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Untitled:
Prologue
----------------------

Author: Tsu
Archive: My site: angelfire.com/anime2/dragoncave/story/snsfics.html
if you want it, please, just ask.  I don't bite/yell/scream.  Much.
Rating: PG
Pairings: 1+2
Warnings: Angst, Sap, OOC and Fluff.  I think that's about it.  
POSSIBLE lemon/lime, but at the VERY end.


Key:
---------------------- = scene change
(( beep )) = radio/speakers/vidphones/telephones/etc
//Hmmmm....// = internal thoughts 





Mission: Search and report.  Lunar base military outfit on moon.  
Approximate coordinates transferred upon acceptance.  Need size, exact 
location, satellite photos, and weapons import.  Any other relevant 
information required.  Accept?

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

Accepted.  Prepared to receive data.

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

A soldier stared down at the blinking red dot on the long range 
tracking sensors.  The commander, as indicated by his uniform, stepped 
up behind him.  "Sergeant, report."

"Gundam spotted in sector 27, sir."

"Open fire."

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

Duo swung his Gundam out of the range of the oncoming gunfire.  
"Damn," he muttered under his breath, "cloaking systems must be down 
again..."  A stray bullet grazed one of his fuel tanks, setting off a 
slow gas leak and adding to the number of already malfunctioning 
systems.  "K'so..." The gas leak was just quick enough that he would 
run out fuel a good hundred miles from the closest safehouse, if not 
farther.  He was also stuck going wherever was closest at a slow 
enough pace that they could follow him, or else he would risk blowing 
himself up by setting the gas on fire.

"You bastards..."  Duo worked to open a secure comm. link to the other 
pilots, but didn't have time to double check it.  He opened the first 
link he came upon anyway, and hoped that someone would answer.  Heero 
was the closest on his search.  "Heero," he stated calmly into the 
microphone.  "I need backup.  Lunar base sector 27.  Please, hurry.  
Duo out."  He marked his message high priority in the hopes that it 
would gain the other pilot's attention, and carefully moved 
DeathScythe out of the sensor's range.  "Now I wish I'd had time to 
repair ya, old buddy," he told his machine, "don't go out on me now, 
'k?"  As usual, Scythe didn't answer.

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

The red light on the message interceptor blinked rapidly, sending the 
base into a frenzy.

"Report!"

"Gundam missing from sensors, sir."

"Message intercepted, sir."

"Put it on the loudspeaker."

(( Heero.  I need backup.  Lunar base sector 27.  Please, hurry.  Duo 
out. ))

"He's still alive!  Get some suits out there now!"

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

The message alarm screamed to life on Heero's laptop, indicating a 
high-priority message.  It wasn't on a very secure line, but it was 
untraceable, it's only fault being that others could listen in.  He 
was startled to hear Duo's voice, though it didn't show on his face.  
(( Heero.  I need backup.  Lunar base sector 27.  Please, hurry.  Duo 
out. ))

Heero wasted no time in heading out to his Gundam, telling himself 
that Duo was too important a fighter in this war to have die before it 
was over.  He didn't try to rationalize the other feelings inside him, 
for he didn't understand them well enough to know what they were.

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

Duo shifted uncomfortably in his Gundam's cockpit.  They had 
definitely not been designed for comfort, nor for a person with a 
braid, as it was constantly trapped between himself and the seat, 
pressing on his spine.

In order to escape the sensors, he had shut down all systems except 
for life support and his now somewhat functioning cloaking device.  It 
wouldn't do much good against the human eye, but he needed Heero to be 
able to find him somehow.  Or at least, that's what he told himself.

He didn't even realize when the OZ mobile suits came up behind him.  
All he felt was the blast, and it came hard, not even blocked by a 
shield.  He hit his head on the control board and screamed as glass 
from the screens beside him cut into his arms.  The last screen 
cracked just as he covered his head to protect it from the falling 
shards.

Sitting up, he felt glass from the seat work its way into his back and 
he hissed in pain, trying to rapidly control DeathScythe as it 
descended towards the moon.  "Bloody Hell!" he cursed as the engines 
failed to start again after their abrupt shut down.  He looked up to 
see the moon widen on the last screen.  "Oh shit."

Everything went black as DeathScythe hit the surface of the moon and 
Duo hit his head on the controls once more.

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

Beeeeeep.

Click.

"Sir, the Gundam has been disabled.  It crashed on the moon.  We are 
unable to see or detect any wreckage and suggest a ground search to be 
more efficient.  Pilot's chance of survival is less than 50%."

"Understood.  Return to base to commence ground search."

"Yessir."

Click.

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

Heero ran his scanners through the sector for what seemed like the 
thousandth time.  He ran every sensor he had and the only thing that 
showed was a small pocket of mobile suits.  "K'so...where are you, 
baka?" Heero asked the air when DeathScythe didn't turn up.  Again.  
He set his screens to the outside monitors so that he could begin a 
visual search.  Looking down at the moon, he realized that if Duo's 
suit still had its cloaking device enabled, he wouldn't be able to 
pick it up if he had landed there.

That would be the smart place to hide, then.

Heero immediately flew down to begin a visual search of the moon's 
surface, wondering if perhaps OZ had already captured the other pilot 
and simply had not announced it yet.  He headed towards the shaded 
areas, reasoning that he would have already spotted the braided pilot 
otherwise.

That's when he saw it: the remains of a wrecked Gundam.  Heero slipped 
the helmet onto his space-suit and exited his Gundam, praying that the 
other wasn't dead yet.  He entered through DeathScythe's airlock and 
quickly masked the bloody face of one Duo Maxwell.  Securing the mask, 
he turned to drag the other out and faced the one remaining screen, 
which showed the enemy search team.

"Shit."  If Duo wasn't dead yet, Heero swore he'd kill the braided 
fool.  Hefting the heavy body, Heero hit the self-destruct.  Glancing 
at it, he realized that it was set for a twelve-second delay, just 
enough time to run.  No wonder Duo had been able to fake self-
destructing.  Heero climbed into Wing, pulling Duo up behind him and 
laying the other across his lap.  He closed the hatch to the cock pit 
and launched, heading for his own safehouse.

Duo moaned, and stirred, dropping a disk he had been clutching in his 
hand and falling even deeper into unconsciousness.  Heero picked up 
the disk and put into his Gundam's playback drive.  Images popped up 
of the base, followed with military personnel and information.  It was 
Duo's mission.  Suddenly, the information cut off, and the screen 
filled with one repeating message:

(( Heero help Heero help Heero help Heero help Heero... ))

over and over again.

Heero glared at the screen while behind him DeathScythe finally gave 
in to the need to explode.