The Forgotten

Chapter 2

by Dustin

Calder slipped his trench coat off, folded it neatly, and placed it on a nearby table, taking deep breaths and calming his mind as he’d been trained. He meticulously unfastened his shoulder holster, setting his specialized handgun on the table. Still breathing deeply, he took off his shoes and socks, leaving loose, black pants and t-shirt. He carefully surveyed the space before him. It was a dimly lit, open room with gray, hard-rubber floors and walls, approximately a hundred and twenty square meters. It was a training center for Preventer agents, emptied of all its usual equipment. Calder stood at its edge and gently stretched his muscles, testing the floor beneath his bare feet.

Closing his eyes, Calder called upon a part of his mind that stayed quiet most of the time and felt it awaken. Opening his eyes again he viewed the room in a whole new light. The temperature was twenty-three point three degrees Celsius. The atmospheric pressure was a little light at eighty-four kilopascals and the gravity was just slightly below Earth normal. His heart was beating at its usual seventy beats per minute. He knew in these conditions he could run flat out for three point eight kilometers before he’d lose operational efficiency.

He raised his heart rate five bpms and his adrenaline level slightly. He felt his nerves ignite with energy, the connection between his head and body doubling in speed. His mind and body were now prepped for combat.

In the center of the room sat a small metal droid, a half-meter square, folded up on itself. A destroyer droid. Calder eyed it for a second, then picked up a pair of knives that sat on the table, letting their comfortable weight and balance settle into his hands and arms. He took one more deep breath and dashed forward.

Instantly the droid unfolded and met his attack with a long knife in each of its two arms. Calder dodged one arm and deflected the other with the knife in his left hand. He spun, flipped the right knife back handed and penetrated one of the twenty small, lit glass plates on the droid’s body, then rolled away. The droid automatically switched to difficulty level one. Rising up to its full height of two meters, it advanced forward. It moved with rapid mechanical fluidity. Its torso spun on a ball bearing waist which sat on four short, spindly legs that ended in three-pronged claws. Calder let it come forward and flipped both knives backhanded.

The droid lashed out at an angle, starting high and slashing downward. Calder turned and bent back to avoid the knife, then stepped lightly on top of the arm, using its return momentum to flip himself over the destroyer’s head, slashing a second glass plate on the droid’s back as he did. He landed and rolled, coming up facing the droid again. Level two.

Faster this time, the destroyer came at him. Calder moved backwards, parrying the deadly knives until he reached a wall. He felt it behind him and leapt, getting a foot on the wall and pushing himself sideways, flipping over just as the droid jammed a knife into the wall where he’d stood. In the split second it took the droid to step back, Calder broke two more lights. Level four.

Calder backed up and took mental note of his condition. His heart rate had risen five more bpms and his breathing was slightly heavy. He frowned. He was a little out of shape. The destroyer advanced slowly, flipping the knives rapidly back and forth. Calder waited. A split second before he knew the droid would attack, he leaped forward, knocking the left arm aside and smashing another plate with the butt of his right knife. He ducked and rolled as the other arm tried to pin him and kicked one of the small legs. The droid tipped for slit second, causing its next slash to swing wide and Calder smashed another light. Level six.

Most mercenaries who used these droids to train never took them past five. Calder had taken it up to fourteen. Past that, the droids were only used in real combat. Used in ground engagements as a hard-to-see saboteur, they would sneak close to a mobile suit’s legs, cripple one, then jump onto the fallen suit’s torso to kill its other systems. The more viscous users would program it to kill the pilot. Fighting for the Treize Faction, Calder had once been in a Leo that fell prey to one. It had leaped straight for his cockpit and started to pry it open. Most pilots would still be helpless in their harnesses when it broke through. Calder had been lucky. He’d managed to get his sidearm out just as it had cut through and put a lucky shot straight into its optics. Blinded, the droid had paused for the second necessary for Calder to take out its electronic spinal cord. He never wanted to push his luck with one again.

In the brief pause, Calder spotted a figure standing near the entrance, watching him. “Halt,” he ordered the advancing droid and it froze, its long knives poised over him. He studied the newcomer warily, his mind still in combat mode. “Wufei,” he said, nodding in greeting.

Wufei returned the nod and walked forward, studying the droid. “I’ve never seen one of these used for hand to hand combat,” he said.

“I came across it working as a mercenary,” Calder said. “Sometimes they reprogram them to train with. Try and push themselves beyond what they can with human opponents.” He smiled sardonically. “Some would try a little too hard.”

Wufei nodded his understanding. “Do you think it really surpasses a human opponent?”

Calder shot a glance at him, a little apprehensive. “Well, it is after all, just a machine. It follows a set of predictable rules and programs.”

“Of coarse,” Wufei said, smiling slightly. “It’s good that you understand that. The best training is with real people and real combat.”

He glanced sideways at Calder and the younger boy knew what was coming. He met Wufei’s gaze and nodded. Wufei walked back to the side of the room and opened a locker built into the wall. He withdrew two knives similar to Calder’s and walked back to the middle of the room.

“Position one, deactivate,” Calder said softly, and the destroyer droid moved back to the side of the room and folded up once again. Calder moved across from Wufei and stood about six feet away.

“We are trying not to injure each other, right?” Calder said lightly.

Wufei just smiled and bowed.

Wonderful, Calder thought, returning the bow.

Wufei’s first attack nearly knocked Calder onto his back. He dodged strike after rapid strike, falling back to the wall, then rolling sideways. He lashed out at Wufei’s side, following the rules of practice combat, turning his knives so that when they hit their target, it would be with the flat of the blade. They never got close enough though. Wufei turned Calder’s knife and lashed out with his bare foot, catching Calder in the stomach. He hit the floor, the breath knocked out of him. He rolled to his feet and overrode the automatic tightening of the diaphragm, taking a deep breath. He was nervous and he’d made a couple of mistakes.

Wufei was watching him, expressionless. Calder smiled and leaped forward, determined not to be taken lightly. Wufei stepped back, parrying his blades. He kicked out again, high this time and Calder ducked and crouched, sliding one knee behind Wufei’s leg and punching him hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling. But not before Wufei hooked his foot behind Calder’s knee, toppling him backwards.

They both sprang cat-like to their feet and now Wufei was smiling as well. They circled for a moment, watching each other. Wufei had been right. Calder was very fast, and very well trained. All the better. He attacked again and the room filled with the rapid clashing of the small blades. Slash, parry, thrust, dodge, neither able to land a blow.

Finally, Calder successfully spun one of Wufei’s knives out of his grasp, then landed the flat of his blade on Wufei’s forearm. They froze for a moment and Calder smiled. “First blood,” he said.

Wufei gave a slight nod and spun out of the deadlock. He kicked out low, then high, and Calder jumped and ducked, then caught Wufei’s knifeless hand to the jaw. He staggered and Wufei’s other hand lashed out, slicing the sleeve of Calder’s shirt from shoulder to elbow. Wufei smiled. “Severing of the arterial ligament,” he said.

Calder smiled and stepped back. “You are every bit as cunning as your reputation indicates, Chang Wufei,” he said with a bow.

Wufei returned the bow. “You have earned my respect as a fighter today, Nicalder Slandovich.”

“Aw, look, they’re bonding.”

Calder glanced up to see Duo Maxwell grinning crookedly at them. Arys Walker stood next to him.

“You two aren’t done already, are you?” she said, taking off her jacket and walking to the middle of the room. Smiling at them, she started stretching her muscles. “We haven’t had a good skirmish in a while.”

“Unless you count my attempts to get Arys to leave Heero for me,” Duo said, sidling up and putting his arm around Arys’ shoulder. She patted his hand, then grabbed it and flipped him to the ground.

“Ow,” Duo said with a groan. “See what I mean?”

Calder grinned and looked at Wufei, whose normal sour expression had returned. “I have things to do,” he muttered and walked off.

Duo stood and brushed himself off. “He’s such a party pooper,” he said. “Not bad for your second day though, Calder. Getting Wufei to buddy up to you like that is no small accomplishment.”

“That was buddying up?”

“Definitely. If it were someone else, you’d be on a hugging basis practically.”

Arys grinned. “See what kind of outfit you signed up with?”

Calder smiled indulgently. “It’ll take some getting used to. You have the Perfect Soldier, the honorable Chinese warrior…” he smirked at Duo. “…and the God of Bats.”.

“That’s ‘Death’, new boy. God of Death.”

“My mistake. It’s the wings.” Calder grinned. “And the hair.”

Duo tackled him while Arys looked on in amusement.

They were joined by Quatre and Trowa and spent the afternoon sparring. Afterwards they had dinner in the Gundam pilots’ mess. Calder couldn’t help the feelings of awe he had for the Gundam pilots. Their skills were beyond what even the rumors had said. He felt sorry for any group who tried to stand in the way of such a force.

He was surprised to find himself more at home than he had in a long time. Since he’d lived on the streets after running away from his parents. He quickly squelched the clenching of worry he felt in his stomach every time he thought of this. Every time he thought of her.

Suddenly the thoughts were driven out of his head by the sounding of an alarm. His head shot up. They were scrambling the Gundams. Something had happened.

All seven pilots met up at the hanger at the same time, all stony faced. They went silently to the lockers.

Calder zipped up his flight suit, trying not to let his nervousness show as the others got suited up around him. Is wasn’t the first battle he’d had, but it was the first major one that’d he’d be using his Gundam for. Though he felt at home in Wraith and ran simulations and mock-combat exercises whenever he could, he hadn’t had a real mission with it since before Operation Meteor had begun. And of coarse, he’d be fighting alongside the best pilots in the solar system.

“Hey Calder,” Duo’s voice said beside him. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” he replied. “You know, relaxed. Great in fact. You know, this is probably the best I’ve felt in...”

“Yeah, I know. You’re nervous. It’s understandable, being new at this,” Duo interrupted.

“And you’re not nervous?”

“Heck no. This is going to be a breeze. You just stick close to me. Actually, never mind. You’ll get in my way.”

Calder laughed. “You just watch me work.”

“You mean watch you go ’Aw, crap, I thought I made my engines big enough to move this thing. Duo? Help?’ ”

“You wish,” Calder replied. He grabbed his helmet and moved to his Gundam. “See you out there.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Calder grabbed the cable and triggered the reel to pull him up to Wraith’s relatively spacious cockpit. He sat back in the soft bucket seat and set his helmet to the side. He flipped a few switches and the Gundam came to life around him.

Systems check Wraith, Calder thought to the Gundam. And indicator panel came up on the screen to his left. Boxes with the names of the systems came up outlined in yellow, then quickly went green.

“This is Calder, all systems are go,” he said.

“Roger that. Proceed to the carrier,” a technician responded.

Calder unlocked the hydraulic system, then the docking clamps and moved the Gundam ahead. It stepped off the raised alcove with a bang, and turned to the end of the bay where a massive freighter waited. Long ago, the Preventers realized they needed a discreet way to move the Gundams around and had refitted a series of freighters to carry all six (now seven) at once. Calder maneuvered the massive Gundam into the number seven alcove. Minutes later, all the Gundams were loaded. He felt the freighter begin to move and Colonel Une’s voice came over his speakers.

“Sorry for the quick scramble, but the commando unit is encountering trouble,” she said, her voice tense. “The mining base’s personnel and defense systems are on alert. We have to take the station before they can be reinforced and before the commandos are taken captive.” She paused as the freighter’s rockets suddenly fired, propelling the massive ship out of the thin atmosphere.

“You will be accompanied by three assault shuttles which will board the station as soon as you clear the area of opposition,” Une continued a few moments later. “Good news is, the team was able to sabotage the automated defense perimeter, which is the major threat. It will go down in exactly forty-five minutes. ETA to the station is forty-three minutes, so there is little margin for error.” A small smile was discernable in her voice. “Show them what it is to challenge the Preventers.”

“And so, proclaimed the good Reverend, thou shalt repent! Or the Great Destroyer shall ascend from the depths and smite thee for thy various and grievous indiscretions!” Duo pronounced with a joyful cackle.

Calder smiled and keyed his comm. “Amen, Reverend.”

Quatre’s voice came through next. “All right, we’ll arrive at the unloading point in forty-two minutes. From there, we’ll approach to just outside their sensor range and the perimeter will go down a few seconds after. The Gundams will take out any mobile dolls they have operating and try to neutralize any manned suits without killing the pilots. The assault team will then board the base while we patrol the area.”

The freighter traversed forty-five thousand kilometers in forty minutes. The three hundred and seventy-five thousand kilometer trip to the moon had once taken four days. The Gundams could make the trip in four hours, with very little preparation required. The bay doors opened and Calder smiled, watching the large rocks zip by, mere kilometers away. Navigating the asteroid belt had once been unthinkable. It was amazing how far space travel had come.

Heero, in the Wing Zero, simply stepped out into space and used thrusters to move away. Following were Duo, then Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Arys, and finally Calder. As soon as Calder was clear of the freighter, he toggled a button and Wraith transformed to flight mode. The freighter began to move off and Quatre’s voice came over the speakers.

“We’ll go in a wedge formation, with me at point. Calder, take the far right of me, Trowa on the far left. The rest fill the gaps.”

There was a chorus of ‘Rogers’ and the Gundams moved into position, the three assault shuttles lined up behind them. They would be left behind when the Gundams accelerated, but would be in position to take the station after the Gundams had cleaned house.

“Okay, on my mark, one minute thirty seconds will remain until the perimeter goes down and we move in,” Quatre ordered. “Three… two… one… mark!”

Sandrock’s afterburners ignited, sending pale blue flame ten meters behind him and Quatre rocketed forward. Calder gave the mental command and was kicked into his seat as Wraith’s powerful engines launched the massive Gundam forward. He matched velocity and kept the same distance between him and the Altron beside him. The squadron gained speed rapidly. Calder’s vibrating display read 45,000 kilometers per hour and climbing. After thirty seconds, they cut their throttles and settled at their cruising speed of 80,000 kph.

Right on time, Colonel Une’s voice came over the comm. “Perimeter will be down in one minute.”

Calder primed his weapons systems.

“Ten seconds. Five... four... three... two... one...”

“Now!” Quatre said.

Calder slammed his throttle to full and the squadron leapt forward again. Duo laughed insanely. “Hey, Calder, you’re actually keeping up!”

Calder grinned. “Feel free to hide behind me when the shooting starts.”

They entered the outskirts of the field and Quatre maneuvered the squadron to avoid the massive rocks. The white hull of the mining base appeared in the distance as the rocks grew thicker around them.

Calder deployed his plasma cannons and shoulder Vulcans, the only weapons he could use in flight mode, scanning his sensors as the base grew larger on the screen.

“Incoming Virgos,” Quatre reported. “They’re all dolls. Break formation and attack.”

Calder banked the Gundam to the right and opened fire on the closest dolls. The Virgos all activated their shields, and absorbed the onslaught. Calder continued to fire at a single point on the doll’s shield and the defense screen buckled. The bullets and plasma tore into the doll, shredding it.

“No gundanium on the Virgos,” he reported, and deployed out of flight mode. He triggered his left beam saber and the plasma gun was quickly replaced. The saber activated its long, white-hot beam and Calder rammed it straight through a Virgo’s shields. The doll exploded. He felt a light shudder as machine gun fire pelted off his armor. He turned and surveyed the remaining dolls, then fired his plasma gun, picking off the shield emitters one-by-one. Then he raced forward and cleaved a suit in half. The next doll turned the shield emitters into weapons, connecting them together in pairs to form deadly energy beams. Calder knocked the first two aside with the shield on his right arm, then sliced the next two in half with his saber.

“We have more suits behind the Virgos, unknown type. Twenty of them,” Quatre reported. His voice reached a higher pitch. “Energy buildup, everyone break, now!”

Calder threw his Gundam sideways as a thick energy beam flew past him.

“Whoa, that woke me up!” Duo said nervously.

“Get closer to them so they can’t use those beam weapons,” Quatre ordered.

“Roger,” they replied. Calder quickly finished the last two Virgos and jetted towards the new suits.

“These ones are manned, so try to only disable,” Quatre said.

Arys closed on the suits and fired a few experimental shots with her Shiv rifle. The suit raised its shield and the shots barley scratched the surface. “I think these ones have gundanium,” she reported.

“Confirmed,” Heero said as he slashed at one with his saber. It dodged and pulled out its own saber.

“Trowa, Calder, give us a missile spread,” Quatre said. “Everyone, try to get behind them while they’re temporarily blinded.”

“Acknowledged,” Calder replied. He backed off and deployed the missile launchers.

“Fire,” Trowa said.

Calder toggled the switch six times, sending the missiles streaking away. They exploded in front of the enemy suits and Calder moved to get behind them. He spun around and stowed his left beam saber, reaching the hand behind his shield and pulling out the energy whip. His sensors picked up a suit directly in front of him with its back turned. He flicked the whip out and it wrapped around the beam cannon. Calder pulled it taut and the tendril of energy melted straight through the barrel of the weapon, severing it. He drove in with his right saber, puncturing the suit’s engine. They exploded, sending the suit spinning out of control, disabled.

Calder turned to the next suit, which had recovered and faced him. It activated a beam saber.

“Oh, wow, you’ve got one of those. Well, I have two,” Calder said to himself. He let the whip be reeled back onto the shield and activated the left saber and drove in. The enemy pilot blocked one saber with his, and the other with his shield. Calder spun the suit around and brought the sharp spike in his knee into the other suit’s engines, then slashed off the head, leaving it blind and immobile.

His sensors registered another energy buildup behind him and he quickly moved to the side, dragging the disabled suit with him. The energy beam swept past.

“Idiot would have hit his own guy,” Calder muttered, discarding the first suit and turning to the one that just fired. It prepared to fire again, but Calder beat it to the punch. He switched to both plasma guns, activated all his machine guns and fired. The terrorist suit tried to dodge, but Calder tracked him easily and thousands of rounds sparked off the suit. The gundanium alloy protected the suit from exploding, but it was left unable to move, it’s hydraulic system destroyed.

“All enemy mobile suits disabled,” Quatre said a few seconds later. “Regroup.”

Calder moved up to his position and looked at the debris field around them. He whistled.

“Man, you guys sure know how to crash a party,” he said lightly.

“This is nothing,” Duo responded. “You should have seen us at the Barton Foundation’s Christmas party. I wonder why no one invites us to parties anyway…”

“Okay guys, let’s get to patrolling,” Quatre said. “Find the defense platforms and destroy them. Watch out for reinforcements.”

Calder went back into flight mode and began a systematic search and destroy of the surrounding asteroids. No more enemy suits appeared.

The assault transports approached the station. From the lead ship, Colonel Une opened a comm channel to the station.

“Attention mining facility. You are conducting illegal mining operations and are in possession of illegal arms. Cease all operations immediately and prepare to be...”

“Colonel, massive energy build up from within the station!” an officer exclaimed.

She whirled and opened a channel to the Gundams. “Everyone, get out of here! They’re going to self-destruct!”

The transport turned quickly around and fired it’s engines. A few seconds later the station, and every mobile suit still intact, exploded. The shock wave threw the crew of the transport to the deck and sent it spinning out of control. Une climbed to her feet and activated the stabilization thrusters. She started grimly at the subsiding fireball. “Everyone report back to the freighter.”

Matters of Interest:

Celsius to Fahrenheit: (C x 1.8) + 32 (Making 23.3 degrees Celsius about 74 degrees Fahrenheit)

84 kilopascals of atmospheric pressure would be at about 5000 feet of altitude. (Sea level is 101.325 kilopascals)

The moon is 375,000 kilometers from Earth. (By my interpretation, putting the Gundams’ maximum speed at about 93,750 kilometers per hour {58,125 miles per hour})