Meela stood on a balcony at Marie’s mansion. The stars twinkled in the far reaches of space. People said when they looked at the stars, it made them feel small. Meela felt nothing. The Zero system throbbed with anticipation. Soon, it said. Yes, soon. Soon the Barton Foundation would strike. Meela would be there waiting for them. Soon her promise would be fulfilled.

Her promise. What did it mean to her now? Promises were made on an emotional basis. Now it was only a memory. The emotion was gone from it. The desire was gone. Now there was only the plan. Get from point A to point B. Why? It was irrelevant.

Marie came up and stood beside her, following her gaze. What did Marie want? The question was unexpected, but the Zero system processed it. Marie had anger towards the Barton Foundation. But was there something more? What would happen when her mission had been fulfilled? The Zero system did not have an answer. But Meela knew, Marie would not simply let her go on her way. Even if she were suddenly on her own, what would she do?

Focus on the plan, the Zero system said. Yes, the mission would be executed soon. Point A to point B. That was what mattered. That was what was at stake. The mission must be completed.

“Come,” Marie said. “It’s time.”

Meela felt a cold chill, the question still lingering in the back of her mind. What would happen afterwards?

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

Jonathon watched Meela as he packed her things. She was looking idly out the window with her arms crossed.

He took a deep breath. “I filled your extra bottles of water for your utility belt. I know the processing plant on the shuttle leaves a funny taste, so I thought you should have water from the spring for the mission.” He paused for a second. He was trying to fill the awkward silence and she knew it, but she said nothing about it. So he searched for something else to say.

“There’s been a lot of solar activity on the sun recently. You might get to see some spectacular sights if you do go into space.” He heard a slightly louder breath coming from her which might have been a laugh. Jonathon set down the bag he was packing. “You aren’t coming back, are you?”

Meela didn’t look at him. “Why do you think that?”

“Just a feeling.”

She turned her head to look at him. “I don’t really know.”

Jonathan watched her eyes. Those eyes that had gradually lost their emotion. “Miss Ny… Meela,” he began. “I found something for you awhile ago. I wanted to give it to you but I didn’t want Marie to find it. I have this feeling that I will never see you again, so I think now would be an appropriate time.” He pulled a small flute out of his pocket. “It’s an antique. The lady I bought it from said it’s nearly three hundred years old and she said it still works. I… It’s… well, I thought you would like it. I knew you used to like playing the piano and I thought maybe this flute would do since we don’t have a piano.” He held the flute out to her. Meela took it.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

He smiled. “Well, lets see how it sounds.”

She fingered the instrument and started to bring it to her lips, but was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of anger. She quickly suppressed it and brought the flute back down. Why were all these emotions suddenly surfacing? When she’d started to play the flute, an image of Kaldea flashed into her mind, and she’d felt angry. She didn’t even remember having learned music. Why?

She placed the flute back in its box. “Thank you Jonathan,” she said softly.

He sighed sadly. “Your welcome. I hope you’ll eventually be able to play it.”

Meela didn’t respond. Just picked up her bags and moved towards the door. She looked back one last time. “Good bye,” she said and walked out.

Jonathan closed his eyes. “Good bye Nyah,” he whispered.

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

Sally Po watched her screen intently. There it was again. Definitely something out there. She glanced at her flight plan. It was less than six hundred kilometers out of the way. She toggled her comm and input the coding sequence. “This is Water. I’m six hours from rendezvous, I have a four-oh-six, roughly one hour outside my coarse. I’m adjusting coarse to investigate.” She closed the channel, then input the commands to her navigation console. The stars swung slightly as she changed course and she was pressed slightly into her seat as the ship accelerated. As she grew closer, she could scan the object. It was about three meters long and one wide. An enhanced view of it revealed only that it didn’t seen to resemble anything besides a lump of material. She set the computer working on it and sat back. This might take awhile.

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

Calder loaded his custom handgun and charged the magnetic coils with a satisfying whine. He slid it into its holster and pulled a trench coat over it, closing his laptop computer. According to the line he’d managed to hack, Marie and Nyah were moving to intercept the Barton Foundation at Mars. He had to try to talk to Nyah, possibly help her, but most importantly, try and get her away from Marie. He would stow away on a cargo ship bound for Mars with supplies for the Terra Forming project. He only hoped he’d make it in time.

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

Trowa Barton listened with half an ear to Dekim Barton’s speech. Most of his concentration was on the room, the soldiers, and the mobile suits. Not models he was familiar with. Infiltrating the Barton Foundation’s mobile suit pilots had been surprisingly easy. He’d been careful to avoid being recognized, but he’d expected it to take more time than it did. He’d have to be extra careful in case the Foundation was going to set a trap.

“…but before we start, we must destroy the enemy.”

Trowa immediately brought his full attention to the rebel leader. Dekim drew his pistol and pointed it directly at Trowa.

“Trowa Barton, proceed to the front.”

No doubts now. He’d just have to act sooner than planned. His chances of surviving were severely reduced, but…

He leapt into the air just as Dekim fired. The bullet passed harmlessly underneath him as he spun through the air and landed directly in front of Barton, drawing his sidearm, preparing to shoot before he could react.

He froze as he suddenly felt cold steel at his throat. “Hold it,” a voice said.

Trowa looked up. “Wufei…”

The Chinese Gundam pilot stood there expressionlessly with the long, curved sword held easily, but ready in his hands. Trowa dropped the pistol and slowly stood up, his hands held up. He looked for some clue that Wufei was ready to help him, that he was still on his side, but there was none.

Dekim sneered as he stepped in front of Trowa. “So, Gundam pilot, you once again find yourself in the midst of the Barton Foundation. You won’t be so lucky this time. Take him the holding cells,” he ordered Wufei.

Wufei motioned with his sword and Trowa obediently moved towards the corridor. Two other guards followed them.

“Wufei,” Trowa said softly. “What’s going on? How long have you been here?”

“What’s going on is that mankind is about to be tested. See if this ’peace’ is what they want and if they can keep it.”

Trowa narrowed his eyes. “I’m not following you Wufei.”

“You were trying to preserve the peace. Again. How is the human race going to learn what true peace is if they always have soldiers like you to bring it to them?” Wufei was staring straight ahead, still expressionless. “Soldiers who are trained to do nothing but fight, and when there is no more fighting to do, they get discarded.”

Trowa silently gritted his teeth. Then he was in this alone.

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

Relena Peacecraft blearily opened her eyes. She wasn’t aware of anything except her pounding headache. Her joints ached as she tried to move them. She remembered… she wasn’t sure. She’d been meeting with governing body of L3-X18999, then… she’d drank the tea. She groaned aloud as she realized what had happened.

“Did you have a good sleep?”

Relena sat painfully up and looked around. There was a little girl, no more than nine, sitting behind a large desk. She watched Relena with an intelligent, penetrating gaze.

Relena swung her legs over the side of the bed she was sitting on. “Who are you? Have you been caught as well?” she asked the little girl.

“No. I’m the one that ordered them to bring you here.”

“What are you talking about?”

The girl turned the chair away from Relena. “My name is Mariemaia Khushranada. The daughter of Treize Khushranada.”

“You must be joking.“

Mariemaia smiled and turned her chair away from Relena. “This is no joke. It’s already been proven through DNA testing.

“But that’s…”

“I’m told there is an adult world that children do not understand. So I can’t begin to explain how I’ve come to live in this world.” She turned back to the older girl. “But accepting the facts as they are, I fully intend to carry out my father’s wishes.”

This hadn’t been what Relena had expected. It was worse. She frowned at the little girl. “I have no idea who’s been telling you these kinds of stories, but you are mistaken.”

Neither did she expect the girl’s outburst. “Watch yourself!” Mariemaia snapped. “Watch your language!” The girls eyes flashed angrily. “I have been chosen to lead the Earthsphere Unified Nation. I will not allow rude comments.”

Relena paused to reevaluate her position. This would be difficult…

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

Heero carefully guided the shuttle into the maneuvering pod.

“What do you plan on doing?” Quatre asked over the screen.

“Well, I’m supposed to be going to L3-X18999 with Heero. I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a blast of a party while were there.” Duo said

“Without the Gundams?! Have you forgotten we no longer have our Gundams?”

Heero didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation. Quatre worried too much. Heero didn’t always need his Gundam to accomplish the mission. But the situation would probably, as it always did, turn out to be a battle where he would need his Gundam. It would be nice to be in Zero again, he thought. To feel the extreme power, and the helplessness of his enemies. No, he said firmly to his self. He did not need the Zero system. But, it was a fact that he would need his Gundam.

Duo suddenly leaned over to Heero. “If you leave him alone, Quatre always takes the blame for everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he starts saying that his lack of effort is the reason there is no air in outer space.”

“Duo, I’m going out to get our Gundam’s back.” Quatre said suddenly.

Heero smiled to his self. Duo was right. Quatre did take the blame for most things. It was in his character. Good, kind Quatre shouldn’t even be here. If there was one thing that Heero regretted was that Quatre had to become a part of this war.

“Roger, have a safe trip.” Duo said slowly. It seemed impossible that Quatre would be able to get the Gundam’s back before they hit the sun.

“And that goes for you too.” Quatre said earnestly.

Heero finished the docking procedures.

“Are we done?” Duo asked.

“The docking is now complete, but the directional controls are extremely delicate. I’ll have you pilot the space craft.”

Duo wondered if Heero knew what delicate meant. “Yeah? No sweat.” He was still pleased that Heero had recognized his skills finally.

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

Dakim Barton watched the magnified view of Mars from the resource satellite MOIII. Part one of the operation was about to commence. The Mars Terra-forming project would be the first target. He’d made the take over plan simple. Get control of just two important aspects of the Unified Nations with dropping the colony as backup. Without any weapons, the Nation would be helpless. In fact, the takeover would be more political than military. Landing his Serpent suits on Earth and Mars was mostly symbolic. He checked his watch. Less than three hours now. Then three hours after that, they’d land on Earth and secure the Brussell’s Presidential Residence. His plan would be complete. No one could stop him.

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

Noin looked up as Sally Po entered. Noin smiled. It was good to see her old friend in person again.

Sally voiced what Noin had been thinking. “Noin! It’s good to see you.” She sat down beside her.

Noin pulled up the diagram of L3-X18999 that she had been studying. Sally leaned over and looked at it. “Think they have enough mobile suits?” she said dryly. “Looks like they’re preparing for war or something.”

Noin was about to answer when the screen above their heads suddenly blipped on to reveal a little girl.

“We at colony L3-X18999 do hereby wish to declare our independence from the Earthsphere Unified Nations, and at the same time, declare war against the nation. My name is Mariemaia Khushranada. The daughter of Treize Khushranada.”

“What’d she say?” Sally said, shocked.

“His daughter!” Noin said.

“The plot thickens,” said Sally with a wry grin. They finished listening to the speech.

Noin shut off the screen after Mariemaia had finished speaking. “This isn’t good. The Preventers are going to be blamed for this you know.”

“Naturally. And I doubt we’ll be able to stop it. Contact the cruiser that’s leaving the Lunar Base.”

“Roger. Wait. What’s that?” she said indicating a blip on the screen.

“It’s a ship. Long range shuttle it appears.” Sally grumbled. “Some tourist probably got off track. Better warn it. It‘s flying right into the troop of mobile suits.”

Noin nodded. She toggled the switch to broadcast her voice. “Calling to the shuttle ahead of us. Come in. This is a danger zone, retreat now.”

Duo’s face appeared on the screen above them, where a few minuets ago Mariemaia had been talking. “Yo! Long time no see!”

“Duo! And Heero?”

“Looks like they’re going to have quite a Christmas party there. So, you know we thought we’d just give them a little present.”

“No! Not without your Gundam’s!” Sally exclaimed. “How are you going to retaliate?”

“Oh we’ll think of something. That is, if we can get to the colony.”

“Duo, Heero why don’t you join forces with us one more time?”

“I’ll think about it when the time come. See ya! We don’t want to be the last one’s at the party now, do we?” The screen turned to snow. “P.S. Don’t blame us if they run out of treats.”

“They haven’t changed.” Sally said with a laugh.

“Sally, were going to have to contain the Taurus’ ourselves.”

“Okay. Were backing them up after all.”

“Yes, but right now, we’re depending on them.” She hit the accelerator.

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

Meela locked the clip into her CM-7, checked the safety and slid it into the shoulder holster underneath her black leather jacket. Marie’s shuttle had nearly reached Mars. She slowly and deliberately prepared herself. She checked over her utility belt, then strapped it onto her waist. After a moments hesitation she slid the flute Jonathan had giver her under her jacket, careful not to let Marie see. The cold feeling still sat in the back of her mind, not strong, but persistent. She felt she would have to make a decision about what to do soon. Marie glanced up and met her gaze with a smile. Yes, soon. But first the mission.

A light in the console started blinking, indicating a transmission. Marie swiveled and touched a switch. The monitor over their heads came alive with the face of a small girl. To Meela’s surprise, Marie burst out laughing. “Well, well, well Dekim. I guess I underestimated you.”

Meela regarded her with curiosity and Marie looked back at her with a smile. “It’s Leia’s daughter. Dekim’s granddaughter, and none other than Treize Khushranada’s daughter.” She was very amused by this. “It’s a very long story.”

The girl was speaking. Declaring the colonies independence. As expected. It was time to act. With a nod of approval from Marie, Meela stepped through the door.

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

“But how could you let this happen?! Why couldn’t you have prevented this ahead of time?”

“I already reported on the matter the other day, sir.” Colonel Une said calmly.

“I know that!” said the President with exasperation. “But your department is getting sufficient funding to prevent this exact kind of situation!”

Lady Une tried to keep her voice calm. “I understand. And we’re doing everything we can to stop this from progressing. However, it appears that they had prepared for this extensively. Even before our department was ever formed…” she stopped talking when the line went dead, indicating that the President had hung up. She slowly set the phone down and leaned heavily on the desk. “I can stand there and make excuses all day, but the question still remains whether or not we can stop their aggression without some help.”

The door suddenly opened. Une looked up. “Who is it?”

“Excuse me,” said a deep voice, accompanying a tall man partially hidden by shadows. But Colonel Une still recognized him.

“Why, you’re…”

“I’ve come to ask for a code name. If I may suggest, I’d like the name wind… appropriate for one who puts out fires.” Zechs Merquise gave a slight smirk.

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

Calder stepped through the airlock of the cargo ship into the domed habitat on Mars. Through the clear barrier, he could see the towering peak of Olympus Mons. Though he wore a uniform of a crewman, he was careful not to attract attention as he made his way to the command center. Making sure he wasn’t being watched, he slid his decryption card into the access terminal. The card quickly found the right code and opened the door. Calder slipped in.

He quickly found a ventilation shaft and crawled through it, making his way to the control room. It was occupied by only a single person, watching a screen in a bored fashion. Calder dropped into the room behind him and squeezed the nerves at the base of his neck, rendering him unconscious. He quickly slid into a seat and began accessing the Terra-forming project database. He skimmed through all of the technicalities, looking for something that might give him a clue as to where the Barton Foundation would strike. He came across something that caught his eye. This habitat had been built before the formation of the Earthsphere Unified Nations. It had been equipped with an extensive defense system. It had been taken offline and well secured, but Calder bet he could get it operational again. It was a good place to start.

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

Meela crouched in the ventilation shaft, peering through the grate at the back of Calder’s head. Who was this guy who had beat her to the control room, interfering with her objective? Whoever he was, he was now an obstacle. But he appeared to very skillful to have entered the base and silently disabled the room’s previous occupant. She’d watch him first, gauge how best to deal with him. She let out a breath softly as she thought. She saw the boy cock his head slightly. She held her breath. Had he heard her? Surely not. After a moment he went back to his work.

She silently watched him access the defensive systems protocols. Trying to bring the base’s defense system back online. That had been her first objective. Yes, he was now her first priority. She silently slunk backwards.

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

Calder listened carefully. There again, a slight rustling in the ventilation shaft behind him. It was extremely faint, but it was there. Someone was watching him. Someone who knew how to move quietly. So Nyah was here. He hesitated, wondering if he should try and talk to her. No, the first move would be up to her. He just crossed his fingers that she wasn’t his enemy.

He finished enabling the computer program for the defensive systems. But he’d still have to activate the actual circuitry that controlled it. He exited the room and walked through the base, still careful not to be seen. Every once in awhile he’d hear a tiny sound behind him.

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

Zechs Merquise strode though the underground hanger. He ignored the glances he received from the Preventer agents that were in the facility. Almost as soon as he’d walked into Lady Une’s office requesting a Preventer code name, he’d been transported to this secret hanger. Apparently, the Earthsphere Unified Nations hadn’t been completely rid of military weapons. He stopped short as he suddenly stepped into the shadow of something. Something massive. Not daring to believe the notion that popped into his head, he looked up. He blinked and looked again. Sure enough, looming above him was a mobile suit. He started to smile as he recognized the distinctive shape of the Tall Geese. This was almost to good to be true. He felt elated. He was going back into battle. He’d felt lost for the year that he’d lived in isolation, recovering from his extensive injury’s from the explosion of Libra’s power cell after he’d jammed Epyon’s beam saber into it. He’d almost fallen into depression, wondering what he’d do in a time of peace. Now he knew. There were still times that soldiers would be needed. And he’d be there.

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

Calder crouched down in a utility closet, rearranging a few circuit boards. Every so often he’d check to hear the soft breathing from in the shaft above him. Nyah, still following him. He plugged in the last board and was rewarded with a series of green lights becoming active. He smiled slightly and replaced the panel. The system was active. He stepped back into the corridor. Now he just needed to… he froze. Nyah wasn’t above him anymore. On instinct, he jerked aside. He felt a breeze ruffle his hair as Nyah’s foot flew past his head. He whirled to face her, hands in combat position. What he saw wasn’t Nyah. The cold eyes that stared at him weren’t those he’d remembered. They saw him as only on obstacle, to be eliminated. Suddenly she leapt forward. He barely had time to counter one blow before another caught him in the stomach. He staggered back.

“Holy…” he started to say, then was forced backwards. He dodged a kick and parried another blow to his abdomen. He had no time to strike, only to defend. He managed to grab her arm and tried twisting her around to pin her, but her leg snaked behind his knees. He twisted just in time to keep from falling. Just as a full round-house kick knocked him flat.

He rolled to his feet just in time to block a fist. He managed to get an edge, forcing her to dodge, then landing his foot on her chest. She was knocked onto her back, but recovered instantly, rolling to a crouching position with a glint of metal in her hand. He dropped as a silenced round blew past his head, then rolled into the utility closet as she let lose four more rounds, one of them tearing through the fabric of his jumpsuit.

He came to a sitting position, leaning against the wall, gasping. “Nyah!” he choked out. “What’s going on?”

The only response was her loading a fresh clip in her gun. He cursed and loosened the holster on his weapon. “Nyah, please, talk to me,” he said. “Why are you doing this? Our objectives are the same!”

He heard her moving. She’d have a shot… now!

He brought his gun out and swung it around the corner and fired a round right next to her head.

Meela jerked back for cover. That had been extremely close. How was he able to hear her? He was good. Very good. It was extremely un-nerving. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She stared hard at the opening her opponent had taken cover in. She calculated that she would not be able to eliminate him in the present situation. Her mind grasped at another thing. He’d called her Nyah. Had he known her before? Her mind rebelled at the thought of before the Zero system. With a start she realized he really could have known her. She simply had no memory of before the system.

FLASH! She was in a hospital. She sat next to a bed with someone in it. He had something in his hands. He was eating something. Something green. Why was it green? “Want some?” he asked. “No thanks, I’m good,” her voice said.

It was him! Him in the hospital bed! A name popped into her head. His name was Calder. Yes, that was it. There was sudden noise from the shaft above her. She jerked, but a weight landed on her enough to drag her to the ground. She brought her gun up to Calder’s head just as her brought his gun to hers.

“Calder,” she said softly. He slowly lowered his gun. “Nyah,” he said.

She lowered her gun and he let her up. “That girl is dead,” she said. ”My name is Meela.”

“Meta-Enhanced-Efficiency-Latasphere-Advancement,” he said, recognizing the term. “What did Marie do to you?”

She looked hard at him. “Understand this. I’m only talking to you because it seems like I remember you. You are no more important to me than the information you can provide.”

Calder sighed. “Well, this isn’t exactly what I expected.” He scratched his head as he thought. “We were friends. It’s been over a year since Marie Slogan took you away with the promise of helping you take down the Barton Foundation.”

She could only partially see the memories. “She told me she had… some kind of system that would… make me invincible. The Zero system.”

Calder looked up sharply. “Marie used the Zero system on you?” he said, his eyes darkening.

Meela jerked her gaze back to him. “That’s not relevant,” she snapped. “How did you know me?”

“Fine. We were both involved in Operation Meteor. I met you when you when we were both living on the streets. Me, after I ran away from my parents; you after the Barton Foundation tried to kill you.” He smiled slightly. “You pegged a fruit vendor in the head after he caught you stealing from him. We became partners.” He paused and his smile faded. “You don’t remember any of it, do you?”

Meela said nothing.

“Anyways, Marie came and took you out on some vendetta to avenge your teachers. She obviously used the Zero system on you and turned you into a machine,” Calder said.

Meela sat in silence for a moment running through the images in her mind. Was he right? She simply couldn’t know for sure. But the flashes, the vague images were there. If she could only figure out what they meant.

There was a sudden noise down the hallway. Meela jerked her head up to see a civilian technician rounding the corner. The woman stopped short as she saw them. Calder immediately put up his hands.

“Ma’am, its okay. We just needed to access some things…” He heard a sound behind him and saw the woman’s eyes move to follow something. He looked behind him. Meela was gone. Just then the base shuddered as something massive hit the ground.

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

Meela crawled back through the facility to the surface habitat. Outside the clear protective bubble she saw what she’d expected. A Serpent mobile suit. It started to move towards the colony when suddenly the base’s defense systems opened fire. The pilot hadn’t been expecting any trouble at all. The suit never had time to react. Beams of energy lanced through it, sending it sprawling to the ground. More suits landed and were shot down. Five were taken out before the Serpents started returning fire. They were careful not to hit the habitat, but they weren’t neutralizing the defenses very well. Meela nodded in satisfaction. There was nothing more she could do here.

Planning her next step, she began to form everything that had happened into logical sense. Marie was waiting on her shuttle outside the habitat. For a second she paused. Another option suddenly occurred to her. Calder knew her past. She didn’t know why but she was curious. However Marie was her relevant past, the Zero System told her. Finally everything clicked into place. Marie. She walked towards the shuttle.

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

Calder watched the passageway that Meela had gone down. “Nyah…” he whispered.

He shook his head. He wanted to believe that “Meela” was not his problem any more, but in the very back of his mind, he knew that wasn’t true.

He sighed. “Great. This ought to be fun.” He began running down the same passageway that Meela had just gone down. As he left the facility, he caught sight of her moving towards the sky lift. The sky lift was a column with twenty-four elevators in it that took people from ships in orbit that were docked with the lift to the planets surface and back. The elevators had been shut down but she overrode one of the doors and a few seconds later, the elevator shot skyward. Calder reached the life and bypassed the door to a second elevator and followed her up. He quickly found the shuttle Meela had boarded. He tried to direct his lift to the dock, but Meela’s lift was still there and wouldn’t respond. He sighed and took out his PDA and attached it to the lift’s systems. After a minute of manipulation, the lifts moved. Calder prepared to board Marie’s shuttle when it suddenly disconnected with the sky lift. Calder swore. Now what? A quick look told him that a small work pod was docked not far away. That would be perfect. As long as the shuttle didn’t leave in to much of a hurry, Calder could attach the tiny pod without being detected. He set to work.

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

Meela walked into the cockpit of the shuttle. Marie was sitting there. She swiveled around in her chair with a smile on her face.

“Congratulations.” She stood up and walked over to Meela. She put her hands on Meela’s shoulders. She laughed. “Congratulations. You have completed your dream. Come.” She walked over to the counsel. “We’ll go…”

“Your dream,” Meela said softly.

Marie turned around. “What?”

Meela brought her eyes up to Marie’s. “It was never my dream. It was yours.”

Marie laughed softly. “Really? And where did you get that idea? That little boy Calder finally caught up to you? You believe everything that he told you?”

“He didn’t tell me anything. I never wanted this. You did.” She walked closer to Marie. “You used me. I always wondered why, every time that you put me in that stupid Zero System chair, I always felt something leaving, and I felt you smiling.” After every sentence Meela’s voice got louder. “I think that you told me I made a promise to some teacher that I don’t even remember, so I would help you…” Suddenly Marie brought up her hand and slapped Meela.

“You have no idea what you are talking about,” she said coldly.

Meela just stared back. Marie held Meela at the shoulders. “Meela, I did this for you. Never doubt that. True, I have my own objectives. But I was more than willing to help you with yours.”

“But my promise is meaningless now,” Meela said. “The Zero system doesn’t care about promises. How does that help me now?”

Marie sat thoughtfully for a moment. “The Zero system was experimental. You knew that. And it helped you achieve your objective.”

Meela let a sneer touch her lips. “Calder achieved my objective. He doesn’t have the Zero system. And I wasn’t able to defeat him in combat.”

Marie glared. “I’m not going to tolerate that attitude Meela,” she said dangerously. “Don’t you dare betray me after everything I’ve done for you.”

Meela shook her head. “No Marie. It’s you who’ve betrayed me. You won’t have to put up with any attitude from me. I’m not your pawn anymore.” She turned towards the door at the back of the cockpit. She walked past the two guards that stood there. The guards automatically turned to follow her. Marie cleared her throat and they turned back to look at her questioningly. “You know better than that. Just because she’s not here, doesn’t mean she’s out of my reach.” Marie laughed softly and turned back to the shuttles controls.

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

Anyone who saw Marie’s shuttle would certainly take a second look. The shuttles main body was typical enough with it’s stabilization fins for atmospheric flight and main engines. But seamlessly slung underneath was a long, angular under-carriage that stretched another fifty meters behind the main engines with another set of rockets tacked on. Calder thought about this idly as the shuttle moved through space with him hitching a ride in the small work pod.

Suddenly the white hull plating on the under-carriage began to break off. Calder watched through the small window as the section of hull plating he was on slowly rotated so he could see the shuttle. Revealed underneath was a long, dark shape anchored to the shuttle by trusses. The trusses swung opened and the mobile suit dropped away from the shuttle. Wide, bat-like wings snapped into place and the Gundam turned and accelerated towards Earth.

“Whoa.” he said. Meela had just left Marie it seemed. Feeling somewhat put out that he hadn’t needed to be there, he reattached his pod to Marie’s shuttle. They’d probably be at Earth within a few hours. He squirmed uncomfortably. Yeah, he thought. Just a few hours.

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

Dekim Barton watched in frustration as suit after suit was disabled down on Mars. “What is going on?!” he shouted. “Who is doing this?”

“Sir, the base’s defensive system was somehow activated. It’s defending the colony.”

“That’s impossible! The briefings said the system was completely disabled. Why would anyone have activated it?” He cursed himself as he answered his own question. It would have been someone who knew of his plans. Any one of the scientist who rebelled and stole the five Gundams. For that matter, Marie Slogan or Kaldea Orchid both had the capacity to do it.

He turned to another officer. “Can the situation be resolved?”

The officer looked over his screens and winced when he realized what he had to tell the Barton leader. “We only sent down thirty Serpents, sir. The base’s defense system is more than a match for them.”

Dakim slammed his fist onto a console. He looked at the floor for a moment and the softly said, “Withdraw our forces.”

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

Authors Note: Most of the dialogue between the GW characters is directly from Endless Waltz. This was not our writing, it belongs to the GW writers.