And now I'll begin this multichapter story centered around Nena Trinity, our beloved red-headed psycho from Gundam 00. I'll try to make weekly updates, as a matter of personal discipline. I have planned this to be around 26 chapters long, and episodic like an anime cour. Anyways, I truly hope it is to your liking, guys and without further ado, here it is...

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Streak of Crimson

Chapter 1 - Losses

"Johann, Michael..."

She felt a hole in her chest as she remembered. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, and perhaps almost as terrible as her brothers dying was the humilliation of being allowed to escape. She was most definitely not used to this feeling. Rage, loss, rage, sadness and mostly, rage. That man would pay and she'd make it painful.

"Revenge. Revenge." Purple Haro expressed her feelings. Her bitter tears clouded her vision and her clenched teeth her judgment. And in such state she didn't see it coming until it was too late.

It appeared like fate wasn't done with her just yet though, because a unit of mobile suits was zeroing in on her. With her reservoir of GN Particles almost depleted she knew it was pretty much a lost cause. But at least she'd go down fighting, she thought. "I'll be with you soon, Johann, Michael."

Nena reflected in that short moment that it was kind of a relief, to know she was seeing her brothers after this.

"Target on visual. Commencing mission." His notification got relayed to the rest of his unit. "Time to make the colonel proud!" He psyched himself up. He was sure the red Gundam units were faster than what the target was showing at the moment, and so he proceeded with caution. Were they lulling him into a sense of false security? "Be careful, boys, this guy has something up their sleeve, and I don't see the other two around. Surround him and keep your shields at the ready, the colonel will be disappointed in me if I lose a single one of you." Patrick ordered the squad he was assigned for this flash covert mission. They were to move fast, strike hard and go back home with the Gundam.

"They're almost on me. Haro, how much energy do we have left?" Nena prepared her last resort as she saw the damnable mobile suits surrounding her. "Less than 5%! Less than 5%!" Purple Haro informed. "That should...that should be enough, I suppose", resignation threatened to overwhelm her, but was quickly drowned by her pride. With a shake of her head, and her hand rubbing her tears away, she decided she'd at least take one of them down. "Johann, lend me your strength one last time. Michael, lend me your skill. Haro, direct all power to the GN Long Rifle! You fools are numerous, but my Throne Drei still has more range than you!" The targetting aid appeared on her interface, and she focused her sights on what appeared to be their leader, some sort of mockery of the Gundam units.

"This is the leader of Angel squad! Red Gundam, surrender your weapons and your mobile suit and you..." The rest of the message was ignored by Nena as she prepared herself to shoot her final shot. "GN Long Rifle! Ready to fire!" She announced to Haro. "Remaining particles set! Remaining particles set!" Haro finally notified her. With the resolution of a cornered soldier she pulled the trigger. "It's over for you!" She yelled as the beam let loose against the leading enemy mobile suit.

"...surrender your weapons and your mobile suit and you'll be spared. You will receive a fair trial before a martial court of law. I repeat - This is t...oh crap!" His message was cut short when Patrick saw the crimson GN particles gathering around the Red Gundam. He quickly put his shield up and braced. "Angel squad, spread out!" He ordered, and the deadly beam impacted against him. The power behind the shot was terrifying and after a mere 2 seconds it blasted off his mobile suit's arm, shield, and, thanks to his quick maneuvering, the suit's chest's right side. Avoiding total breakdown by his action, he proceeded to cut energy supply to that side of the suit. "The enemy mobile suit seems to have powered down, proceed with caution and capture it. We're heading back, squad." He commanded, and directed himself towards a nearby tiny island 200 kilometers away to assess the extent of the damage on his GN-X. "I thought I was a goner. I guess the colonel is sending a prayer my way!" He thought happily.

"Let go of me! Why aren't you shooting me down! Let GO!" Nena screamed in rage and frustration, her Throne Drei being taken captive by the lesser mobile suits. "No more energy! No more energy!" Purple Haro tried. "Why, why is this happening?! Big brother, M-Michael! I j-just, i just...!" She placed her head between her legs, her hand covering her face and sobbing uncontrollably. Her desperation at even failing to join her siblings taking her to the edge.

"Nena, calm down. Nena, calm down." Purple Haro tried again. As ascerbic as it was towards its charge, Purple Haro did care about her. And maybe it was a little worried she'd release her anger on it. All in all it looked grim, but not completely lost. At least they were still alive. Purple Haro just had to convince Nena that they'd have to bide their time now and strike once the time was ripe. Such was the advantage of surviving.

"Angel leader, this is Angel 3. The Red Gundam is under custody. We'll head back to base now." Patrick received over the comm. link as he landed his GN-X on the island. "Acknowledged, Angel 3. I'm assessing damage on my unit and then heading back as well. Tell colonel Mannequin I'll be back as soon as possible."

There had been a battle here by the look of things. The remains of one of the Red Gundams was scattered all over the place, the only thing that seemed salvageable was the huge Mega Launcher he saw it using on the briefings. "Angel 3, send over a retrieval squad to my location, I found the remains of another of the Red Gundams here. We might be able to salvage one of their weapons." he requested.

"Copy that, Angel leader", he got back as an answer. He finally took the water bottle from the GN-X's cockpit and got out to stretch his legs. "I think I got the gist of what happened here, now." He mused as he walked around the clearing on the island. The pieces of what appeared to be the leader suit of the Red Gundam squad were completely melted. A plate on the ground read 'Gundam Thrones Ein' which he assumed that was the unit's name.

Taking a drink from his water bottle, he sat down and raised his head towards the sky. "I can't believe I'm still alive..."

"Colonel, ma'am! Second Lieutenant Colasour, reporting for debriefing!" Patrick saluted Colonel Mannequin with a sharp motion and a huge smile. The colonel simply turned her head a bit in acknowledgement before looking into the interrogation room again.

"That the Red Gundam's pilot?" Patrick relaxed and looked into the interrogation room as well. "What the..." He stopped, frozen in place, when he saw the prisoner. The girl was dressed in her pilot suit, her red hair done in twintails, which only added to her youthful appearance. Her wrists were trapped by those pillory-like handcuffs. And then there was her face. Were it not for the dry tears, puffed-up red eyes and completely depressed expression, one could say she was beautiful. Now she just looked like a little, sad freckled girl.

"It's only a girl. She doesn't even seem of age. What were those terrorists thinking?" Colonel Mannequin thought out loud. She found it preposterous to toss children into war, no matter how she reflected such a thing was par for the course within terrorist organizations.

Patrick swallowed hard and stared at the girl. "To think I could have killed a child..." He said to himself. Then he recalled a piece of information from the briefing, "But wasn't her Red Gundam the one that...?"

"Indeed", Kati finally turned towards Patrick fully, her arms folded behind her in a sharp manner. "And that's the most chilling part of it all. To think they would make children engage in wanton acts of violence." She closed her eyes and sighed. "She has been completely silent since we took her out of her mobile suit. I suppose she's been made into a withdrawn and silent tool to better employ in their schemes. And even so she still had a round doll inside the cockpit. A truly dreadful organization." She judged and started walking out of the room adjunct to the interrogation room, with Patrick close on her heels.

"Well done on your mission, Lieutenant. The Gundam is in good condition, even if depleted of energy. While it was a stroke of luck I'm pleased to see the unit intact. And the remains of the one you found in that island should also be useful in HQ's research." Kati informed her subordinate while walking towards her office.

"Yes, colonel. Thank you, colonel." Patrick replied to Kati's evaluation in a formal, serious way. He really didn't feel sunny after seeing the prisoner was but a child.

Once they entered the colonel's office she sat down behind her desk and Patrick stood on attention in front of it. "Well then, let's hear it, lieutenant" She ordered Patrick to commence his report.

"Yes, Colonel. The enemy unit was spotted in the process of making its escape. The speed at which it was attempted was rather low, though. As I ordered the Angel squad to surround it and prepare to capture it, the enemy unit released an energy beam towards me. I managed to block it with my shield but the beam was strong enough to tear off my suit's right upper-side. After that, the enemy unit powered down and Angel squad was able to capture it with no further problems. After the capture, I stopped at a nearby island to assess the extent of the damage done to my suit, and that's where I found traces of fighting and the remains of the leader of the Red Gundam squad, which I presume is model name 'Gundam Thrones Ein', from a plate that was found in the wreckage. I also found a Mega Launcher Rifle, which seemed salvageable. That concludes my report, ma'am." Patrick finished and awaited the colonel's questions.

"Very well then, that will be all, lieutenant. Again, a job well done. You're dismissed." Kati finally said and opened her laptop to review the details about what the hangar team had found about the captured unit.

"Ma'am!" Patrick sharply saluted and exited the office.

"Gundam Thrones Drei, huh? And only fragments of the Thrones Ein unit were found. That only leaves the final unit unaccounted, which I assume is Gundam Thrones Zwei. The solar reactor's output is superior to the ones installed on the GN-X's units, but cannot recover energy as easily. That information should come in handy in case we find Thrones Zwei." She reflected and gathered her thoughts before writing up a summary of the events for her later perusal. After a couple hours had passed by her reckoning, she stretched and cracked her shoulders, before deciding it was high enough time to check back on their prisoner.

"How're you feeling?" Kati asked the prisoner while she sat down in front of her, a tray of untouched food being taken away by the ship's staff. The girl still wouldn't reply though. "You need to eat, you know? We can't have you dying on us, regardless of what you tell us or not tell us." She tried to encourage the girl.

Sighing at the silence, she placed her elbows on the desk in front of her and placed her clasped hands on it as well. "Look," She started. "By international law we can help you somehow if you tell us all you know about Celestial Being. Since you're a minor I'm sure some sort of arrangement can be made, pleading protection of some sort. We just need you to cooperate."

Kati waited for a bit, before leaning back on her chair and looking at the girl. She truly wasn't good with children, she thought. Maybe if she could contact Smirnoff...

"Why didn't you just kill me?" The girl finally said. Her gaze slowly went up and stared sadly at Kati. The colonel herself simply stared back impassively, then quickly tried to assume her most compassive face, or at least what she thought was a compassive face. She probably looked nothing of the sort, though, from the lack of reaction. "I don't wanna be here anymore. I just..." Tears started to well up on her eyes. Kati wondered if she meant the base, or perhaps she meant 'life' when she said 'here'.

She decided she'd let the girl sob away. Perhaps she'd talk a bit by herself in such an emotional stage. She also was stumped on what to tell a crying kid.

"My brothers are dead. Happy? That's what you wanted to know, right? The Trinity team is finished and I couldn't even join them! Just punish me already!" The girl finally screamed at Kati, snot and tears making a further mess of her face. "Just kill me already..." She begged, and pressed her hands to her face.

'Well, there's the final fate of Zwei, I suppose', Kati thought. The girl's brothers apparently made her escape while they faced god-knows what. She reflected that at least those terrorists made the siblings into a team, but she wasn't sure if it was better or worse. They were probably orphans, she dared to guess.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kati tried. She did feel sorry for the girl's losses. Even if it didn't make it better, she hoped her brothers were at least older. She didn't like thinking of kids dying in wars.

The girl simply continued sobbing, so Kati tried again. "What were their names?" She asked, attempting the small talk approach.

Surprisingly, that worked in a way, making the girl talk again. "Johann and, and M-michael." She replied. "The best brothers one could ask for." Perhaps from the defenseless state of mind she was in, the girl finally gave her name. "And I'm Nena. Nena T-trinity."

'We're finally getting somewhere' Kati allowed herself a little success, so she gambled on the small talk approach. "It's a pretty name, Nena." She praised her.

"Thank you." Nena replied, calming a bit. Perhaps she was already tired, Kati guessed. She decided to ride on her success.

"How old are you. Nena?"

"I'm 17."

'I knew she was a child' The colonel reflected. She waited a bit, then remembered something from when her aunt took care of her cousins that might work, given the circumstances. "Are you hungry now, Nena?"

A growl that came from Nena's stomach gave her the answer. "Maybe a little..." She replied, a bit of crimson on her cheeks.

"Can you bring us something to eat? Yes, for me as well." Kati asked the staff through the intercom. "I'm hungry. too, I've been working all day." She justified herself to Nena. Eating with someone helped develop connections, or so she recalled.

They ate together, in silence. Once they were done, the staff removed the plates and Kati served Nena some black tea.

"Thank you." Nena said as she received the cup from Kati. Absentmindedly she put some cream on her tea. "I'm tired, I guess. I don't even really care. If they threatened me with death for revealing what I know I think I'd receive it gladly." The colonel remained silent while she sipped on her tea. The gamble had seemed to pay off and now the girl was more willing to talk. "What do you want to know?", Nena said as she placed a third sugar cube in her tea.

"Let's start with their hiding place." Kati asked.

"All I know is that their ship, the Ptolomaios, tends to stay in space and on the move. They use their GN Particles to cloak up, so they won't show up on visual. But you probably already knew that." She replied and put a sixth sugar cube in her tea.

'Kid really likes her sugar...' Kati thought with slight disgust. So much sugar destroyed the point of tea in her opinion. "So they should be in space right now. We're aware of the four Gundam units that usually stage armed interventions. Do you know if they have any other suits?"

"They probably do, but that much I wouldn't know. Celestial Being works in cells, so to speak. What one cell knows might not be what another one does. But something tells me you already knew that as well."

"Indeed. But most of it was merely speculation, your information will help us decide after all. What about leadership? Who gave you your orders?"

"Some man called Laguna. He's dead now." She replied and blew on her tea. Still too hot, her scowl said.

"Anyone else involved in the organization that you can inform me of?" Kati asked again.

"We only ever contacted that man and the Ptolomaios team. If you got them all noted down then that's it, as far as I know. I don't really know about who gave the other team orders."

"Very well, Nena. Thank you. I will most likely have more questions soon, if you keep cooperating we can probably work something out." Kati said as she finished her tea. Standing up, she started making her way out of the cell.

"Wait." Nena called. "Can I have Haro back? The purple, spheroid robot that was in my suit's cockpit." She pleaded.

"I'll ask. It seems it has some information we could use. But I don't think it will be that much of a problem after that." Kati replied. The girl seemed to behave better if one was kind towards her, she reflected.

"Thank you." Nena said, then sat on the cell's bed, her expression still dejected.

As Kati reached the cell's door, she turned around towards Nena. "I didn't know them, but, if you'll allow me to say, I think the fact that you're here alive is quite the proof of your siblings' love. They gifted you with another chance, Nena. Don't waste it."

The girl just turned around, facing the wall and lying down in bed.

As always, your comments and criticisms are very much appreciated. See you next week!