I do not own New Mobile Report Gundam Wing or The Gundam series or any characters featured within this project; Gundam Wing and the Gundam Series is owned by Bandai Namco, Sotsu, Sunrise, Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino. Please support the official release.

Space. The endless void beyond even the reaches of the colonies. Even now the young pilot, nestled within the safety of her mobile suit's cockpit, could only marvel at the sheer magnitude of the expanse before her. Sitting there, her suit powered down to attract less attention, she stared out over the millions of twinkling stars.

For as long as she could remember, she was always fascinated by space. Though they had such advanced technologies: such as Mobile Suits and the Colonies, they still had yet to reach much further than their solar system. True there had been talks about a Mars terra-formation project, but too much political red tape had stalled any such attempts, forcing them to remain, as always, stuck in the vastness between.

However, that did not stop the reason that she and the rest of her team, currently maintaining radio silence, were there in the first place. They had received reports of an extremist organization transporting several vessels of illegally manufactured Virgo III Mobile Dolls. Given the damage they could do to the L2 Colony Cluster, disposal of the cargo was topmost priority.

Using space to transport mobile weapons…somethings never change.

Suddenly, the radar on the upper left monitor blipped to light a mass of orange dots approaching slowly.

"Alright" said the girl, stretching focus back into her muscles "target is coming up on Mark Three.

"I see them" came a voice over her comm system, soft and feminine. Flipping several switches on her console, light began to flood the cramped cockpit, as her screens flared to life. Five golden dots appeared before them and a readied grin crossed the girls face.

"All units sound off" she called out into her communicator. There was a moment of radio silence, when a male voice came back over the speakers.

"Warlock here, armed and ready."

"This is Scheherazade, ready on your signal" came the first voice. Following the first came another female response; where Scheherazade's was girlish and slightly unsure, this new voice was dignified and strong.

"Gemini 1, standing by."

"Gemini 2, standing by" came the final voice, this one male, whose tone sounded somewhere between bored and acerbic.

"Let's keep this tight, people," she spoke clear and evenly "you all know your positions."

Over the comms came four voices in perfect unison that all chirped back at her: "Copy that, Prometheus."

Prometheus. Taken from the Greek myth of the Titan who brought fire to mankind and thus giving them knowledge. It wasn't her first choice of callsign; actually, it was her teammates that had pushed for it. Given the hours of studious examination she poured into mission prep and that she had been placed in command for this mission, the name seemed all the more appropriate.

The plan itself was simple: she and Gemini 1 would provide a frontal assault, allowing enough of a distraction for Gemini 2 to circle around and attack from the rear, cutting off their escape. Scheherazade, in the meantime, was to take up a sniping position and provide cover and intelligence. While they had the forward and rear guard distracted, Warlock would sneak past enemy lines and take out the cargo shuttles. If all went according to plan, they would be in and out in ninety-second, tops.

"Target has reached Mark Two" came Scheherazade "50 Serpent units and 20 vessels, in position in thirty seconds."

They appeared almost as she spoke, twenty shuttlecraft vessels with tiny grey mobile suits buzzing around them like bees. Cutting her eyes, Prometheus could see a second Mobile Suit powering up, pulling a long-barreled rifle over its shoulder. Flipping a pair of switches on her control panel, she pulled back on the handles, a large green reticule blazing onto the screen before her as two large rifles appeared before her.

Lightly squeezing the trigger, three glowing orbs began to burn before them as the two Mobile Suits charged their weapons. Her targeting reticule turning from a vivid emerald to a deep, burning red. Seventy-five percent charge completion with targets locked on, they would be appearing on enemy radar any moment.

"5…" Scheherazade initiated the final countdown "4…3…2…1…target has reached Mark One!"

"Team Mythos, commence Operation Epsilon Down!"

Squeezing the trigger, her vision was engulfed in dazzling light as three beams of superheated plasma burst towards their target. The triplet beams burst onto the unsuspecting group, several vessels erupted into burning flowers on the spot, while many of the guarding Mobile Suits vanished into the light and left nothing more than space dust in their wake.

"A hell of a way to say hello" thought Prometheus sardonically. The enemy Mobile suits turned towards them and charged! Some of them opened their storage holsters, launching a barrage of missiles their way!

Pushing down the foot pedals and throwing forward the left control stick, the thruster engines blazed to life and the afterburners helped to maintain the masterful dodge. Pressing down on a button on the right control stick, her mobile suit raised its arms, replacing the two long rifles with a pair of tube-shaped devices, which began to emit a fiercely burning purple energy. Bearing down on the thrusters, the girl shot forward, bobbing and weaving through the onslaught of enemy fire. As her Mobile Suit bore down on the nearest Serpent, Prometheus slammed down her thumb on the control stick, her Beam Saber carving through the enemy unit with no resistance!

Zooming through the void, striking down Mobile Suit after Mobile Suit, Prometheus' gaze shifted to her left. She watched as two more enemy units exploded into fireballs; she grinned at the blue unit, grateful that Gemini 1 was at her back.

Her radar beeped loudly, a red light blazing to life on screen. Turning her attention back, her eyes widened in shock as a Serpent opened fired on her open flank!

TSEEEW! TSEEEW!

Two beams of purple energy soared across the void, smashing into the oncoming missiles, which erupted into fiery flowers. The enemy unit turned towards the oncoming fire, but was immediately thrown back as a third beam burned into its cyclopic camera eye before exploding in a burst.

A sigh of relief escaped the girl, comforted by Scheherazade's stellar aim; however, she quickly gave herself a shake. It was that kind of distraction that would get her killed if she wasn't careful. Focusing back on the fight, she could see in the distance several of the vessels in the process of turning away from them. However, a red unit weaved through them, swinging a massive steel blade, cleaving much of the rear guard asunder.

Suddenly her gaze shifted to her mission clock: only 30 seconds had elapsed. Flicking on her comms system, she spoke loudly over the chaos:

"Warlock, confirm your position!"

BOOM!

Almost in response to her hail, three vessels simultaneously burst into flames! Turning her gaze, she could make out the Black Unit, its long, silvery claw exuding a stream of radiation energy as it moved like a bat out of hell across shuttle after shuttle. Prometheus couldn't help the grin that formed over her face.

Everything was going according to plan.

"Er, Prometheus?" Scheherazade's voice chimed over the comms. "One of the shuttles is opening!"

Wheeling her Mobile Suit around, Prometheus could only stare in open mouthed shock! Sure enough, one of the final shuttle's main cargo hatch was beginning to split open like an egg, revealing its contents. As the girl's widened in terror, Warlock's voice shouted incredulously:

"Those aren't Mobile Dolls!"

Gundam's. Five Gundam-type Mobile Suits emerged from the hold, their green camera-eyes blazing to life. One was a terrifyingly demonic looking unit, who raised its vicious scythe menacingly. The next was a dark Red and bearing a pair of large, double barrel guns; the third was steel gray and flex its wicked long blades, both easily twice the length of each arm. The fourth was a deep, verdant green with a pair of gargantuan gauntlets on each of its arms, both shaped like dragon's heads. The final was a bulky, rather plain looking, white unit, armed only with a large rifle and a shield.

Prometheus could feel her hands tighten around her control sticks; out of what…nerves? Fear? There hadn't been a Gundam-type seen near nearly twenty years. However, giving herself a shake, she forced focus back onto her mind. Just because she hadn't encountered one before, didn't mean that she wasn't prepared to take one on…and she was sure that her team felt the same way.

"ALL UNITS! SWITCH TO CONTINGENCY PLAN: Alpha-Charlie-One-Niner-Five!"

Bearing down on her thruster control, she could feel her unit race forward towards them; all at once the five members of Team Mythos charged the five Gundam's. However, the five enemy units' thrusters fired simultaneously, meeting their enemies head on!

Prometheus could feel her feet dance across the afterburner controls, maneuvering her unit into evasive maneuvers as the Green Gundam approached rapidly. Drawing its long staff, she watched as the ends ignited into a triple tonged trident! Shooting forth her right, her Beam Saber caught the crashing weapon just before it could connect. Pulling back on the thruster control, Prometheus could feel the weight of momentum pushing her forward, but as she stomped on the afterburners, she bore down hard on the right trigger.

Immediately she could feel her unit respond, holding its body in a T-formation, and a fierce green light enveloping her peripherals. Suddenly, a rain of green energy burst from behind towards the Green Gundam. However, her enemy was clever, and appeared to anticipate her attack and countered with a pair of blasts from its scorpion-like tail! The two beams connected with the shards of energy, which shattered into dust like glass.

The Green Gundam resumed its assault; Prometheus was forced onto the defensive, her whole-body dancing between weapons and afterburners to keep up. Whoever was piloting this unit was very good! Flipping on her comms unit, she called out to her team:

"TEAM MYTHOS, STATUS, NOW! OVER!"

However, her response was a flood of chaotic shouts. Cutting her gaze over towards her teammates, she was shocked by what she saw. Gemini's 1 and 2 were locked in combat with the bulky White Gundam, which was moving at a pace unbefitting of its structure, and giving the pair quite the hard time. Scheherazade had been forced out of cover by the Red and Grey Gundam's and was currently doing her best to jump between evasive maneuvers for both long-range and close-range combat. Warlock was the only one who appeared to be fighting at full intensity, going toe-to-toe with the Black Gundam, as the Scythe and Claw attempted to gut the other.

Just then, the Grey Gundam broke away from Scheherazade and bolted towards Warlock and the Black Gundam.

"WARLOCK!" she shrieked over the comms "GET OUT OF THERE!"

However, the Black Gundam twirled its weapon masterfully, before jamming the butt of its scythe deep into Warlock's mid-section. However, before her teammate could recover, the Grey Gundam reared back one of its wicked long blades before bringing it crashing down, cleaving Warlock's unit clear down the middle. Warlock let out a terrible scream before his unit exploded in a violent burst!

For a moment, Prometheus froze, her brain unable to process what she had seen. It wasn't possible, they couldn't have gotten Warlock! Turning her gaze back upon the Green Gundam, she threw forth the right control stick again, her Beam Saber crashing towards her target. However, the Gundam's eyes flashed again as it evaded.

Following its path as it rose high above her, she could only stare as the bulky White Gundam zipped passed it. She couldn't understand, wasn't that the unit battling…

A surge of ominosity crashed over her as sense finally dawned on her! Shifting her gaze, she could see the Blue and Red of Gemini's 1 and 2 following at top speed. The Green Gundam reared back its arms and then flung them forth, the two dragon heads flying forward on a pair of thick cables. The two weapons plowed deeply in their Mobile Suits; Gemini 1 let out a loud swear as her unit exploded and two more of her teammate's names turned red on her HUD.

Prometheus could feel her grip tighten on her control handles. This was insanity, they were getting picked off one-by-one! However, almost as soon as she had thought it, she cursed herself for her idiocy. How could she have not seen it sooner! They were taking on these units as individuals. They would survive as a team!

"Scheherazade, on me!"

Moving over to her remaining teammate, the two members of Team Mythos stood, shoulder-to-shoulder before the five units.

"You ready?" called Prometheus, who pulled her unit back into its T-formation, switching from her Beam Saber back to her Buster Rifles.

"All systems go!" was the girlish voices response; Prometheus watched as several machines detached from Scheherazade's skirt section, moving autonomously all around them. Both girls fired, a ring of energy bolts flying all around them while a pair of superheated beams of plasma burst around them. Instantly, Prometheus felt as though they were at last making progress, as the White, Grey, and Green Gundam's entered into a wild dance of thrusters and afterburners to evade the barrage of energy blasts. Watching the three units before her, a terrible thought occurred to her…

where were the Red and Black Gundam's?

A terrible scream rang across the comm systems. Cutting her camera quickly, she watched as a long beam of greenish energy burst through the midsection of Scheherazade's unit and then burst in a wild blast!

"SCHEHERAZADE, NO!"

However, as Prometheus turned, a gasp of horror escaped from her as she found herself face to face with the Red Gundam. Her hands began to shake as it raised it twelve-barreled weapon level to her Mobile Suit head! For a third time she froze, completely taken aback by the situation at hand. She had lost sight of them! She had become so focused on brute forcing her way through that she failed to notice the two units who had snuck behind them! Gripping her console controls tightly, she stared defiantly into the Gundam's weapon as it slowly began to turn. There was a great burp of fire and everything faded to black!

An earsplitting alarm blared in her ears as a large red X flared onto the monitor before her. Prometheus groaned with a defeated sigh, as a cool, automated voice sounded across her cockpit:

"TEAM MYTHOS SIMULATION EXAM CONCLUDED. MISSION STATUS: FAILED."

Slowly her cockpit canopy began to open with a loud hiss of compressed air. She was in a large room; whose whitewashed walls were such a dazzling contrast to the egg-shaped simulator that she had been subjected to. Gazing around the room, she could see four more of the egg-shaped machines opening up to reveal four others dressed in flight suits similar to hers.

Sliding her helmet from around her head, the mass of honey-colored hair fell all around her shoulders, and Lisa Yuy inhaled a freeing breath. Turning towards her teammates, she could see all of them were also removing their helmets. In the simulator to her right was her cousin Naina Peacecraft, a stern-faced woman with long, platinum hair. Next to her was Duo Maxwell Jr., commonly known as DJ, whose long, brown hair was tied in a braid that extended down to his ankles. In the simulator across from her was Quaterine Oud Winner, a bespectacled girl, her blonde hair cropped short and her shoulders hunched rather timidly. Finally, in the simulator to her left, was Mille Peacecraft, a raven-colored haired young man with sharp bangs hanging down before a pair of deep blue eyes and a taciturn expression.

The large, double door at the far end of the room slid open with a loud hiss, and a woman with long blond hair and thick eyebrows walked in, straight backed and dripping with confidence. She was dressed in a bottle-green suit and stared at the dumbstruck pilots with the look of someone who was enjoying herself immensely.

"PRESIDENT ON DECK! TEN-HUT!"

Mille's voice cut through the sudden fog that had wrapped itself around Lisa's mind and immediately snapped her arms to her side and straightened her back.

"Very well done, all of you" said Dorothy smoothly, weaving her way among them "Once again, Team Mythos proves the top of the academy roster. All of you will make excellent Preventer's someday."

"Ma'am, thank you ma'am!"

Five voices echoed in unison. However, Lisa had known the ESUN's current President's dry and sardonic wit for many years. President Catalonia had a habit of becoming extraordinarily polite and kind when she was doing her best to not rub their failure in their faces. However, like the typhoon that she was, she could turn from condescendingly pleasant to extremely volatile at the drop of a hat.

"A good try team, but a failure, nonetheless."

"Excuse me, Madam President?"

Lisa's eyes widened in shock as she watched DJ stepped forward. Dorothy's eyes flashed dangerously but still she smiled as she turned her gaze upon him.

"Yes, Agent Maxwell, you have something you would like to say?"

"Madam President, this exam is invalid."

Dorothy crossed her arms, looking over appraisingly "In what way?"

"When we were assigned this mission, my teammates and I spent a ton of time preparing for any contingency. But the rules of the mission changed half-way through, we were taken completely by surprise…"

"Tell me," the President's voice was courteous but her eyes flashed "Do you think your enemies will give you proper warning when they subvert your expectations and are more properly prepared?"

"With all due respect ma'am, nobody could have prepared for that!"

"I see. So, you intend to challenge my ruling. Very well then" The President turned her gaze towards the ceiling and spoke again "ZERO, would you join us please?"

There was a blinding flash of light and Lisa's gaze turned towards the center of the room. Standing beneath a large, overhead projector stood the figure of a young man not much older than themselves. He was clad in a black flight suit and wore a stoic expression, his dark blue eyes hidden behind a mop of sharp brown bangs. The holographic personification of the Zoning & Emotional Range Omitted system.

"You asked for me, Madam President?" ZERO's voice was cool and collected, which appeared to only further infuriate my long-haired teammate.

"ZERO, you cheating son of a bitch, what the hell was that?! You changed the mission half-way through and undermined the exam!"

"Untrue, Agent Maxwell" said ZERO never once breaking his calm, cool tone "I believe that I have acted well within the parameters of my objective. Given that my assignment was to not only test your ability to operate within a team but also to test your individual abilities as pilots. Being as highly ranked as you all are within the academy, any hypothetical scenario I would have presented would have a failure-success ratio of 1:10. In order to properly test you, I had to come up with a scenario in which the element of surprise was not entirely in your favor. Utilizing the many years of historical warfare as well as my own personal experiences in combat, this seemed the only logical scenario that would give President Catalonia appropriate data to assess you with both fairness and wisdom."

"And you figured" said Quaterine with a look of utter fascination "the only way to do that was to present us with something we weren't trained to deal with. The guerrilla tactics during Operation Meteor. ZERO that was brilliant!"

"Thank you, Agent Winner."

"DON'T COMPLEMENT THE COMPUTER!" roared DJ looking positively outraged "HE JUST KICKED OUR ASSES!"

"I do not understand" said ZERO, a hint of confusion in his voice "Was my assessment inaccurate?"

"No" said Lisa, smiling at the hologram "Don't listen to DJ, ZERO. It was a good plan, and one I didn't see coming. You got us, fair and square."

"For what it is worth, you all did quite well, given the circumstances. What I had initially estimated as a thirty percent rate of success, your teamwork quickly elevated those odds up to sixty-two percent. A most impressive performance"

"You just wait" said Lisa with a teasing smile "I plan on kicking your ass to the moon and back next time!"

For the first time, ZERO smiled "I greatly look forward to it, Agent Yuy."

The holographic image flickered and died, the AI's form slowly fading into the whitewashed walls. The blonde-haired woman looked among them with an expression somewhere between satisfied and amused.

"Are there any more questions or concerns?"

Cutting my gaze towards DJ, I could see that his jaw was locked with frustration and his expression mutinous. However, I was grateful to him that he remained silent.

"Very well then. Team Mythos, dismissed!"

Lisa raised her arm so that her hand lay level with her brow, and joined her team with the united bark of: "MA'AM, YES MA'AM!"

~o0o~

"DAMN IT!"

D.J.'s shout reverberated loudly across the hallway. However, as he attempted in his fury to slam the door shut, it bounced off and smacked the young brunette's hand, causing him to leap back with a cry of pain.

"We were so close!"

"Hey!" said Quaterine in a pacifying tone, placing a hand on his shoulder "We did our best. There's no need getting so upset about it."

"God this sucks! I don't even care that he cheated-!"

"He didn't cheat" said Mille, whose bored expression was matched only by the boredom in his tone.

"-it's the fact" continued DJ, as if his dark-haired teammate hadn't spoken "that we had absolutely no way to see that coming. We should have run more recon; this could have been another Azerbaijan sim!"

"ZERO's a computer," snapped Naina, finally at her wits end "the parameters of his objectives were to take us down: of course, he's not going to take it easy on us! And if you think that we had accurate intelligence on the Azerbaijan simulation, let's not forget that we almost let weapons grade uranium escape on a submarine because you got the coordinates wrong!"

"My God, you are never going to let that go, are you?! We got the uranium and we still got there in record time!"

"Yes, because Mille figured out the sub was in the Black Sea! While it escaped into the Mediterranean, you would have had us looking for a submarine doing doughnuts in the Caspian!"

The pair glared each other down for the longest time; however, the long-haired young man let out another disparaging noise, but folded his arms like a defeated child. The dark-haired Mille shrugged and followed after as DJ marched off towards the locker room, the honey-haired girl turned towards her second in command.

"When are you going to cut him some slack?"

"When he grows up and stops acting like a twelve-year-old" said the blonde girl, crossing her arms and continuing to glare after their brown-haired teammate. Lisa clapped her cousin on the shoulder with an exasperated sigh.

"C'mon, it's DJ! We both know that's not going to happen. Maybe if you guys discussed the issues over coffee…"

"Oh, here we go" cried the platinum women exasperatedly, as she kicked open her locker. "How many times do we have to go through this?"

"Oh, don't give me that!" chided the young team leader, teasingly "You've had a crush on DJ since we were kids! Besides, you'd be good for each other. You'd calm him down and he'd lighten you up."

Naina glared playfully at her "While your sage advice is appreciated. It's quite rich coming from a girl who's dating a guy who was on her mom's protective detail. How is David, by the way?"

Lisa opened her mouth to respond and then promptly shut it again, grinning sheepishly. Her cousin had always known how to push her buttons. And even though she liked to tease her about that, Naina very much approved of hers and David's relationship.

"He's fine, thank you" she said with as much dignity as she could muster. Cracking open a bottle of water, Lisa turned urning towards her bespectacled cousin.

"How about you Quat? David knows a great guy in the Service that I think you'd like."

"Oh," gasped Quaterine shyly "that's kind, Lis. But I can't."

"Why not?" said Lisa, tipping her water bottle to her lips. However, it was Naina who answered, her tone changing to an approving grin.

"She has a date."

Lisa turned quickly, forgetting for an instant that there was liquid pouring down her throat, and gagged. Coughing and spluttering, she turned amazed Prussian Blue onto her cousin

"Shut up, you did not! You asked Mille out?!"

The blonde girl averted her eyes, blushing; however, she couldn't hide the growing smile of someone who was extraordinarily proud of themselves.

"The Reykjavik Symphony is in town for a few more days. Dad's had tickets for weeks but hasn't had time to go. Mille likes classical music as much as I do…it just seemed the perfect time to ask."

Lisa beamed at her cousin "Oh, Quat, that's wonderful! When?"

"Monday night."

"Well then" said Naina, folding her arms with a mischievous grin "We have a weekend to make you look stunning!"

"Ooh, Mornington's has a sale on shoes!"

"I'll bring dad's credit card."

The three girls giggled heartily and continued to chat excited as they changed out of their flight suits. As she pulled her head through her sweater, Lisa pulled a brush from her locker and began to run it through her caramel-colored locks. It took a several minutes, but she was finally able to tame her hair so that it was smooth and shiny again.

"Hey" said Quaterine as she straightened her glasses "you want to grab some lunch?"

For the most fleeting moment, Lisa's smile faltered, though she quickly recovered.

"No thanks" she said "There's somewhere I have to be."

~o0o~

Gently pushing down on the brake, Lisa slowly brought the car pulled to a halt. Throwing it in park and pushing herself out of the door, her ears were assailed by the crinkle of paper and cellophane as she grabbed the bouquet off the front seat, and the tang of salty air bit at Lisa's nose. Looking out across the wide expanse, an involuntary shudder surged down the girl's spine as she looked out over the seaside cemetery. Six hundred and thirty-nine acres of government assigned land; four hundred thousand marble headstones standing to attention in memory of the soldiers they represented.

It was truly a sobering experience, the girl thought wryly. But every time she came here, she was reminded, that even though she trained extensively to aid in the defense of the peace that she had grown up in, what the true cost of that peace had been.

Pushing the car door closed, Lisa held the flowers close to her chest. However, the sight of another woman waving her over quickly caught her attention. Moving towards her, Lisa smiled.

"Hi Mom."

"Hello sweetie" said Relena, who smiled at her daughter. As they pulled each other into a hug, Lisa was enveloped by the comforting smell of her perfume. She smiled privately; her mom had aged remarkably well, nowhere near resembling the thirty-eight-year-old that she had become. Her honey-blonde hair well hid the graying at her temples, earned mostly from the years of stress, keeping the peace as ESUN's Vice Foreign Minister. An outsider would have guessed that they were sisters, never that they were mother and daughter.

The pair walked together among the plots talking genially, Lisa listening as her mother droned about her recent trip to the L4 Colony Cluster, while she regaled Relena about the exam.

"HEY!"

The loud voice snapped both women out of their conversation and Lisa could feel an exasperated smile form over her face.

Her Uncle Duo was waving them over, his long, braided, ponytail flapping around excitedly. Next to him, her dark-haired Aunt Hilde appeared to bury her face in her hand in exasperation of her husband. Next to them, her Uncles Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei stood in conversation, but all of them greeted them warmly. Finally, a tall man with platinum blonde hair, cropped short and a finely chiseled face stood next to a dark-haired woman in a Preventer's Officer's uniform, who smiled kindly at them.

"How are you?" said Lucrezia, embracing the two women.

As Relena and Lucrezia exchanged pleasantries, Lisa's gaze fell to the ground behind her Uncle Duo. Vaguely she could hear the voices around her begin to dull in silence but she paid them no mind as she kept her Prussian Blue eyes glued to the spot.

A small, plot overlooking the entirety of the cemetery, shaded by a large tree. It had been long reserved for a group of six that had been instrumental in creating the society that they enjoyed today. Currently, only one of the plots was occupied and a single, marble gravestone…her father's grave.

HEERO YUY

GUNDAM PILOT ZERO-ONE

L1 COLONY CLUSTER

OPERATION METEOR

EVE WARS

6 February 180 A.C.

19 October 199 A.C.

The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions.

"Happy Birthday Dad" said Lisa quietly, placing the bouquet before the gravestone.

It had happened when she was a baby, too small to really remember. From what she had been told, the main headquarters of the ESUN had come under attack by a violent extremist group. The Preventer's had launched their counterattack with the G Team leading the charge. Her father had engaged with a pilot of incredible skill, having managed to incapacitate nearly all other units. Though he managed to push the enemy back, he had suffered significant damage to his Gundam's reactor core, which inevitably went critical.

He had posthumously received a medal of honor for his valor and gallant service. The people of the world had earned yet another hero to be grateful to…she had lost a father.

Without even cutting her eyes, the young pilot was acutely aware that her mother was crying. Reaching her arm through, the girl quietly slipped her fingers between her mother's and squeezed her hand gently. But as Relena returned the gesture, a wave of guilt crashed over the girl.

The truth was, though her mother and uncles had done their best to fill Lisa's childhood with photos and memories (and even ZERO taking the form of his most famous partner), Lisa had a hard time remembering her father. No matter how much she bullied her brain into trying to remember something from a photograph, being little more than a year old at the time of his death, everything just seemed to fade away with time.

But then, there had been one that had always stuck with her. When she thought long and hard on the matter, Lisa could vaguely recall a pair of penetrating blue eyes and a pair of strong arms that made her feel safe and warm. It was out of respect and honor for her father's memory that she had made him a promise.

She had come up with it when she was ten-years-old; it wasn't so much a game or tradition, but an affirmation. It was her gift to her dad every time she visited as well as a promise to herself: Speaking so quietly that no one else could hear her, she spoke the words:

"I'll make you proud."

So, you guys can actually thank this fanfiction for this kick I've been on lately. I'm actually really excited to have this piece up because, when I conceptualized this, it was another "epic" fanfic and has been in the works for ten years. Gundam Wing was the fandom that got me into fanfiction, so it's really nice return to form for me. Especially since I've been having such a hard time writing Shadows of the Forgotten, it's been nice to have a change of venue to help clear my head. The story required a lot of reworking and a much simpler storyline, but I'm satisfied with what I came up with and am happy that there is a version of this story that could finally be told. Regardless, you guys know the drill: I hope you guys liked it and I hope you have a great day.