Two Sides of the Same Story

-------------------


“... building a new future!” Zechs Marquise finished his speech and glanced around in the main hall. He saw the shell-shocked faces of the men who were trying to accept the changes.

He realized there was a lot of work to be done. OZ had used the element of surprise to carry out their coup d’état; but not every base would be taken over this smoothly. He turned around to see the commanding officers of the Specials who played a key role in the coup. Duo Maxwell stood at the utter right, perfectly rigid, but face rather void of emotions. Zechs squinted his eyes. He put down his microphone.

“I want to thank you for your cooperation,” he said. “Without you, Operation Daybreak wouldn’t have been such a success.”

“What happens next, Lieutenant?” one of the officers asked.

“There will be a lot of loose ends to be tied up,” Zechs answered. “You’re probably going to be transferred or traveling around to help.”

“May we work together, sir?” One of the officers pointed at his colleague standing next to him.

“Do whatever you prefer, Alex. It’s up to yourself to determine what you want to deal with first. Just remember to check with headquarters before you start carrying out solo missions.”

The others murmured enthusiastically and moved to leave the hall. Before Duo could leave, Zechs spoke up to him.

“I’m honored to have worked together with the savior of Treize Khushrenada.”

A hint of irritation flashed in Duo’s eyes and Zechs saw it. The young boy had a wide arrange of emotions and wasn’t afraid to show it. He didn’t need a physical mask like Zechs, to hide his feelings or his identity; but there was so much more going on in his eyes than appeared on his face.

“Lieutenant Zechs, can I sign up for the space forces?”

Zechs was taken aback by the question. “Why is that? Most of the work has to be done here on Earth.”

“I don’t want to run around to apprehend renegade Alliance soldiers, sir. I trust OZ to take good care of business. There’s nothing left for me to do here, sir.”

“Why do you want to go back to space so bad?”

“I was born there,” Duo, answered and the way he said it, hesitantly, Zechs was under the impression that something was bothering him.

“I want to go back to L2 and... build there.”

“Build? You can help cleaning up the space mines, if that’s what you want,” Zechs told him, “but I really doubt you would like that.”

Duo’s face seemed a bit flushed, and that same anger flared again in his eyes.

You’re a very strong person, Duo Maxwell. And a dangerous one to boot. Treize, are you really sure you’re not mistaken? Someone with this kind of fierce emotion goes all out for his cause- maybe in your name, but also against your name if necessary.

“Sir!” Duo saluted. He was not going to talk more personally with Zechs Marquise.

“Don’t you want to go with me?”

Duo’s mouth fell open and Zechs started to laugh.

“Your expression is priceless! I probably formulated it wrong. I’m heading toward the Sanq Kingdom, to take care of some unfinished business. I’m going to try out a new suit, the Tallgeese.”

“And?” Duo inquired.

“It’s an interesting suit. It’s not quite a Gundam, but it’s the model the Gundams are based on.”

Duo stiffened. “I don’t want to have anything to do with Gundams.”

“As you wish. I thought you might want to take revenge on Walkers’ death.”

“I already have my revenge.” Duo sounded strange, as if he really didn’t believe his words himself, but Zechs let it rest.

“Those Gundams have caused a sustainable amount of damage, and they have sowed fear in man’s hearts. You don’t seem to be afraid of them.”

“Not of mobile suits, sir.” Duo wished he could leave. His hand was cramping and he waited for Zechs to salute him back. A woman came up to them; undoubtedly, it was Lucrezia Noin.

“I have a task for you. I know of a Taurus suits transport to Siberia, that really needs extra guards.” Zechs spoke up. “Maybe you can lead the accompanying squadron?” He acknowledged Noin’s presence by nodding at her.

“An escort, sir?”

“Before you go back to space, you could instruct fellow officers how to deal with those Gundams. You’ve got more in you than to stay here in Nairobi. Dismissed, Lieutenant.”

The man with the platinum blonde hair finally saluted him and Duo spun around to leave the hall. He suddenly felt empty and...lost. Yeah, I have my revenge. Somehow, this victory seemed staged and hollow – he felt terribly tired and disappointed. Duo went to his room, opened the door and threw himself on the bed. Even his room looked more hollow and emptier than ever.

-----------------

Heero lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He had turned off the little portable TV Howard had given him. The news of the death of the Alliance’s doves was repeated infinitely, as well as general Septem’s declaration of war to the colonies.

He’d been set up and he’d fallen for it, big time. He did have the name of the person responsible for it – Treize Khushrenada, leader of OZ. He rolled over on his stomach. Before parting, the other Gundam pilots had exchanged their communication frequencies; he was now able to log into their mission reports. It had been mostly 04, Quatre, who cajoled them into doing this, to remain in touch. Heero thought it was unnecessary, but something in the voice of 04 made him swallow a nasty answer and even though he still hadn’t given out his name, he gave them his communication codes.

Howard hadn’t said a thing when he returned. Heero was too tired to even mention that he didn’t want anyone touching his mobile suit, when he saw the Sweepers scramble to check on it. When Heero had left the hangar, he had thrown his usual look at Deathscythe. The black war machine, still kneeling in the corner, shone as if it was recently waxed and polished. It was waiting. Heero felt it waiting for its right pilot. With the recent events, there probably wouldn’t even be a need for another pilot. I’ve taken care of that myself. By killing the doves, he knew he had set back the developments in the peace process significantly. He groaned. What had he done?

His laptop beeped its signal for an incoming message. He jumped off the bed, and hurried to the table. He was dying to know how his mentor thought about the current situation, but he was assigned another mission instead, as if nothing had happened. He pushed the button to play the voice message.

“Heero, listen to me. There is a problem with the latest Taurus suits. Something is wrong with its system and it could override the pilot’s decision. If the suit goes on a rampage because of its own will, the consequences could be disastrous. Make sure you stop this, Heero.”

“Mission accepted,” he stated deadpan. He made a firm resolution to deal with the consequences of his actions later. Now it was the time for his new mission.

---------------

Duo hadn’t deliberated long over guarding the Taurus transport, as Zechs had suggested. It would only take a few hours and space travel required days of preparation anyway. Before he took off to L2, he didn’t see why he couldn’t handle this job. He conveniently ignored the little voice in his head telling him he was only stalling his departure to the space colony. All buckled up and installed in the Aries, Duo noticed the temperature rising in the cockpit and he pulled off his cap. His thick, chestnut braid was tucked away between his back and the pilot seat. Slowly the engines of his suit came roaring to life.

“Hurry up, you slow piece of crap,” he said impatiently. “Squadron, follow me.”

He didn’t await the chorus of “Yes, sir!” and punched in the command to close the hatch and move out. They had to fly fifteen minutes to get to the departure point of the transport.

There was no communication during the flight. Duo saw the desert represented as cold, green lines at his heat seeking system. There was no presence of other mobile suits but his squadron and the silence was overwhelming him. The blaring engines of the Aries were reduced to a thrumming noise in his cockpit. This was a different kind of silence. He was quiet.

His squadron reached the transport in the scheduled fifteen minutes and after refueling and the standard security check, they took off again. The train had already been given the ready-to-go signal and began to move on the tracks, slowly gaining speed.

“This is boring. Why are we here?” Duo almost jumped from the sudden voice, until he realized his communication line was still open.

“Back off,” another voice commented. “They’re expecting a mobile suit attack.”

“You mean, a Gundam?”

“Yeah. Better stay sharp and look out!”

Duo heard someone snort. Apparently, the other pilot didn’t think high of the Gundams. Gundams. The word kept ringing a bell in Duo’s mind. It reminded him of the Professor, the strange Professor who had taught him the basics of piloting. Duo thought the man had been a lunatic, rambling about the God of Death and some mobile suit he used that name for. Duo had never caught a look of the mobile suit the old man was building, if he really was building one-- Duo had been constantly tutored by the man, ranging from severe physical exercise to quantum dynamic and physics lessons. He recalled mocking the man for his chaotic behavior, until he ended up behind the controls of an Aries suit as a Specials officer. The system of piloting the Professor had taught him differed slightly from the standard Aries suit, but he had absolutely no problem handling it. He felt like he was superior to the mobile suit, instead of the suit being his master. Duo didn’t notice that he was fondling his cross again. I don’t even know what happened to the Professor. He probably was killed during that raid. The same raid that involved Treize Khushrenada and a young, naive Duo who had dragged the injured soldier out of his burning mobile suit, even after he’d swore he’d do nothing for an Alliance soldier. Guess Father Maxwell had a good influence on me after all.

The communication link flared back to life, breaking the silence and his train of thoughts.

“Gundam 04 approaching land target,” a man’s voice barked through the intercom, “rendezvous point at... “

“Aries number 4 squadron, attack!” A female voice ordered. Duo perked up. He was the leading officer of this squadron and he had been awaiting this command of Colonel Lady Une.

“Squadron, engage!” He pushed the joystick forward. With a rumbling noise, his Aries pushed itself forward. Crossing the skyline over the honking train, Duo saw a massive white suit standing by the rail track, lifting up its giant cutting weapons to obviously destroy it. He brought up the beam cannon and fired, at the same time the defense line of the train was activated and fired; the force of both beam cannons was enough to topple the Gundam.

Duo flew over the falling Gundam and turned the Aries around. Even though his Aries, thanks to its modifications, was a lot faster than the usual ones and turned around twice as fast, he was too late to witness the train derailing. His heat sensors screamed in his ears and the proximity alarms went off like crazy. The Gundam wasn’t alone! He just realized it before the sky was torn with the light of energy beams. Half of his squadron were shot out of the air before he even had the chance to come up with a strategy.

“Squadron, descend!” He smashed his fist at the panels. Aries were one of the few suits to both have flying and walking abilities, and he smashed the panels again, trying to engage his landing gear. He realized with abhor that it somehow was stuck- the legs of the suit wouldn’t fold out properly. Duo hadn’t even noticed they had been damaged. Swearing, he turned his attention to the screen, showing brown, unidentified suits, models he had never seen before. They were obviously backing up the white Gundam, which already had managed to stand up again. Data displayed on his screens, to fast to absorb.

“What the…?”

The train was derailed and opened up its hatches to reveal a squadron of Leos.

Leos? He registered the “no match for existing Alliance models” message from his data screen. Apparently, the brown suits who belonged with the Gundam were unknown even to the Alliance itself. He swore. Whoever they were, they managed to shoot down his squadron faster than he could keep track of.

“God damn it Treize, you let me guard a decoy! It were supposed to be Leos!”

Duo gritted his teeth, lifted up his beam cannon and started firing. He quickly checked his stats; three pilots of his squadron were still airborne, fighting off the unknown suits. With the help of the ground Leos, it looked like the battle shifted in OZ’s advantage – until the Gundam started moving again. Duo’s heat sensor went through the roof and he quickly discovered why. The curved cutting weapons of the Gundam heated up very fast and the Gundam flung them away, taking four, six, eight Leos with them as they cut through the metal as hot knives through butter.

“This is way too much,” Duo, voiced aloud. “That Gundam is far too powerful!” He kept his hands at the controls, far too absorbed and hypnotized by the fighting Gundam to keep an eye on his own position. So familiar. So powerful.

“Lieutenant Maxwell! Get away from there!”

Duo came to his senses. He was in the middle of a war zone and he was looking at the Gundam! He immediately handled the sticks, but his reaction time was, for the first time in his life, too slow. The Gundam launched missiles from its shoulders, and were targeted right at him.

“God damn it!” Duo yanked at the controls, but the Aries was too heavy and took to long to respond to the command. The right side of his suit was ripped to pieces and the heat of the impact scorched his body. Duo screamed from the pain and he let go of the controls. The Aries wasn’t able to fly anymore and crashed to the ground, taking its pilot with him.

-------------

Heero arrived at the refueling point of the Taurus carriers, his Gundam transformed into bird mode. He couldn’t explain why he felt so relieved, knowing that he didn’t have to do this mission alone. After OZ’s announcement of two transport routes – one by air, one by land – he immediately suspected that one must’ve been a decoy, the only question was which one.

Trowa Barton, pilot of the 03, HeavyArms, had contacted him that he would target the air route. The others, Quatre Raberba Winner, pilot of the 04 -Sandrock-, and Chang Wufei, pilot of the 05 - Shenlong-, would take care of the land transport.

Heero was mindful of another set up. He didn’t want another disaster like his previous mission to happen. We don’t need another setback in the peace process. It didn’t take him by surprise that his arrival didn’t go unnoticed and that enemies surrounded him in a matter of seconds. He fired the buster rifle, taking a large amount of suits out the weapon being far too powerful for the much weaker ground suits. Wing’s proximity alarm went off and Heero turned the suit around, giving the commands for external camera feed at the same time. He registered a white mobile suit coming straight towards him, with great speed. The data receptor couldn’t provide him with sufficient data, so Heero pointed the rifle at the approaching suit. When he pushed the button to fire, the suit quickly went upright and was airborne.

“What speed!” He exclaimed, almost shocked. The data couldn’t match the suit with an existing OZ model. The next moment, Wing was under heavy fire, coming from above. The unknown suit also had a beam rifle, almost as powerful as his!

Heero ignored his resonating alarms and focused on the left screen camera, showing the suit calmly landing – a few hundred meters away.

“We can do better than this. No rifles for us!” A male voice boomed into his cockpit, using Heero’s own communication link. Heero discarded the huge rifle and equipped Wing with the beam saber. The unidentified suit took its own saber- crackling energy lit up the skies, sizzling with power.

Heero closed himself off to the sounds of the battle. He was convinced Trowa could handle it on his own, as long as the HeavyArms Gundam didn’t run out of bullets. And even so, the suit was packed with a wide array of weapons, providing enough opportunities for its pilot to vanquish the enemy.

The white suit charged at him again, leaving Heero no time to think. He counterattacked- the beam sabers hit on impact. Heero tensed. He was put to the test! The other pilot was good, very good, and they moved with the suits as in some bizarre dance, dealing blows with the beam sabers, meanwhile tasting each other, prodding for boundaries, looking for the ultimate pressure point, looking for the ultimate weakness in the other.

Heero’s hands moved the controls as if they acted on their own. He was fully focused, yet his mind tried to distract him with questions. Who was this pilot, who challenged him with so much audacity? What was he trying to prove? What was he trying to prove by accepting this duel? He had a war to fight!

“Is this everything you got?” The man didn’t sound petulant or depreciative, he sounded determined and eager.

Heero was about to response when a woman’s voice filled the air.

“Attention all Gundam pilots. Throw down your weapons or we’ll sacrifice a colony!”

“What?” Heero punched a command into his data receptor. It showed a schematic plan of the whereabouts of missiles, carefully aimed at the main colony clusters. He recognized the warheads: missiles from the Alliance seized by OZ after their coup. So Operation Daybreak left them to play with the weapons of their defeated enemy. It would take one command, one word, and those missiles would be launched. One of them was enough to breach the hull of a colony- the rest would be history.

“This is not how you fight a war! Stop it!”

To Heero’s amazement, it was his challenger who spoke up. He had stopped fighting; even the beam saber was toned down. Who was this soldier? He contemplated attacking him for a second now he seemed distracted, but Heero decided against it. Suddenly, all screens went black and Dr. J appeared.

“Dr. J?” Heero voiced aloud, flabbergasted. He didn’t hear the first sentences his mentor and trainer spoke, but he heard the last one, as it was one he’d heard before. Dr. J never repeats himself. Never.

“I will surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundams.” One.

It was crystal clear. Without a single hesitation, Heero opened the chest hatch of his Gundam and stepped outside. He couldn’t care less. If this were asked of him, in exchange of the colonies, his life would be of no importance. It would be a bargain. He lifted the self-detonation device. He would always follow his emotions, even if it would cost him his life.

“I will surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundams.” Two.

I will not hand over the Gundams. Three.

“Ninmu ryoukai,” he answered and activated the device with a single click. He had only a second left to ask himself why he had answered, subconsciously, in his native language- then his body was turned inside out. He heard his bones crack, his muscles tear, and his flesh rip.

He didn’t scream as he saw the stars shine at him when he was flung away from his suit because of the impact of the blast. He didn’t feel the pain of crashing onto the ground. Blood oozed out of him and with every seeping ounce, his vision became darker and darker. He couldn’t even care. He would not hand over the Gundam. The sounds of Wing stumbling down, screeching metal on metal, didn’t reach his ears. He was deaf to everything in the world and soon, he was blind again. The darkness was bliss.

------------

Duo opened his eyes. The bright lights were hurting his eyes, he faintly smelled Lysol and he was clad in a short gown. When he tried to move, a moan escaped him. Bile rose up in his throat.

“Take it easy, Lieutenant, you’re injured.” The voice was unfamiliar. Duo tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t obey him. He felt queasy. An OZ officer with short, curly brown hair approached him and helped him to sit up.

“Lieutenant Maxwell, I’m chief officer Nichol. As soon as you’re ready, I’m going to take you to the Lunar Base, to join me with the OZ space forces. We pay a visit to His Excellency first, at his request.”

Duo’s eyes went wide and he tried to speak. He was about to say “Treize?” but settled on a croaked: “What happened?”

“You’re lucky to have made it out alive,” Nichol said, looking grim. “Not many people survive an encounter with a Gundam.”

“My squadron?” Duo squeaked.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. Only two of them made it out, barely alive. There were no survivors of the ground forces, so I’ve come to understand. I’m here to escort you with your transfer to the OZ space forces.”

“Why?”

“His Excellency was worried about you,” Nichol said, but it came out a bit sour. “He wanted to make sure someone was around you when you woke up.”

“I don’t need a damn nanny.”

“I’m sorry. Orders of His Excellency.” Nichol said and crossed his arms before his chest. .

Duo sunk back into the pillows. He’d sworn to return to space the moment he left L2, following Treize Khushrenada back to Earth with the promise of revenge ringing in his ear. The same promise that made him give up his training with the professor, thinking the man would never accomplish his goal and he wanted his revenge now- after the massacre at Maxwell Church, Duo’s only goal in life was to avenge the death of his loved ones. I wanted to fight for the colonies, but I ended up fighting for myself. God, have I been so blinded by my search for revenge that I... killed my own hopes and dreams?

“Lieutenant?” Nichol sounded worried, scared maybe. “Something the matter?”

“I... I’m not feeling very well,” Duo said, and wished immediately that he wouldn’t sound so whiny. Nichol stared back at him, probably thinking the same thing.

“It’s a miracle you survived, sir. The right half of your suit was ripped away.”

“The Gundam...”

“We won’t be having much trouble with them.”

When Duo looked quizzically at him, Nichol cocked his head.

“Of course, you haven’t seen any news lately.” He grabbed the plastic chair, took a seat and leaned backwards. The chair squeaked, protesting under his weight.

“At the time you were fighting off Gundam 04, Gundams 01 and 03 attacked the air route. Yes, there were two routes, one by land and one by air. The air route was the right one; the land route was the decoy. Zechs Marquise was sent to deal with the 01 suit; apparently, he had fought it before. Lady Une raised the stakes and announced she was about to launch missiles at the colonies if they didn’t surrender. 01 chose rather to self detonate than to surrender. We have the engineer, though.”

Duo winced. “Launch missiles at the colonies? What kind of tactic is that?” Lady Une? The woman who kissed the ground Treize was walking on? Was she acting on her own, or at Treize’s orders?

Nichol’s eyes blazed with fury. “Am I mistaken, Lieutenant, or do I hear surprise? OZ isn’t about to tiptoe delicately around people who are opposing us. We need to be unified and strong, not holding hands with the enemy.”

“It’s downright blackmail, chief officer Nichol,” Duo gave back, irritated. “I don’t take war lighthearted at all, if you’re hinting at that. I thought OZ was capable of winning on its own, not by holding the colonies hostage.”

Nichol barked a laugh. “I suggest you better get used to it, Lieutenant. After we’ve returned to space, I’ll be transferred into Lady Une’s service. I’m looking forward to working with her – it will be a pleasure seeing how she and Khushrenada will shape the future.”

He rose from the chair, face flushed with the enthusiasm he had spoken of.

“Excuse me, Lieutenant. You still need a lot of rest. The doctor thinks you’ll be up and about in one week. I’ll use the time to pack your belongings and send them forward, with your permission.”

“Granted,” Duo said. “Carry out your orders.”

“Leave the preparations to me, sir!” He saluted and left, immediately followed by a nurse bustling into the room.

“I’m bringing you your medication. You look a lot better then when you came in.” She immediately set to work.

“Well, thank God,” Duo answered surly. The nurse helped him turn around, checked his IV and his chart, and promised to bring him some food. When she left, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in his body. Too many thoughts were running around in his head. What was Une thinking, using the colonies as a shield? Forcing the Gundams to surrender by threatening millions of lives? Nichol sure seemed proud of OZ’ tactics. Is this the ‘new future’ they’re talking about?Duo heard the nurse coming in, returning with the promised food. He was too nauseous to even think of eating. One Gundam down. Why didn’t he feel happy about it?

--------------

Duo stayed for a week in the hospital, recovering from his wounds. The heat of the missile impact of Gundam 04 had scorched him badly, leaving him with third degree burns on the left side of his body. He would need cosmetic surgery to cover the burns, but the doctors didn’t approve him to undergo procedures before he fully regained his strength. To kill time, he surfed news channels extensively, but he couldn’t find more about the attempted threat of OZ or the self detonated Gundam. OZ remained silent; shrouded in mystery just as before the coup; he didn’t even hear from Treize.

Duo figured the man was too busy and wondered why he felt disappointed about that.

Nichol visited him twice, and brought him some personal belongings he’d left at the Nairobi base and a new, fresh uniform. On the day of his leave, Duo dressed himself awkwardly for the first time since his hospitalization. He felt stiff and sore, his sensitive skin protesting against the movements he made. He was just busy adjusting his cap when Nichol arrived.

“Lieutenant, you’re ready.” He sounded like he hadn’t expect Duo to be ready, but he let it slide. The man was eager to go into service with Lady Une, and showed more fanaticism than Duo cared for, but he wasn’t really unsympathetic. He reached for his bag.

Nichol saluted. “Let me carry that for you, Lieutenant. There’s a taxi waiting for us.”

“Thank you. Any news?”

“No new reports on Gundam attacks, sir. We’re apprehending renegade Alliance soldiers, on Earth and in outer space. Lady Une is very busy with the execution of His Excellency’s plans for the new future, visiting the space colonies to form new relations.”

Shrewd. Duo followed Nichol downstairs, signed his release papers and stepped into the taxi.

“To the space port,” Nichol commanded the driver.

Duo looked outside the window. Earth was beautiful, and the people were nice and friendly... but their nature to fight continuously was a dangerous development. He doubted if the people in outer space were that much different. Colonists appreciated life more than anyone else did, because they knew about the difficulties and hardships it had taken to create the possibility of living in space. Earth was beautiful, but soft and weak. There was no room for weakness or soft spots in war. Duo shook his head. He was going back to outer space, and he didn’t even know why. To rebuild what? Myself?

“It seems like Zechs is in a bit of trouble,” Nichol suddenly started talking, sounding casually. “He was present at 01’s self-detonation. There are rumors going around that he’s to rebuilt it.”

Duo put up wide eyes. “What the hell does he want with a Gundam?”

“He has one himself,” Nichol chuckled. “Well, not one of Gundanium, but it’s the same basic model. It’s called the Tallgeese.”

“Tallgeese? And what has he done with it so far?”

“He took it to his homeland, the Sanq Kingdom. It hasn’t been confirmed officially, but the Alliance base there seems to have been wiped out.”

“Looks like he’s acting pretty much on his own,” Duo murmured. “Did Treize approve of the attack?” He’d been under the impression that Zechs was a strong man with an exceptionally focused and determined will- that could either go the good, or the wrong way.

Nichol shrugged. “Not that I know of.” He checked his watch.

“We launch in forty minutes.”

They arrived at the spaceport and the driver of the taxi accompanied them to the check in stand, pushing a little trolley with their bags. Duo carried his own backpack and slung it over his shoulder, albeit carefully.

“Officer Nichol!”

The man looked up hearing his name and grinned.

“Hey Hilde, long time no see. Finally decided to volunteer?”

“Yeah,” she answered and was about to say more, when she saw Duo.

“Sir!” She saluted.

“It’s all right, I’m not on duty,” Duo smiled. She was an okay looking girl slender, tall, with dark cropped hair.

“Hilde, this is Lieutenant Duo Maxwell. Lieutenant, meet officer Hilde Schbeiker. She’s in charge of the transfer of the new recruits.”

“Going to the Lunar Base, eh?” Duo said, while shaking her hand.

“Yes, and lots of them are volunteers too, even from the colonies. We’re not afraid to die for the independence of the colonies.”

“You mean the colonies are defending themselves? What need do they have for armament?”

Nichol tapped his cap. “Our flight is about to leave, Lieutenant.”

“Nice meeting you,” Duo said in passing by.

“Yes, nice meeting you,” Hilde answered and smiled.

Duo boarded the shuttle with Nichole, apparently reserved for OZ only. He was treated to loud cheers from the other occupants.

“Lieutenant Maxwell, you made it out alive!”

“Lieutenant Maxwell, so glad you could make it! Tell us; was the Gundam really twenty meters high?”

“I didn’t pay much attention to its height,” Duo answered, almost sneering. The privates were standing around him, obstructing his path.

“Not many could’ve pulled off the same stunt as you did, Lieutenant,” one private said. “You would’ve taken a full hit if you hadn’t swerved away as fast as you did.”

“My Aries is a bit lighter and more mobile,” Duo, answered him. He really wanted to sit down.

“Are you going to fight in outer space with us, Lieutenant Maxwell? There’s lot of Alliance scum that needs to be tidied up!”

“I head for the Lunar Base, so yes, I’m going to stay in outer space,” Duo said. The privates cheered again.

“Gentlemen, take your seats,” Nichol barked. “We’re about to launch.”

Duo was glad to take his seat. He didn’t say a thing when Nichol sat next to him and opened his laptop to tap away at it. Duo touched his silver cross; his only link to his past, to a church, a lifetime ago. I’m returning to space, but it doesn’t feel like coming home. It feels cold, and unwelcoming.

He shivered.

 

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