Eternal Flame

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier ne? :) I do however own Shane, Paul, Colin, Mickey, Benny, Toby, Fayah and any other unfamiliar characters that crop up. I also own the plot if you can call it that.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Sap, angst, OC, Lemon, Lime, abuse, violence, language.

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, OC x OC and maybe some more... check each part to be sure ;)

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com
http://sweetlysour.net
http://www.adult-fanfiction.org
http://www.theforsakenwk.com/

Status: Work in progress.

Beta: DBZVelena... *huggles*

Author: ShenLong

Authors notes: *sigh* Well here I am again caving into pressure. I know it has taken a while to get to this and for that I apologize but I could not come up with a plot I deemorthorthy enough.... until now. This is yet another sequel... this time to United Hearts. I did promise I would write the wedding for you all and I intend to do that. For those that haven\'t read United or Lost Souls I recommend that you do, otherwise this sequel will not make much sense. All of your favorite characters are back and up to as much mischief as possible.
This is set fourteen months after the end of United and all the children are older now. The Gundam Pilots arl 20l 20yrs, Shane and Fayah are 16, Paul is 15, Colin is 14, Mickey is 12, Benny is 10 1/2 and not forgetting that little rascal Toby who is 10.
Thank you to all those who supported me through the writing of United, I hope you enjoy this just as much.

\"Eternal Flame\"

Started April 2003 ShenLong


Chapter 33

\"Prepare to meet Shinigami...\" Duo\'s voice was cold as it came over the speaker system and it was fortunate that Grant and his crew couldn\'t see the visual image of Duo in the cockpit of his Gundam for it was a look of complete calm... deadly calm, but the violet eyes held the promise of retribution in them.

\"You should have surrendered when you had the chance,\" Wufei\'s voice echoed in the silence of the mother ship bridge. \"Now you have left us with no option but to increase the charges against you. This is your final warning. Surrender now or face the consequences.\"

Grant gave an evil chuckle. \"I think nInstInstead of taking out one Gundam pilot, it looks like I will be able to take out another two as well.\" His eyes flashed with insanity as he turned to Martins. \"Run the Mobile Doll program. I\'ll take these bastards down with them and then destroy that other ship.\"

Martins was about to protest when a shove to his back followed by the muzzle of the gun to his temple convinced him that to refuse was probably not a good idea. Roughly he was pushed to a console and shoved into the seat.

\"Run the program,\" the harsh voice of the guard barked at him.

Martins pulled the keyboard towards him and slowly began to type in the commands.

~ * ~

\"I\'ll take the rear ship and knock out their cannons,\" Duo stated down the com link.

\"Roger that. I\'ll disable the front ship.\" Wufei gripped his controls and turned the Gundam around.

Duo gave a whoop down the com link. \"Prepare ta eat shit and die, you evil bastards.\"

\"Duo!\" Quatre\'s voice screamed in his ear. \"I shouldn\'t need to remind you that this is peace time and killing is to be avoided at all costs!\"

\"Yeah, yeah, Q-man. Keep yer knickers on. It\'s just that it don\'t sound right ta say, \'eat shit and prepare ta be arrested\' now does it? Kinda loses the point a little.\" Duo swooped around the large carrier and dodged the beam of energy shooting from the bow cannon. He swung the big Gundam from side to side, easily evading the repeated attempts to shoot him out of the sky and then with an evil cackle, he dived in close and brought the scythe into play.

The glowing green blade sliced through the end of the cannon with ease, effectively shutting it down. \"One down and one ta go,\" he snickered and went to turn around. \"Uh, oh...\"

~ * ~

Wufei and Puff managed to get in close to the bow cannon and disable it with a single slice of the trident. Seconds later he was moving alongside the hull, one of the Gundam\'s large hands grabbing the smaller cannon that was jutting out the side and bending the barrel to render it useless. The dragon arm extended out to where the other small cannon was preparing to fiThe The beam shot forth and Wufei counter attacked with the flame from the dragon\'s mouth, blocking the beam. There was a bright flash as the two forces connected and canceled each other out. Retracting the arm, so Wufei crushed the remaining cannon and prepared to move to the rear of the ship and take out the stern cannon when he heard Duo down the com link.

\"oh..oh...\"

Still continuing on his way, he opened the line. \"Maxwell? Status\"

\"Ummm... this could take a little longer, Wuffie.\"

\"What are you rabbiting on about now?\"

\"Errr... I seem ta have angered the hornets in the nest.\"

\"What?\" Wufei turned his Gundam a little and brought up the outside visual in Reaper\'s direction. \"What\'s your problem, Maxwell? There\'s only about thirty of them.\"

\"It ain\'t the dolls, Wuffers, I ain\'t had a chance ta knock out the rear cannon yet.\"

\"Engage the dolls, Maxwell. I\'ll finish off disabling the mother ship and then take out the rear cannon on the carrier.\"

\"Will do, Wuffie,\" Duo twirled the scythe in the air and faced the dolls. \"Let\'s have a little fun, shall we? How many bits can a mobile doll be cut inta? Guess we\'re gonna find out.\" With another yell, Duo launched Reaper at the waiting dolls.

Wufei disabled the rear cannon on the mother ship and was preparing to head for the last two remaining cannons on the starboard side when the battle between Maxwell and the dolls caught his attention., he paused and frowned.

Duo was engaged in battle with the mobile suits, swinging his scythe, swooping and diving amongst the mecha, but it didn\'t seem to matter what he did, he couldn\'t land any disabling blows. \"What the fuck?\" He tried again and again, swinging the scythe but the doll dodged out of the way. Another came at him from behind and he shoved the end of the scythe backwards, only to connect with thin air. An energy beam shot out at him and as he tried to dodge so another was fired and then another. He slammed hard into his harness as one of the beams connected with Reaper\'s upper left leg. \"Shit!\" he cursed as alarm bells began to ring. His hands flew over the console, shutting down the hydraulics to the damaged section and turned back to the fight.

It was as if the dolls could read his mind and knew which tactic he was going to employ next, easily evading his maneuvers. Seeing the Gundam had been partially damaged, they swarmed in like vultures.

\"Fuck and dammit!\" Duo screamed in the cockpit as another blow connected with the suit, tossing him around the small space and smacking his head against the upper control panel. Blinding white pain lanced through his head and blood trickled into his right eye. Taking one hand off the controls for a second, he swiped the blood away with the back of his hand and then turned to reshis his fight with his attackers when Wufei came over the com link.

\"You look like you could use a hand, Maxwell.\"

\"No shit, Sherlock.\"

The two Gundams floated in space, back to back, paused for a moment as they got their bearings. The mobile dolls had them pretty much surrounded.

\"Any ideas, Maxwell?\"

\"Normally I\'d say let\'s just rip inta these fuckers and blow \'em outta the universe but there\'s somethin different about these dolls.\"

\"Different?\"

\"Yeah. It\'s almost as if they can read yer mind. Don\'t matter what tactic I use, they are ready fer it and dodge it.\"

\"Interesting,\" Wufei muttered and then launched himself at the nearest dolls. His trident flared, the dragon arm shooting out and breathing fire as it did so.

Duo also launched into another attack, scythe cutting through the air, firing off a couple of rockets to add to the mayhem.

Moments later they were once again back to back. Duo hadn\'t touched his opponent while Wufei had managed to score a lucky shot with the dragon\'s fire and destroyed the lower half of one of the dolls.

\"I see what you mean, Maxwell.\" Wufei stated. \"This poses a completely new problem.\"

\"Yeah, I agree. We need ta figure somethin out and fast.\"

\"There has to be a weakness, all things have a weakness,\" Wufei pondered his thought aloud as he tried to think of something, anything that would give them an edge.

\"Well, knowin that sure gives me a whole lotta comfort, Wu. Any chance yer can speed up the thought process? These bastards is comin in fer another shot,\" Duo answered as he prepared himself for the incoming attack.

Beams shot across the void, green blurs of scythe and trident mixed up in it. A few connections were made on both sides before the battle took another stand off.

\"Shit and dammit ta hell!\"

\"Status!\" barked Wufei only to be interrupted.

\"02 and 05, this is Control. What\'s happening out there? All we can see is a lot of explosions but nothing more.\"

\"Control, this is 02. These dolls ain\'t like anythin\' we\'ve battled before. I know they\'re dolls but it\'s as if they can predict our every move, know what we\'re gonna do next.\"

\"05?\"

\"Confirm that, Control. The dolls, it\'s almost like they\'re thinking for themselves.\"

\"Fuck!\" Quatre said softly down the com link.

Duo snickered. \"Ohhh... Quatre swore.\"

\"Quatre will be doing a whole lot more than swearing in a minute,\" the blonde growled. \"Guys, engage the dolls again, we will try and follow the fight as best we can and see if we can\'t think of an alternative avenue of attack.\"

\"Roger that, Control. Reckon yer can hurry it up a bit though, Reaper\'s kinda taking a bit of damage here.\"

\"Don\'t worry, Duo. The cavalry has arrived.\" Trowa\'s voice came calmly over the com link. The huge mecha shimmered and came into view as it decloaked, positioning itself with the other two Gundams.

\"Woo hooo! Glad yer could make it, Tro. How\'d it go back there? How come it took yer both so long ta get away from the satellite?\"

\"I\'ll explain later, Duo. Right now, we have a more pressing issue.\"

\"Heero?\" Duo inquired, his voice trembling a little.

\"Eagle One is taking out the rest of the armaments on the ships, once he\'s done that he\'s going to join us and finish off these dolls. Now what do you say about giving this another shot?\"

\"I\'d be happy ta, Trowa. Word of warnin\' though. These dolls aint like anythin\' we\'ve battled before. They seems ta think fer themselves.\"

\"Roger that, Reaper. Puff, you ready to attack?\"

\"It will be my pleasure, Barton.\"

\"Whenever you are ready, gentlemen.\"

The three Gundams glowed as they prepared to battle once more, scythe and trident flared, slicing through the vacuum. The dragon arm blasted out its flame while Hercules opened fire with its guns and rockets. Fire power was exchanged between both parties, some landing but many being evaded.

Back on the Zodiac, Quatre and Howard watched as the Gundams did their best to bring an end to the mobile dolls. Curiously, Quatre studied the fighting technique, it was as Wufei and Duo had said,; the dolls appeared to be thinking, predic the the Gundams\' moves and effectively preventing any strikes from landing or doing any serious damage whilst managing to inflict some damage of their own. Something wasn\'t right; Quatre could sense it but couldn\'t put his finger on it. He narrowed his eyes, a furrow forming between his brows as he scrutinized the battle taking place.

The three Gundams broke away from their enemy and backed up against each other. \"Status!?\" barked Wufei.

Duo groaned. Reaper had taken a pretty heavy beating this round, not to mention his own state. \"Reaper operational, damage to hydraulics but still functioning.\"

\"Hercules fully functional. Weapons operational, two thirds of arsenal remaining. You weren\'t kidding when you said thdolldolls were tough.\"

\"Told ya,\" Duo chuckled.

\"Puff has sustained damage to the right arm; it\'s still working but is sluggish in its response.\" Wufei informed his fellow pilots. \"Pilot damage?\"

// Uh, oh, // thought Duo. \"02 sustained a cut ta the head and a few strained muscles, nothin worth worryin\' about though.\" Duo sincerely hoped that Wufei wouldn\'t press for further details; he wasn\'t sure just how much he could twist the truth. The cut had slowed in its bleeding, there was just a slow, thick oozing now but his bangs were stuck together with the amount that had flowed earlier. His right shoulder burned fiercely where he\'d been thrown in his harness and he wasn\'t sure how much damage had been done to it. It hurt like a bitch to move but Duo simply grit his teeth and got on with it. Now wasn\'t the time to be vulnerable.

\"03 operational. Pulled shoulder muscles sustained on Alpha and ccomccompanying head ache from blow to the head, also sustained on Alpha.\" He didn\'t mention his knee; it didn\'t really matter as he wasn\'t using it to pilot the Gundam.

\"05 fully functional, minor bruising from harness but that is all.\"

\"So, anyone got any bright ideas?\" Duo questioned, \"\'Cause they are about ta attack us again any second.\"

\"Play it on the defensive for now is all I can suggest until Control comes up with a plan,\" Trowa stated.

\"Wuffers?\" "The"The name is WUFEI! And no, I don\'t have any ideas, Maxwell, other than giving you a lobotomy.\"

\"Ohhh..... real nice, Wu. I suggest yer get that dragon fire turnin in another direction though as here they come again.\" Duo shouted.

Wufei turned; sure enough the dolls were coming in for another attack.

\"Pilots, this is Control. I think I may have a solution to your doll problem...\"

~ * ~

Heero had left as Trowa went to join with Duo and Wufei in battling the mobile dolls. Swiftly he piloted Eagle One to the carrier and decloaking briefly, rendered the remaining beam cannon inoperable. He cloaked again and moved to the mother ship, only becoming visible long enough to finish off the job that Wufei had started. Satisfied that the weaponry had been disarmed and that the Zodiac would be safe from attack from the enemy ships for the moment, he was about to recloak and go to assist his fellow pilots deal with the dolls when Control came over the com link.

\"01, this is Control. Do you copy?\"

\"Control, this is 01. What is the problem?\"

\"01, we know you have finished disarming the ships but we have another problem.\"

\"Explain.\"

\"Zodiac is safe for the present time, the dolls are proving to be a problem but we are working on that right now and think we have a solution, her..er...\" There was a pause. \"However we have another problem. The mother ship is showing signs of engaging her engines. We believe she is going to try and make a run for it.\"

\"Roger that, Control. I\'ll see what I can do.\"

\"01, if possible try to get on board the ship, incapacitating the engines is too dangerous, you could end up blowing the ship to pi and and killing innocents. Infiltration is our only option. Do you think you can do it?\"

\"Mission accepted, Control.\"

\"Good luck, Heero. Control out.\"

\"Hn.\" Heero cut the link and turned to face the mother ship. He could see the glow of the engines as they began their warm up sequence. Time was of the essence here. With the cloaking device in place, he flew Eagle One towards the cargo bay doors.

~ * ~

Grant watched the battle taking place outside, an evil sneer on his face. \"They don\'t stand a chance,\" he muttered.

Bob sat at his console, he\'d run the program and the dolls had responded. According to the data flickering on the screen all the dolls were functioning properly, the program running smoothly. The data he\'d installed into the chips allowing them to predict the moves the Gundam Pilots would make and therefore enabling them to counter attack. The dolls were inflicting some damage whilst remaining relatively free of it themselves.

Not for the first time did Bob curse his abilities.

He watched the battle ensuing on the screen and hoped that the pilot\'s would figure out what the programming of the dolls was, before it was too late. He snuck a glance out torneorner of his eye and smiled inwardly as he noted that everyone in the room was riveted to the screen and the ensuing battle there. With another nervous look around he started tapping away quietly at the keyboard, hoping that if anyone should notice they would think he was merely commanding the dolls.

Using all the skills he ever possessed he managed to hack through the system and find the com link wave length that the opposition was using. He tracked the signal to the main ship and with another glance around, began to type as quickly and quietly as he dared. He was almost finished when he spied the guard from the corner of his eye coming closer to see what he was up to. The sweat ran down his back as he typed the last few words and hit the send button, hoping to god that the message would get through.

\"Hey! What are you doing?!\" The guard snapped as he strode quickly to Martins\' side.

Immediately Grant spun in his chair to see what was going on. His eyes swept over the form in front of the console, noting the sweating brow and flushed cheeks. He stood and moved to the man. \"What were you doing?!\" Grant growled.

\"Just programming the dolls and checking the damage report,\" Bob replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

\"Like fuck you were!\" Grant\'s fist slammed into Bob\'s cheek and sent the programmer sprawling from his chair to the floor.

Bob pulled himself up a little, wiping at his mouth and tasting the metallic flavor of blood. He didn\'t care what happened to him, he was even willing to sacrifice Leith if need be, but he couldn\'t do this anymore. A boot landed in his ribs and he felt something crack as waves of dizziness threatened to take his consciousness from him.

\"You fucking piece of shit. I should have killed you once the chips were programmed,\" Grant snarled. He reached down and grabbed Bob by the back of his shirt, hauling him to his feet. Another blow connected to Bob\'s stomach and he coughed up blood, spraying some over Grant\'s shirt.

\"You bastard!\" hissed Grant. \"You\'ll fucking pay for that.\" He delivered another blow to Bob\'s cheek and then tossed the man aside. \"We don\'t need him anymore. Take him back to the holding cell and make sure he\'s secured.\" Grant turned back to the screen where he could see the dolls wreaking havoc on the Gundams. \"Prepare the cannon to fire on the enemy ship.\" Then he smiled as he spotted a third Gundam in the fight. \"Good,\" he muttered. There was no way that the only three could possibly defeat the dolls, not after Martins had programmed them with the pilot\'s individual fighting techniques. It was only a matter of time.

Bob found himself dragged roughly from the room, his ears hearing something though that gave him a little hope.

\"Sir, the ship\'s weapons will not respond.\"

\"What!?\"

\"The cannon, it\'s not responding, sir. Neither are any of the other cannons.\"

Grant slammed his fist down hard on the console. \"Fuck!\" Those bastards must haveckedcked out the weapons. He looked at the screen and back to the opposing ship. \"Fire the main engines; we\'re moving out of here. The dolls will finish off the Gundams and then they can take out that ship as well.\" Grant spun around to one of the programmers. \"Take over the console for the dolls. Send the order to them to finish off the Gundams then destroy the other ship. Once they have done that they are to re-group and return to the carrier.\"

The young technician visibly shook as he took up residence at the console. He wasn\'t all that clued up on the doll program, he\'d only had a little to do with it. He gazed at the monitor and brought the program up. Surely it couldn\'t be too hard.

\"Firing warm up sequence for main engines, sir.\"

\"How long until they are ready?\"

\"A couple of minutes, sir.\"

Grant rubbed his hand across his face. It was really exhausting trying to gain your revenge.

The ship suddenly shook and shuddered then went still.

\"What the fuck was that?\"

~ * ~

Quatre stared at the monitor as an unknown message flashed there. \"Hello?\" he said under his breath and hit the accept button. What scrolled across the monitor took a moment to sink in and then Quatre\'s face lit up. Howard noticed the change in demeanor and moved to see what had happened. His sunglasses nearly fell off his nose. \"Well, I\'ll be...\"

Quatre grinned. \"Now we know how to beat them. This has to be from Leith\'s father, he must be on the mother ship.\" Quatre turned his excited face back to the com link and opened the line. \"02, 03, 05, this is Control. I think we have a way to beat these dolls.\"

\"About time, Q-man. I hate ta tell yer this but we\'re getting our asses trashed out here. Oh, fuck!\" There was the sound of a circuit board exploding. \"Shit, you mother fucking son of a bitch!\"

\"Listen, I\'ve had a message come through, it has to be from Bob Martins. It says he programmed the dolls with all our known fighting techniques...\"

\"So that\'s how the little suckers know what we\'re planning on doing next,\" Trowa\'s voice said calmly.

\"As much as I appreciate the niceties, do yer think yer can hurry up and tell us what ta do? In case it\'s slipped yer mind we\'re kinda gettin annihilated here.\"

\"The message says that the dolls know all your usual fighting strategies, but when he programmed them he omitted to include a learning program.\"

\"So what you are saying is, if we change our method of attack to something we haven\'t used before then we can defeat these hellions?\" Wufei\'s voice remained calm amidst the sounds of alarms in his cockpit.

\"Exactly! Don\'t use your normal fighting techniques, change them, adapt them and throw in anything different that you can think of. The dolls lack the ability to learn so you will confuse them and hopefully be able to take them down.\" Quatre was excited now.

\"Sounds like a plan ta me. Ready, guys? Then let\'s wing it!\" Duo\'s evil laughter echoed down the com link as he powered his Gundam towards the dolls once more. This time instead of swinging his scythe he fired off a couple of the bats. In the thrill of the fight he\'d forgotten about those new babies and it looked as if now was a pretty good time to see if they worked. He whooped with joy as the bats shot out, thermal flame glowing and instantly attacked the nearest doll, cutting cleanly through the suit before returning to Reaper.

Trowa varied his attack, dodging and weaving then turning and coming full tilt at his opposition. Usually he would stand off a way to release his missiles and bullets but Quatre had said to change tactics and he wasn\'t about to argue. The two dolls he\'d lined up hesitated and that was all he needed, the rockets launched and Trowa was slammed back into his harness with the after shock but it was worth it.

Wufei also changed tactics. The way he normally fought was with honor, now he took a leaf out of Maxwell\'s book and fought \'dirty\'. It worked. The dolls were confused, their reaction time slowed and Wufei was able to inflict his justice.

Back on the Zodiac, Howard and Quatre watched the battle begin to turn around. The dolls were still managing to land some hits but no longer was it the one sided affair it had been. The Gundams were slowly decimating the dolls, inflicting damage and taking out the suits steadily. It would only be a matter of time before they were completely destroyed.

Then Quatre picked up the engines on the mother ship beginning their warm up sequence. Without a thought he contacted Heero, giving the order to infiltrate. He knew if anyone could stop Grant now it would be Heero.

~ * ~

Heero brought Eagle One to the underbelly of the mother ship and the cargo bay doors. He hovered beneath and surveyed them carefully. Somehow simply knocking and requesting entry wasn\'t going to work so he looked around to see if there was any other way to open the doors without ripping them apart.

Looked like he was out of luck. With a chilling smile on his face, one that Duo would have been proud of had he seen it, Heero flew the mecha close in and maneuvered the large hands to the bay doors. The metal connected and he managed to dig the fingers into the join and force the doors to open He He felt the huge ship tremble and groan, protesting the attempt but the metal was no match for the strength of the Gundam. The doors screamed and then gave, parting enough to allow the mecha to enter the bay.

Heero guided Eagle until he was close enough to the railings, then he powered down, hands flying over the small touch pad and securing the mecha. No one would be able to operate it without knowing the codes. Smiling to himself he checked his flight suit and sealed the visor before popping the hatch and leaving the safety of the Gundam and heading towards the exit. He glanced around; relieved to note that there hadn\'t been anyone in the bay when he made his entrance. If there had they would be dead by now, sucked out into the vacuum of space when the pressure equalized. He found a double exit door and opened the one to the cargo bay. He stepped inside, sealed the door and waited for the pressure to level before punching open the other door. He stepped out into the corridor, cautiously searching for any signs of life and finding none. That wouldn\'t last long though. They would be well aware of his presence by now.

Scanning the immediate area, Heero memorized where he was and where the bridge would most likely be situated. He knew that\'s where his enemy would be. Making up his mind, he began to move stealthily through the corridors and in the direction he hoped the bridge lay.

~ * ~

tbc....