from, but I know that not even the Alliance has them. They’re called Taurus’. And they are absolutely sweet to fly.” He looked mischievously down at her. “Of coarse, they’re nothing compared to what's in store for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Come on kid.”

She let it drop and followed him. They moved up to the nearest Taurus. She followed him up the stairs to the catwalk which was level with the cockpit. He entered a code into a pad next to the armored plate and it swung open, revealing a dark gray steel door that slid upwards. Nyah stared into the dark cockpit. Michael motioned her into the chair.

She looked up at him. “What?”

“Go ahead. Just sit in the seat. I’ll explain the basic layout of the cockpit.”

She cautiously lowered herself into the soft seat. It was made of a material that she couldn’t identify, and it conformed to her body the moment she sat back.

Michael leaned through the door and pointed to the ‘dashboard’. “That main display is your radar. It shows you what's in the surrounding space for a radius of about two hundred and fifty kilometers. The actual controls are the flightsticks on your right and left...” she looked at the complex controls. “...and the pedals at your feet. They’re unfortunately very complex, but they have to be. What makes mobile suites so versatile, are its arms and legs, and they’re hard to control. You’ll learn though. And from what I hear, you’ll be great at it.”

Nyah finished studying the controls and looked up and him. “So how do you start it?”

Michael laughed out loud. “I can tell we’re not going to waste much time.” He pointed a series of switches to her left. “Flip all of those up one at a time.”

She toggled the switches and the cockpit came to life around her. The screen to her left flashed on and seemed to be running through a systems check. Michael confirmed this. “When all of those words turn green, its ready to go. Just hit that switch there.”

She looked where he indicated. She reached out for the small switch and flipped it. The suit rumbled around her as its engines and hydraulic motors were fed power. Nyah couldn’t help but grin as the seat vibrated beneath her. She placed her hands on the control sticks, feeling right at ease. Someday, she would fly this thing...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six years later

Nyah yanked back on the controls of her Gundam, pulling above the oncoming Leo’s. She pushed on the far left pedal, spinning her suit around to face the four suits. Then with precise thrusts, brought her powerful plasma rifle to bear on each of them, destroying them with a single blast. She threw her throttle forward and turned towards the next wave of Leo’s.

Roll, pitch, yaw, reduce throttle, arm two degrees down, fire. These thoughts rushed through her head as she effortlessly executed them. Two Leo’s managed to get behind her and she thrusted down to avoid fire from their over-sized automatic rifles. She flipped a switch on the left joystick and the left arm automatically grabbed a beam saber from its compartment in the right arm. She extended the arm to its full length and spun the suit to the left, slicing through both Leo’s.

She then thrusted forward and impaled the closest Leo and swung the right arm to take out another with her beam cannon. Suddenly all was quiet. Her threat system ceased its warning tones and her radar-lock light went dark. Then the controls in front of her vanished and all she saw was darkness.

She lifted the sim helmet off as the door to the room opened. Michael Edwards stood outside, grinning broadly. Nyah pulled herself out of the chair of the Odyssey simulator room and walked into the hallway, wiping the sweat from her brow.

“Awesome,” Michael said, clapping her on the shoulder. “One minute, twelve seconds. Well within the maximum limit. You’ll be ready.”

“Thanks,” Nyah replied. “At least in that area. I’m not so sure about the physical parts though. I mean, the other pilots in the program are all boys, and all older. How can I be better than them?”

“It’s not about being better than them. You just have to be proficient. And besides, just because they’re going to be stronger doesn’t meant they’re going to be better. I happen to know that Kaldea is the best martial arts fighter of all the trainers.”

Nyah grinned. “You’re just saying that because she’s your girlfriend.”

“Am not,” he protested. “She really is. Anyway, you’ll be ready.”

Nyah sighed. “Two weeks. I just can’t believe its all coming down to this. In two weeks, they decide if they’re going to use the six years of training at all. Its kinda weird.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, it is. Don’t worry about it though.” He glanced at his watch. “Come on, get to work kid,” he said playfully. “We’ve got to get the Odyssey’s arm reassembled by twenty-hundred hours.”

They moved down the short corridor to the door she’d first walked through six years ago and into the hanger. It looked the same as it had for her whole time there, aside from some minor differences. One of which was the tall blue-green Gundam which had part of its left arm missing. The past several months had been spent completely assembling the Odyssey from the blueprints designed by Doctor M, so she would learn where every single little bolt and screw went. She grabbed a towline and was winched up to the scaffolding around the arm and she went to work.

Two hours later, she screwed in the final screw and grinned triumphantly. “That’s it gentlemen, we are through.”

Several of the technicians high-fived her as they went by. She started to follow them down the latter, when a piece of piping holding the scaffolding together broke loose. Half of the structure collapsed, bringing the twelve-year old girl with it. She landed hard on her back and twisted aside just in time to avoid being smashed by the heavy structure. But she wasn’t entirely clear. A piece of piping landed directly on her right knee, smashing the bone and pining her there. She bit back a yell as the pain overwhelmed her. She called upon her training to hold back the pain and keep consciousness. She tried pulling her leg towards her tentatively. It didn’t move.

“Nyah!” Michael rushed towards her, fighting his way through the twisted metal. “Are you all right?”

She grunted, trying to speak without crying out. “I think my knee is broken. It’s pinned under this thing.”

Michael and three others reached her and tried to lift the scaffolding off. It raised a couple of inches and Nyah slid backwards.

Michael and a technician helped her to her feet and lifted her onto a stretcher that had been wheeled out. “How bad does it hurt?” Michael asked, looking at the blood soaking through the jump suit at her knee.

“Compared to what? I’ve never had anything hurt this bad before. I don’t even know if my pain-blocking techniques are working.”

“Well, you’re still conscious. That’s a good sign.”

“It might be better if I were unconscious.”

“Hey, now that’s not the way for a soldier to think. Tough it out.”

“Yeah. Let me see your gun for second and you tough it out.”

They wheeled her into the infirmary where a doctor was standing by. He quickly ripped the lower leg off of her jumpsuit and injected something into her thigh. She immediately felt the pain diminish and her head started to swim. “Michael, don’t let anyone touch Odyssey while I'm gone,” she said, feeling slightly silly. Then she slipped into unconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaldea stared down at Nyah’s unconscious form. Her bandaged knee was under the blue glow of a thermal-energy healer. The doctor had performed surgery, pulling out the pieces of her shattered kneecap and replacing it with a neo-titanium plate and placing various pins where the joint had been damaged. It was a very extensive break, he’d said. All of the structural damage would heal in about a week, but the knee wouldn’t be as good as it was for at least a month. Michael and Tray Young stood on either side of her. Michael had his arm draped over Kaldea’s shoulder. They all shared the same unspoken thought. How would this affect her testing?

The healing machine shut off and withdrew into its compartment beside the bed. The computer automatically injected a stimulant into her bloodstream, waking her up. Her eyes opened slowly and she surveyed the room. She started to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit and she sank back to the pillow.

“How long have I been out?” she said groggily.

“About fourteen hours,” Kaldea said.

Nyah looked alarmed. She looked at a wall clock, which read ten in the morning. She sighed. She looked down at her knee and winced. “How bad is it?”

“You’ll be off your feet for a week. You’ll need an hour a day of thermal-energy healing until all the structural damage is repaired, then physical therapy to get you back to normal,” Kaldea said.

“What about the testing?” Nyah asked bluntly.

Kaldea hesitated. No use lying. “Your knee will probably not be back to normal by then. We’ll just have to make sure you can pass the testing the way it is.”

Nyah nodded. “What do I do for a week?”

“Well, you’ll continue schooling and weapons training of coarse, and I think you’ll just do a lot of reading on mobile suits. If you want, we can spend some more time on music,” Kaldea said.

Nyah didn’t say anything. She could tell by the way they looked at her. This was going to be bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nyah walked her way on crutches to the acoustic grand piano that sat in the corner of the music room. She sat down awkwardly on the wooden bench and set the music she’d brought with her on the stand. Shifting so she could pedal with her left foot, she began to play. The empty room resounded with the first note, a deep, rich F, an octave and a fifth below middle C. The tone seemed to vibrate her very soul. Her MEELA programming let her keep the tempo at exactly the ninety-six beats per second the music dictated. To hear the exact amount of decibels between forte and mezzo-forte. But today, she ignored all of this. Now she let her feelings guide her hands. The music flowed more naturally than it ever had before. The title of the song sprang to her thought. Para Mai. For Mother.

She suddenly stopped playing. She tried to hold back tears but they wouldn’t stay behind her eyes. Kaldea came softly up beside her. “What is it?” she asked.

Nyah shook her head, wiping away the tears. Kaldea sat down beside her. “I miss my parents,” she finally said softly.

“Oh, Nyah…” Kaldea wrapped her arms around the girl and held her there. “It will be alright. Sometimes you just have to let things go. I understand how you feel, and its alright. Everything will work out fine.”

Nyah sniffed. She felt like she was six again. “I know.” She clamped down with her training to stop the tears from flowing and wiped her eyes. “I know. I’ll be okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day was here. Nyah sat aboard a Barton Foundation freighter that contained Odyssey. Her test was to destroy the Alliance space station called Barge. It would be a simple frontal assault, with her wiping out the station’s few escorts, then boarding the station and destroying it from within. The speaker above her chimed and a voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“We’re three minutes from the drop-off zone Nyah. Better suit up,” the pilot said. Nyah stood and moved to the back of the freighter. The door slid open, revealing Odyssey, lying on its back. She jumped in the low gravity to the cockpit and opened it. She lowered herself in and settled back in the seat, strapping herself in. She flexed her leg gingerly, feeling the brace on her knee with some worry. As Michael had said, she just had to tough it out.

She pulled on her helmet and fastened it securely to her flight suit. Every move was slow and deliberate. She flipped Odyssey’s systems on and did a self-diagnostic. Everything checked out fine. She flipped her comm on.

“Bridge, this is the Odyssey, I’m ready to go.”

“Roger that. Stand by to deploy.”

A moment later the bottom opened and Odyssey dropped from the belly of the freighter. Nyah immediately pushed her throttle to sixty percent and the powerful Verniays accelerated her towards her target. A few minutes later she was queried by Barge’s forward escorts, two space Leo’s. She let them close to visual range, then activated her jammers to keep them from sending long range transmissions. She slammed the throttle forward and pulled out her heat whip. She went passed a Leo and grabbed it with her whip and pulled it into the second Leo. Then she activated her shoulder Vulcan's and demolished them. She pulled her heat whip back and moved on to the space station.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael watched in satisfaction as she engaged the rest of Barge’s escorts. She preformed perfectly. They were watching the battle from a hidden probe that was broadcasting it to the base. He looked over at Dakim Barton to gauge his reaction. The head of the Barton Foundation said something to his assistant and Dr. M that Michael couldn’t hear, with a pleased look on his face. He looked over at Kaldea. She smiled at him looking almost relieved.

Nyah gracefully maneuvered the Gundam through the Alliance troops, leaving a trail of destruction, and carefully avoiding Barges defensive beam turrets. When Barge began to bring its main cannon to bear on her, she quickly moved off. Once she was out of sensor range, she activated the Gundam’s hyper-jamming system, scrambling the enemy sensors, and moved back in. This time, the enemy suits couldn’t lock onto her, couldn’t even track her, and she moved right up to Barge’s hull. She cut her way through a hanger door and the probe lost sight of her. The view switched to a camera Nyah had attached to her flight suit. She had exited the Gundam and was now entering the main part of the ship. Here was where the real test on her injury would be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nyah took out both guards at the hanger door with a chop to the neck. She then moved rapidly down the corridor. She heard the crackle of a radio ahead and moved off to the wall. Taking a deep breath, she took a running start and jumped to the wall, then off it, grabbing onto the piping overhead and pulled herself up on top of the row of pipes. The two guards would be able to see her in three... two...

She shifted, preparing to swing down, but suddenly her right leg gave way. She scrambled for a purchase, but fell from the piping. Right in front of the guards.

They reacted immediately, drawing their pistols and one bringing his radio to his face and calling in their location.

Nyah cursed inwardly as she attacked, finally knocking them unconscious. Then several more soldiers rounded the corner. She rolled out of the way as they started shooting and drew her CM-7. She fired back and the soldiers ducked for cover.

She heard the ear-piece she carried click. She was supposed to do this mission without help, but they’d given her way of contacting them in case of an emergency.

“Nyah, this is Kaldea. Get out of there now. They have you boxed in, abort mission. Repeat, abort mission, get out of there! Do you read? Nyah...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dakim Barton’s assistant pulled Kaldea from the console. Michael took a step towards him, but was held back by Tray. Dr. M moved up to Kaldea.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she yelled. “She’s supposed to do this on her own!”

Kaldea glared at her. “She’ll get killed if she doesn’t get out of there!”

“She can still complete the mission,” Dakim Barton said coldly. “Now keep your place!”

Kaldea was ready to say something else, but Michael pulled her back, glaring at Dakim and Dr. M.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But Nyah had heard the order and she was going to obey. She moved back into the hanger, exchanging fire with the Alliance soldiers. She berated herself, hoping she’d get another chance to prove herself. She’d be more careful about her knee next time. She closed the hanger door and locked it. She turned towards Odyssey just as several more soldiers stepped through an auxiliary door. She dove for cover behind an unmarked crate as they fired. She dropped the spent clip on her CM-7 and rammed a fresh one home. Looking over the crate, she quickly sized up the situation. Four people fanning out, trying to trap her. She brought out the remote for Odyssey and triggered the Gundam’s hydraulic system. There was a loud clank as the system came online. It was plenty to attract the men’s attention. Nyah jumped to the top of the crate and launched herself into the air, twisting around and landing on Odyssey’s opened armored plate the covered the cockpit. She fired down at the soldiers before they could react. They dove for cover and she slipped into the cockpit. She blew through the hanger door and jetted for home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The control room where Nyah’s teacher’s were was quiet. The probe had lost sight of Odyssey several minutes ago, but Dakim kept staring at the screen. Finally he looked up, his face unreadable.

“Take the girl into custody as soon as she arrives and make preparations to execute her,” he said to his assistant calmly.

Nyah’s teachers just stared, horrified. Dakim looked each one squarely in the eye. “All of you are dismissed. And remember, you swore an oath of loyalty to me. If you interfere...” he didn’t need to finish his sentence. Kaldea stormed out of the room, followed by Michael and Tray.

Dakim looked at Dr. M. “Have them closely watched.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~