No, this wasn’t the time to start regretting her actions. She’d just have to make sure to be careful about her knee next time. A technician named Dan walked up to the mobile suit, concern written on his face. “Nyah, what happened? Are you okay?” he called up.

She grabbed the tow line and lowered herself to the ground. “Yeah, I’m fine. My knee gave out on me and they boxed me in. I had to abort the mission.”

A look of horror crossed over Dan’s face. “Oh no,” he said.

She looked up and him, confused. “What...”

She was cut off as two uniformed Barton Foundation guards pushed past him. One moved behind Nyah, and before she could react, slapped restraints on her wrists. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Just come with us please,” the one in front said motioning her to follow him. She glanced worriedly at Dan. He just stood still, the same expression on his face. She followed the guards, moving her hands around in the restraints. The magnetic locks allowed her move a little, but prevented her from pulling her wrists apart.

She was escorted to her cabin. The guards removed the restraints and closed and locked the door behind her. She sat on her bunk, trying to imagine what this meant.

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

Dakim Barton and Dr. M watched Nyah on a monitor in the base control room. She was sitting with a book in front of her without moving her eyes, except to glance at the hidden camera she knew was there.

Dr. M took a deep breath. “She need not be executed. We can still use her. It was just chance that her injury prevented her from...”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Dakim interrupted shortly. “It was your and Marie Slogan’s idea to see if a girl could compete with our male pilots. I never thought she would be able to, and I see I was right.”

Dr. M sighed. “You never planned to make her part of the operation, did you?” She immediately bit her lip, knowing she’d stepped over the line. But Dekim just smiled slightly.

“No, I was initially very impressed. But she should have been able to deal with the injury. She obviously couldn’t handle the pain.”

Dr. M held back an angry response. Sexist pig, she thought. She knew Nyah could have been as good, even better than the male pilots. She tried another tactic.

“But after the loss of the Slandovich boy, don’t you think it would be wise to use all of the pilots we can get?”

He shook his head. “We have all we need. Heero Yuy alone has surpassed all of our expectations.” He smiled coldly. “Earth won’t stand a chance.”

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

Marie Slogan watched the meeting from her secret room on the Lunar Base. She’d suspected the sexist old man wouldn’t let her Nyah become a Gundam pilot. After he’d thrown her out of the Foundation, she’d made sure she could keep tabs on the girl’s training. She scoffed at Dakim’s mention of Heero Yuy. If she’d had her way, Nyah would have far surpassed Heero.

Maybe she could still... but no, she’d never be able to reach the colony before Nyah was executed. She sighed. Oh well. Her research within the still hidden OZ organization was proceeding well. Perhaps she could find another test subject for her project...

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

It had been almost three hours since she’d returned from the ill-fated mission. She hadn’t seen anyone, only heard the two guards outside her door. She’d almost finished her book, Tom Clancy’s The Hunt For Red October. She was supposed to be reading it for an overview of old politics and weapons systems. She doubted she’d absorbed very much. Her thoughts were racing around her head, trying to form an idea of what was to become of her.

She suddenly heard a muffled thump outside her door. Then another. The door opened. Kaldea came through the door, followed by Tray Young, each dragging an unconscious guard.

“Boy, am I glad to see you,” Nyah remarked. “What’s going on?”

Kaldea dropped the guard next to the bunk. “They’re going to execute you. We’re getting you out of here, Come on.”

“What?“ Nyah said, but quickly grabbed some belongings and followed Tray and Kaldea out of the door.

“We have to move quickly. I think we’re being watched,“ Tray said.

It was easy getting to the shuttle bay with her two experienced teachers. When they arrived, a shuttle’s engines were already humming. Michael stuck his head out the window.

“I’ve got everything all warmed up. It’s ready to fly.” He smiled at Nyah. “Hey kid. How’s it going?” he said using his typical way of addressing her. Kid. He acted like it was any other day.

She smiled back at him. “Fine. I mean of course, besides the fact that I heard that my employers are trying to kill me.”

He laughed and pulled his head back inside. Kaldea and Nyah stepped onto the shuttle.

“I’ll disable the bay doors,” Tray said. He smiled sadly up at Nyah. “Good luck,” he said. She smiled back and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I know how to take care of myself.”

“That you certainly do,” he said, reaching up and ruffling her hair. He moved off to the control room.

Michael was just completing the preflight check list as they walked through the cloth partition into the cockpit. He stood up. “She’s all ready to go.” He put an arm around each of the girls. “I’m gonna go make sure they can’t follow you. Keep in touch ladies.”

“Are you kidding? We‘re gonna have a blast, just the two of us. We‘ll probably forget all about you,” Kaldea said lightly, but she had a sag to her shoulders that betrayed her true feelings. Michael gave Nyah one last squeeze and kissed Kaldea on the cheek before walking out.

Kaldea stood still for a second, then moved briskly to the pilots seat. Nyah sat down beside her. Kaldea lifted the shuttle off the ground, and a few seconds later, the bay doors opened. The shuttled engines increased power and they flew through the doors into space.

Nyah looked at the view behind them, seeing the colony shrinking away. “So I never even left home,” she said softly to herself.

Kaldea glanced at her. “No,” she said with a smile. “You were only twenty kilometers from your old house.”

Nyah turned from the view bitterly. That was behind her. She needed to focus on the now. Her sensor panel beeped a warning. Four Taurus’ had been sent out, and were rapidly closing on the shuttle. Kaldea tried to coax more power from the engines, but the Taurus’ were far faster. Nyah studied her screen.

“They’ll be in firing range in thirty seconds,” she said. But the Taurus’ weren’t waiting. The first shot went wide, and the second nicked off the side of the shuttle. The weak blast did little damage, but is caused the little shuttle to rock slightly.

“Deploy counter measures,” Kaldea ordered and Nyah hit the appropriate switch. A small object dropped from the shuttle, fell behind, then exploded into huge flashes of light. This would render the suit’s sensors blind, as well as interfere with the electrical systems.

Unfortunately, the Taurus’ were ready for this, and passed straight through, unaffected. Kaldea threw the shuttle to the left as fire from their beam cannons swept passed. The shuttle jerked and spun out of control as it was hit squarely. Kaldea brought it back under control just as a Taurus sped passed and deployed out of flight mode. It turned leisurely towards them, activating its beam saber and raising it high. Nyah winced involuntarily as the blank ‘face’ loomed in front of them. But before it could strike, the Taurus exploded.

The menacing shape of the Odyssey swooped past and fired again, hitting a second suit before it could react. The other two scattered.

A voice came over the speakers. “Come on you guys, get moving,” Michael said.

Kaldea turned the shuttle back on coarse and opened a channel. “Michael, get out of there, they have more coming!”

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

Michael easily dodged a blow from a beam saber. “Not yet. You still need another two minutes to get within range of the Alliance station. They won’t follow you past that point.”

He glanced at his radar and winced. It looked like at least sixty Leos and Taurus’ had been launched from the colony. That was almost the whole extent of this colony’s forces. He glanced at the status board. The engines were only running at about sixty percent power, and the Vulcan cannons didn’t have any ammunition. The plasma rifle was only twenty-five percent charged and the main Gundanium armor hadn’t been installed yet. He couldn’t fight that many suits. He’d just have to stay between them and the shuttle for another two minutes.

One of the remaining Taurus’ rushed at him while the other tried to get around him. He turned away from the first Taurus and fired a shot at the second. He waited for the first one to rush at his back, and activated his beam saber, spinning it around and cleaving the suit in half. He accelerated after the second suit and stabbed the saber into its engines. The Taurus exploded.

He turned to face the oncoming suits. Some of them rushed straight towards him while others went after the shuttle. He raised Odyssey’s shield as fire began to pelt the Gundam. The shield was still only a frame of steel and titanium. It provided some protection, but not much. He fired a few shots at the suits trying to go around him. Glancing again at the status board, he saw he had no more than five or six shots left with the rifle. He pushed the engines ahead and moved in front of the suits. He fired into the mass until the energy level dropped to zero, then plowed in with the beam saber.

He was immediately jerked around as fire hit him from all directions. He destroyed one suit, then another. Sparks flew from a cable above him and a piece of shrapnel cracked his helmet. Still in one piece though. He dodged a blast and swung the saber again, slicing a suit’s arm off. He glanced at the clock. Just another forty seconds. The view screen in front of him sparked and shattered as a blast of energy hit the cockpit. He heard the hiss of escaping air and felt a sharp pain in his chest. No doubt several shards and penetrated his flight suit. He could feel the cold of space start to creep through his body. He was already dead. Kaldea and Nyah just needed twenty seconds more.

He tested the controls. Useless. His radar showed him several blips breaking off and heading for the shuttle. One last chance. With his right hand, he smashed the glass plate over the self-destruct button and pushed it. He heard a low whine begin to build as the suit’s reactor began to overload. He sat back. It was all he could do. Would it be enough? It would have to be. Yeah, it...

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

Nyah and Kaldea watched as the Odyssey exploded, ripping apart space and taking the surrounding mobile suits with it. A rippling shock wave spread from the explosion and washed over the shuttle, sending it spinning. Kaldea and Nyah held fast to their consoles as the cockpit sparked around them. The lights went out, and few seconds later, red emergency lights came on. Nyah looked at Kaldea in the hazy red gloom as the shuttle stabilized itself. She had her head down, staring blankly ahead. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Nyah moved over to her and put her arm around Kaldea’s shoulder. Kaldea raised her head and met Nyah’s eyes.

“I‘m sorry,” Nyah said quietly.

“Yeah,” Kaldea said her voice quivering slightly. “So am I.” She broke off and looked at the display. “Come on. There’s a colony just a few hours from here. You’ll go into an escape pod and I’ll jettison it as we go by.”

Nyah looked at her. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t... I don’t know yet. I just need to be alone.”

Three hours later, Nyah moved to the escape pod. Kaldea strapped her in to the seat. “Nyah,” she said. “You... you have to get these people. Bring Dekim and all of the Barton Foundation down. You have the skills; use them.”

Nyah nodded. She gave Kaldea a small smile. Then Kaldea sealed the door and jettisoned the pod towards an unknown destiny.

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

Marie Slogan looked at the report on the Barton Foundation computer she had hacked. So Nyah had escaped. They’d lost their shuttle somewhere in the L3 colony cluster. By now she could be at several different colonies and half way to Earth. If she could find her, she could continue her project to make her better than Heero Yuy. New possibilities raced through her mind. She couldn’t effectively search by herself though. She’d need some help. She’d need some of the Alliance’s resources. But who within OZ could use them without arousing suspicion? Treize Khushrenada could of coarse, but how to get to him? Then she realized she had a line strait to Treize. Zechs Merquise. Yes, he could do it. And who better to ask him than her one and only fellow conspirator currently at the Lunar Base.

She toggled her comm. “Slogan to Lieutenant Noin. Could I see you for a moment please?”

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

With high expectations, human beings leave Earth to begin a new life in space colonies. However, the United Earth Sphere Alliance gains great military power and soon seizes control of one colony after another, in the name of justice and peace.

The year is After Colony 195. Operation Meteor; in a move to counter the Alliance’s tyranny, rebel citizens from certain colonies schemed to bring new arsenals to the Earth, disguising them as shooting stars. However, the Alliance headquarters catches on to this operation...

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

Calder Slandovich watched with interest as the young girl moved up to the fruit stand. Yep, it looked like she was going for a couple of bags of apples. He’d been living on the streets for almost two months now, and knew it was not a good idea to steal from that particular stand. The vendor had an uncanny sense

of what was going on around him and a nasty disposition.

But there was something odd about the way the girl moved. Only a trained person would recognize it, but she seemed to have perfect balance, and she moved with unnatural grace. He casually moved closer to watch, his steel-blue eyes never blinking.

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

Nyah watched the vendor closely as she pretended to browse the selection of fruit. She’d quickly discovered that she would have to steal to survive. Either that or be interrogated by the Alliance. Her escape pod had been dragged in by a work crew and she’d been taken to a hospital. When she’d heard an Alliance representative would be coming to question her, she’d wasted no time in escaping with only a her backpack filled with some books and clothes.

There. The vendor had his back turned.

She swiftly grabbed a bag of apples and brought it close to her. She moved away from the stand, trying not to hurry. She’d gone ten feet when a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her around.

The vendor glared at her. “Those don’t belong to you,” he hissed. He had horrible breath. “You bloody kids always trying to steal from me.” He shook her roughly with each word. The people around them were carefully ignoring the interaction.

She considered trying to break his wrist, but the man a good grip on her shoulder, and the hand felt very strong. A flash of movement caught her eye over the vendor’s shoulder. A tall, lanky boy of about fourteen walked casually behind the vendor and grabbed two bags of apples.

The vendor took Nyah’s bag from her hand and turned back to his stand. As the boy walked past, he tossed one of the bags to her with a wink. Nyah glanced at the vendor, then took out an apple and pegged him squarely in the head. He turned around angrily, his face going beet-red. The boy looked startled then started laughing. The vendor started to move towards them. Still laughing, the boy grabbed her arm and pulled her into a run. They dodged through the crowd, the vendor puffing along behind them, calling for help. Two police men made a bee-line to cut them off.

Nyah followed the boy closely as he dodged agilely through the various stands, then into an alley. To her surprise, he jumped off the side wall and flipped up onto a fire-escape. He reached down to help her up, but she ignored his hand and performed the same maneuver, landing beside him. He looked impressed and pulled her into a dark corner of the building.

One of the police officers jogged part way down the alley, looked around, then went back to the main street. They stood still for a second, then the boy startled laughing. He jumped back down to the alley floor and Nyah followed him.

He continued giggling as he started walking back to the street. He shook his head. “I go and risk my life to grab you some apples, giving you the opportunity to get away clean, and you go and peg the vendor.” He bit into an apple as he ambled jauntily down the sidewalk.

Nyah shrugged as she came up beside him. “He deserved it.” she said.

He laughed again. “Yeah, you sure showed him.”

She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “Well anyway, thanks,” she said and started to move off.

He grabber her arm. “Hang on second. I’ve gotta find out where you learned to pull a move like that. I mean, that’s not something you can just pick up.”

“Where did you learn to do it then?” she countered.

He grinned slyly. “I asked you first.”

She didn’t say anything. He shrugged. “Well anyway, I just thought we might try and work together, seeing as how you’re so capable. I know you’d probably be able to get along on your own fine, but believe me, it’s tough. It would be better for both of us if we worked together.”

She hesitated. She didn’t like working with anyone. She tended to think anyone else would just slow her down. But with him maybe...

“What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“Well, as you can see, it’s a lot easier to steal food with two people. But we could do a lot more than that too.”

She thought about it. “Maybe. But first of all, prove to me that you can benefit me. Then we’ll talk.”

He grinned. “Come on. My place isn’t far. By the way, what’s your name?”

She wondered what he meant by ‘his place’. “Nyah. My last name isn’t really relevant any more.”

“No, I suppose it’s not. I’m Calder,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

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

Nyah sat on an old mattress in the burned-out basement of an old hardware store. Calder was pulling a canvas cover off of some kind of machine. She didn’t recognize it.

“I spent two months scrounging up enough materials to build it,” Calder said. “I recently finished it and have just needed someone to help me with it. It uses silicon, potassium nitrate, quartz, and a little salt to make…” he opened a drawer and pulled out a box with a small crystal in it. Nyah picked it up and studied it.

“Trilithium?” she asked.

“Yup,” Calder said, grinning. “Looks a lot like it anyway. I took it around to six metallurgist’s. Five thought it was the real thing. One thought it was lithium sulfate. Anyway, we could sell this on the black market. I already have a buyer.”

Nyah thought for a moment. “And you needed me to back up the deals, make sure they were executed fairly.”

“Right. With our skills combined, I don’t think they could throw anything at us we couldn’t handle.”

“And the profits?”

Calder didn’t hesitate. “Fifty-fifty.”

Nyah looked up and met his playful eyes. Could she trust him? Her instincts told her she could. “You’ve got yourself a partner,” she said with the slightest hint of a smile.

Calder didn’t hold his grin back and he reached out and shook her hand. “Great.” He pulled up a bean-bag chair and sat across from her. “And with any luck, we can get this dump some nice chairs.” His face went serious and his unblinking eyes were suddenly very penetrating as he stared at her. She saw how misleading his joviality could be.

“Nyah, I respect your privacy. But if you ever feel like telling me your past, it might make things run smoother,” he said.

She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I was taken from my family when I was six and trained to be a soldier,” she said.

His eyes narrowed. “Well, well. Do the words ’Barton Foundation’ mean anything to you?”

She just nodded. “A political dynasty lead by Dekim Barton.”

“Right. Then they were the ones that took you?”

She nodded again.

“Well it looks like we have a lot more in common than I thought,” he said. He thought a moment. “Let me take a leap of faith here. I was engineered in a laboratory, not born naturally. My parents did this to make me the perfect subject for experimentation. I was given implants in my brain to give me enhanced vision, hearing, smell, and reflexes, and a chip to enhance memory. I was lucky to have survived any of these procedures. So you can imagine I’m not what you’d call a loving person.”

He took a breath. “My parents were fascinated with the human brain, wanted to see what it was capable of. Through whatever sources they used, they found out about this system that would enhance the human brain and that it was controlled by the Barton Foundation. They made sure I was noticed and recruited by the Foundation. When my training was mostly completed, I took my Gundam to my parents along with the system.” His eyes looked hollow. “It took me a month to recover from only a week of testing. I don’t even remember how I left, but I did. Then I ended up here.”

Nyah nodded. “Well your personality suggests that you suffered no ill effect.”

He smiled. “Hey, you do have a sense of humor.”

Nyah proceeded to tell him her story. After she finished he nodded emphatically. “All because one little slip up,” he said, shaking his head. “To take a child, train her to kill, and then discard her when it didn’t turn out right…”

“I know,” Nyah said. “And I’m going to get back at them someday.”

Calder stared hard at her. “That’s not going to be an easy task.”

“I know. But I promised my teacher. After I was taken, Kaldea was the closest thing I had to a mother.”

Calder nodded. “I can’t say I understand what having an actual mother is like, but I can understand that you respected her.” He regarded her with a sardonic grin. “Well, revenge aside, I think this will be profitable relationship.”

Nyah raised her glass in a mock salute. “Here’s to fake trilithium,” she said with a grin.

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

Two months later

Nyah stood against the wall, watching the market crowd pass by. She spotted what she was looking for and moved into the flow of traffic. She stepped up to the well-dressed woman and gave a slight bow.

“Excuse me ma’am, but I was wondering if I might trouble you for some change,” she said in her most pleasant voice.

The woman looked at her briefly but continued walking without saying anything. Nyah went to step two. “No? All right, thanks anyway. Hey, is that Armani?”

The woman looked back at her startled. “Why... yes, it is,” she said, fingering her coat. She couldn’t keep the surprise off her face.

Nyah moved closer. “Wow, that is a beautiful jacket. I didn’t think they made real mink anymore. And I must say, it compliments your eyes magnificently.” Nyah inwardly flinched at the realization of the coat’s material.

The woman flushed and smiled. “Why... thank you.” She hesitated. “Did... did you say you needed some money?”

“Oh,” Nyah said. “Well, my mom forgot to give me shuttle fair. But, I could always, you know, spend the night here.” She looked up in the ladies face expectantly.

“Spend the night here? Absolutely not. Here.” She gave Nyah a bill. “Now remember to get your shuttle fair next time.”

“Thank you very much ma’am! My mother will never forget this!” As the lady passed, Nyah easily slipped her wallet out of her purse. “Thank you again!” she yelled.

She moved down the street towards a bench where a man in his early forties sat. He was wearing a tattered pullover, rubber boots and his unshaven face and body odor said he didn’t often have access to toiletries. Nyah stopped in front of him. “Hey Charles,” she said, taking a few bills from her pockets and handing them to the homeless man.

“Thanks Nyah. What would I do without you?” he said, pocketing the money.

“Probably be working like a respectable person,” Nyah said jokingly.

“Oh, just like you do, eh?” Charles said with a laugh. “I got interviewed for that mechanics position.”

“Awesome. Let me know how it goes.”

“Will do. Take care.”

Nyah smiled, and went to look for Calder.

A few minutes later she spotted him. She sat down at a bench and watched him pull the wallets from a richly dressed couple who were concentrating very hard on each other. Calder spotted her and meandered over.

“Hey. How’d it go?” he asked, sitting beside her.

She pulled open her backpack and indicated the pile of wallets there. He grinned and dumped his backpack into hers. “Nice haul.” He checked his watch. “We’d better hurry and stow the cash.”

Nyah nodded and shoved the stray wallets back into her backpack. They started down the streets, dodging the many people.

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

Marco Cappella was one of the leading pawn brokers in the city. Most of the stuff he sold was illegal, like the trilithium that Nyah and Calder sold to him. Thanks to Calder‘s machine, they could cheaply fake the precious material and sell it for a huge profit.

“We really should get a new house,” Nyah said as they reached the basement of hardware store.

“Nah. We’ve got all we need here,” Calder replied. They had this conversation practically everyday. Calder was fond of their home. And it had certainly been improved over the two months since Nyah had come. It now had a couch, beds, refrigerator, tables and chairs, even a TV.

Nyah set the backpack on the table and collapsed on the couch. Calder pulled a couple of Dr. Peppers out of the refrigerator and tossed one to Nyah. She opened it and took a grateful sip. Calder looked at his watch.

“They’ll be here in a little over an hour,” he said, flopping down next to her. “Is the police radio fixed?”

“Yep. I’ll be monitoring the frequencies,” Nyah replied. “And the tracking devise is...” she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

The door was slammed off its hinges and the menacing form of an assault rifle was brought to bear. Calder and Nyah reacted immediately. They rolled off either side of the couch as bullets from the rifle filled the air with stuffing. Nyah flipped the coffee table onto its side, using it as a temporary shield as she went for the hidden compartment where her CM-7 was.

She got to the compartment just as another attacker dropped through the roof. He brought up his weapon, but she kicked out his knee before he could react, grabbing his rifle as he fell and hitting him squarely in the side of the head. She poked her head above the coffee table and fired the rifle at the first guy, sending him scurrying for cover.

Calder had reached his own hidden gun. He fired a couple of shots as he moved to the couch. He pushed it aside, revealing a trapdoor. He opened it while Nyah provided cover fire. She grabbed the wallet off the one she’d knocked unconscious and followed Calder into the hole. Calder closed and locked the door behind them. They ran quickly down the dirt tunnel. After a couple hundred meters, it ended with a ladder. Calder climbed it quickly and slowly opened another trapdoor. After a quick look around, he pulled himself up and motioned to Nyah. She left the assault rifle and climbed the ladder.

He glanced at the I.D. she’d pulled from to wallet. He sighed. “Cappella’s men. They must have found out the trilithium was fake.”

Nyah moved to the door of the small shed they were in, and looked out. Several men walked out of the alley their house was in and were looking around for them.

“Were those two all they sent in?” she asked.

Calder seemed to be listening. His eyes went wide and he grabbed Nyah, pushing her out the door just as the trapdoor was thrown open from the tunnel below. They ran out of the shed and through the open stretch of dirt, pursued by three men. The others saw and moved to intercept them. One of the men behind them dove and caught Nyah by the ankle, but she twisted out of his grasp and ran. She heard Calder keeping pace beside her so she kept running, dodging through the streets that she had come to know so well in her time here.

They were grown men, but these guards weren’t accustomed to having to chase their targets. They usually could just barge in and shoot and be done with it. They were having trouble keeping up, but they still outnumbered the former pilots.

Nyah adjusted her direction a little and headed for Central Square, where there were plenty of people, even in the late evening.

“We should be flattered.” Calder said haltingly. “This many people for just two kids.”

“Well, let’s show them that they didn’t use enough,” Nyah replied.

They entered Central Square and got into a group of people. Nyah looked around breathing hard, and the huge TV caught her eye. On it were five mobile suits. Everyone in the huge area stopped talking and listened to the man on the screen.

“The mobile suits known as Gundams, sent by the colonies as a retaliatory operation for the assassination of pacifist colony leader Heero Yuy, have initiated a series of attacks of OZ facilities. The Gundams have been dormant for over a month now, after their defeat in Siberia, but are now attacking with full force. Delegations from several colonies have made public statements, condemning the actions of the Gundams and denying any connection with them.”

Nyah caught Calder’s eye and smiled. “Hey, we could have been on TV.”

He grinned back, keeping an eye on the men still searching the crowd. The words the announcer had said echoed in his head. Condemning their actions and denying any connection with them. He’d never hated the Alliance, having been but a pet to his parents and never learning about politics, but the statement angered him. Were the colonies really going to believe that OZ was going to be different than the Alliance? Nyah felt the same way. She knew Operation Meteor hadn’t originally been to fight on the colonies behalf, but someone had obviously taken this directive. Couldn’t the colonies see that? But there were matters at hand to deal with.

They moved out of the square and walked casually through the crowd. After they were sure they weren’t being followed, they turned towards home.

“Well... now what?” Nyah said.

Calder glanced down at her with a small laugh. “ ‘Now what’, you ask. Well, numero uno, nummer eince, and number one, we need a new hiding place. Cappella isn’t going to give up just like that.”

They rounded a corner into an alley way. “It would definitely be a good idea to get a couple city sections away,” Calder continued. “Off this colony if we can. And then we need...”

His eyes caught a pinpoint of red on Nyah’s forehead. He dove on top of her, knocking her to the ground as a shot rang out. They quickly rolled to either side of the alley, taking shelter behind various trashcans. Nyah motioned for Calder to cross over. He started to stand up, but his left leg suddenly collapsed. He slumped back down and looked and his leg. The bullet had penetrated just below his hip. The leg was practically useless. Nyah saw this and gritted her teeth. She peeked her head around the corner of her shelter. A glint of laser light caught her eye and she immediately jerked her head back as a bullet sparked off the metal next to her.

She shot another look at Calder. He was pulling himself towards the escape ladder hanging slightly behind him. Nyah saw his plan.

She took a deep breath and stuck her hands up above the trash cans. No one fired. “Hey,” she called out. She slowly stood up. Two laser sights immediately played over her head. “Let me ask you guys something. Where were you trained?”

The lasers wavered and lowered. Good. She’d confused them a little. She could now see the two snipers spaced about ten meters apart, perched on top of the building in front of them.

“I mean, I didn’t think any agencies were stupid enough to send people to someone like Cappella who weren’t at least level six security.” The two rifles were immediately pulled up and red dots appeared on her head.

“Um, well,” she continued. “It’s not you guys’ fault. You’re probably level five, five and a half, you know, almost experts. But I mean come on, you aren’t even using MR-60 snipers. When are those from, the fifties or something?” The rifles lowered again. Now the men were just amused.

Nyah began casually moving her fingers. To the snipers it would look random, but she was actually signaling positions to Calder. She continued. “And only two axis bracketing? I don’t know guys, this gives us...” she shrugged. “...three ways to escape. Now if you had...” Suddenly they opened fire and she ducked back down. She heard one of them talking on a radio.

“Control, we need two more sniper positions on the target, over.”

Nyah smirked. “I’m flattered that you took my advise but...” She looked over her shoulder, “...to late.”

Two gunshots rang out and the snipers fell to the ground, shot directly through the head. Nyah winced. Calder typically had a great personality, but she knew his upbringing and training had made him very ruthless.

He slid back down the fire escape landing on his good leg, his face expressionless. She slung his arm over her shoulder and they hobbled towards the opposite end of the alley. They were almost to the street outside when several dark forms suddenly dropped down in front of them, leveling weapons at Nyah and Calder.

They froze. Nyah quickly looked around. There was no escape. She had heard about all the people Cappella had killed, but him killing her was incomprehensible.

“Nice. Much better,” she said. Mentally she was kicking herself for being so careless.

“Your wit has been your undoing my friend,” one of the people said, her finger moving to the trigger. “Say good night.”

A gun shot echoed through the alley and Nyah winced involuntarily, then opened her eyes. The woman was still standing, her eyes wide with shock. Her hand went to her chest and came away bloody. Then she collapsed. Calder moved first, raising his pistol and shooting three before they could react. Two more fell by Nyah’s hand and the rest were shot by the someone up above them. Nyah looked up just as someone dropped down from the catwalk above, landing in front of them. There was a pause and the figured turned to face them.

With a cold tremor, Nyah realized she already knew who it was. “Marie?” she whispered.

“Who is that?” Calder asked in a low voice.

“Marie Slogan. She used to be my nanny.”

Calder raised an eyebrow. “Hmm. Your parents must have been paranoid, eh?”

Nyah was to shocked to laugh. Marie smiled at her. “Hello Nyah.”

Nyah was at a loss for words. Her old companion looked exactly as she remembered her, yet infinitely different. She tried to speak. “How...” she choked on the words. It was like she was suddenly six again.

“Let’s just say I’ve been a little busy since you left,” Marie said.

Suddenly Nyah knew exactly what she wanted to say. A burning desire filled her that she thought she had forgotten long ago. “Marie,” she said. “What happened to my parents?”

Marie’s eyes wavered. She didn’t meet Nyah’s gaze. “I‘m sorry to be the one to tell you. They were killed. About seven months ago.” Marie waited for the rush of emotion to come into Nyah’s eyes, but none did. Good. The less emotion she felt, the better.

“What are you doing here?” Calder asked.

Marie glanced at him as if seeing him for the first time. “Who is this?” she asked Nyah. Calder’s eyes narrowed when she didn’t speak to him directly.

“My friend. He kind of took me in when I first came here.”

Calder nodded to her. “I’m Calder.” He didn’t bother to hide his suspicion. Marie noted this as she nodded back. “Pleasure to meet you. In answer to your question, I’ve been looking for Nyah for quite some time. I’m glad I found her when I did.”

Calder smirked. “Yeah, me too.” He glanced at Nyah, the question plainly written on his face. Do you trust her? She just nodded, indicating she understood his concern. Nyah didn’t trust her.

“Shall we discuss this over dinner?” Marie asked.

“Yeah sure,” Nyah answered. She glanced at Calder.

“And I can get your friend to a hospital,” Marie added, glancing at Calder’s leg.

Calder smiled tightly. “That‘d be nice.”

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

“What are you really doing here?” Nyah said. Marie had taken Calder to a hospital and once Nyah was sure Calder was going to be fine, Marie took her to dinner.

“Like I said, looking for you.” Marie smiled at her. “You look a lot like your mother.”

Nyah took a bite of her dinner. “That’s not what I asked.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve figured this out, but I wasn‘t exactly at your house to be your ‘nanny’. I was part of Operation Meteor. The one you were recruited for. I was there to bring you in for training. And I did. But I’m not part of that anymore. I’ve been looking for you so you can help me with a problem.”

Nyah took all this in and processed it in the cold, calculating way she’d learned. “Uh-huh. And I’m supposed to accept that and help you with your little ‘problem’?”

Marie sighed and leaned forward. “I expected you’d react like that. But I am sincere. You can trust me.”

“When you show up saying that you knew I was going to be taken from my home, from my parents, trained to kill, you think I’m going to trust you? Maybe you don’t know that much about how I was trained. Don’t trust anyone.” Nyah tossed her napkin onto the table and turned to leave.

“Not even to fulfill a promise to someone? Taking out the Barton Foundation?”

Nyah stopped. Kaldea’s words echoed through her head. ‘Nyah, you have to get these people. Bring Dakim and all of the Barton Foundation down. You have the skills; use them.’

“You help me with my problem, I will give you the power to destroy the Barton Foundation. It would be a... partnership.” Marie smirked at Nyah’s back.

Nyah turned. “Somehow I don’t believe you.”

“There’s something else I didn’t tell you about your parent’s death. It wasn’t accidental. The Barton Foundation planned your father’s death. He was causing a lot of problems for the Alliance, and without his knowledge, the Barton Foundation as well.”

“I know you want to stop the Barton Foundation not just because of what Kaldea said to you. Because you want to. You want to make them suffer for taking you away to be part of a massacre. I don’t blame you.”

Nyah sat back down and leaned in inches from Marie’s face, her voice becoming icy cold. “And now you tell me you were responsible for that. How dare you come here and talk about helping me exact revenge when you are the one who is to blame?”

Marie met Nyah’s cold green eyes. “And are you going to kill me Nyah?” she challenged, matching Nyah’s tone. “What will that gain you? Hmm? You’ll be just where you are, living a pointless existence, without even your little scam to keep you alive. Is that what you want Nyah?”

Marie’s eyes softened. “I don’t want you to hate me. I don’t blame you. I was blinded by loyalty then, and you changed that. When I learned of the true nature of Operation Meteor, I opposed it and for that, they tried to destroy me. But if we can just forget the past, we can bring them down together.” She leaned forward eagerly. “Nyah, I’ve discovered something, something that could make you unstoppable. It’s a system that interfaces with the mind, enhancing perception and reaction time.” Nyah sat back, surprised at the look in Marie’s eyes.

Marie continued. “Even now the Barton Foundation is reorganizing and planning their takeover. You’ll train with me for a year, and when they strike, we’ll be ready for them.”

“You know this for a fact?”

“I don‘t take anything for fact, but I’m confident in my sources.” Marie folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at Nyah. “What do you say?”

Nyah looked down at the table. She tried to weigh her options, but then realized her choice wasn’t that difficult. “Yes,” she said quietly. She looked up at Marie. “I’ll do it.”

“Good. I thought you’d see it that way. I have a plane waiting for us. Come.”

“Wait. There‘s something I need to do.”

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

Nyah looked around the neat, clean hospital room where Calder lay, his leg wrapped in bandages and propped up. Her eyes came to rest on the bowl of green Jello sitting on the bedside table. She mentally made a face. Food should not be green. Calder read her gaze and picked up the bowl, spooning some up and slurping it noisily. “Want some?” he asked.

“No, I’m good. Thanks.”

He looked seriously at her. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through? This woman was recruited by the Barton Foundation for a reason. It means she’s devious, cunning and ruthless. She would use anyone to get what she wants.”

“I still don’t trust her, but it’s an opportunity I can’t miss.” Nyah got up from her chair and started pacing. “It’s just... I know this is wrong, but what can I do? I made a promise Calder, and I have to keep it no matter the cost.”

Calder nodded. “Just remember who you are. Whatever Marie might be planning, just remember you goals and morals and all that crap.” He smiled.

She laughed and sat back down. “So what are you going to do?”

“Well, before you came I was considering being a mercenary. Since OZ took over they’ve been in high demand. With my half of our profits I’ll have more than enough to get what I need.”

“What about your Gundam?” Nyah asked.

Calder laughed cynically. “The last thing the world needs is another Gundam to show up. I’ll make due with what everybody uses. I’ll probably be in high demand with my skills,” he said, smiling sardonically.

“Don’t count on it.” She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You take care of yourself.“

He grinned his lopsided grin. “I always do.” With that she walked out.

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

Nyah looked up at the gigantic house. Marie stepped up next to her. “Welcome to my mansion. This is where you’ll train and live.”

They went into the huge mansion and a man in a black and white suit came up to them. “Madam,” he said with a native accent. “I see you have found what you’ve been looking for.” He bowed to Nyah.

“Yes, Jonathon. Make sure Miss Nyah’s things get to her room.” She nodded, dismissing the butler. Then turned to Nyah who was looking around the entry-way with curiosity. “Shall we?” she said.

Nyah turned towards her. Marie was indicating the large double doors and the opposite end of the hall. Nyah followed her through them, then into a narrower hall. Marie opened a door, revealing only a coat closet. She smiled slyly and reached behind the coats, activating a hidden switch. The floor of the closet dropped away and the back wall rose upwards, revealing a stair way.

Marie led the way down it, stopping at high-tech looking door. She pressed her palm against a seemingly featureless wall and a light activated behind it and scanned her palm. There was a heavy clank and the door slid open. They walked through into a massive room with white-washed walls and control panels that were almost invisible up against the walls except for their blinking lights. And in the middle of the room was a tall steel chair with a helmet hanging from in. Wires came from all directions into the chair and the helmet. Nyah had a foreboding feeling as she stared at the chair. She felt sickened by it, but she couldn’t draw away. Marie stepped into her line of site with an eager glimmer in her eyes.

“I give you; the Zero System.”