Chapter 1: The Hellkite
Written By: Solo Kitsune

They scattered across the expanse, like white diamonds on black velvet. And amidst those white diamonds a green emerald shone, warm and inviting. The Earth sat cradled in the cold silence of space, with the various space colonies floating about it, like faithful priestesses paying homage to some god. And between the Earth and its colonies, ships came and went lazilly, fulfilling the duties of everyday life in the now peaceful heavens. But these, beauty and peace, to some they where like illusions, fleeting, as if in a dream. To some peace never will come, and as long as the Wheel of Fate grinds on, peace will be nothing more than a ruse, a Holy Grail that is forever sought but never found. And so it came to be that the silence of space was to be broken once more.

"NO! It can't be!" The captain of the cargo vessel "Eudora" shouted out, staring pale-faced at the screen before him, which displayed a whole unit of Aries fighters, their weapons locked on to the vessel. He then jumped out of his seat as the voice of a girl sounded over the radio.

"But it is! This just ain't your day now, is it? Kindly surrender your good ship and your cargo and I'll think about lettin' ya live!"

The voice sounded young, no older than seventeen or eighteen. There was no visual of the pilot on the screen. Whoever she was, she wasn't one of the Aries fighters, and wasn't about to let her presence be known anytime soon. The captain's mouth went dry as he felt his stomach knot up in raw fear.

"Jesus...space pirates. The Storm Ravens. I never thought--in all the years I've been in space-"

"Just shut up and surrender, or all that'll be left of you is dogfood orbiting the moon! Troops!"

At that, the suits with their guns drawn and aimed at the ship's hull, began to power up. The crewmen behind him began to panic. Some cried, others ducked under chairs and control panels, while others looked urgently at him, seeking advice or words of courage, of which they at the moment could not find. At that the captain puffed out his chest and slammed his palms against the control panel.

"Who are you?! Show yourself! I demand it!"

There was a long, agonizing silence. The captain could feel his heart hammering inside his chest, almost as if it was a wild animal trying to burst free from its cage. He felt he had made a heinous mistake, and was waiting for the Suits to blow the ship to smithereens when suddenly the voice returned. It sounded cold and distant.

"Who am I...?? I am the Hellkite. And I do the demanding around here, old man. Your life is in my talons now, and unless you want me to carry you to the River Styx, I suggest you cease your demands and surrender, if you know what's good for you and your crew."

It was then that a large mobile suit materialized in front of the ship. It looked like some kind of ancient god, with an eagle/hawk-like head with two long, flexible metallic frill-like structures sporting from the sides of its head, which resembled feathery ears. The boosters on its back where a marvel to behold. They resembled the wings of a bird, ebony wingtips stretched out in space. The body was slender and lightly armored, built to achieve incredible agility and speed. From the ankle joints of the legs the feet where long, almost equine, and ended in long toes sporting talons that could be used as heat weapons, capable of shredding virtually any type of metal. Instead of hands, the mobile suit sported talons similar to a raptor's, also heat weapons. It also sported a long tail, similar in design to the Epyon's whip, with a jagged heat blade at the end. It was completely black and rimmed with gold, save for the deep blue glow of the energy radiance from the wings. It raised its arms as three long green plasma blades, like claws, shot out from each of its wrists. Its emerald green eyes flashed, almost as if in challenge. The captain swallowed hard.

"Oh God, its a-"

"Very perceptive of you, El Capitan. Now listen up. I'm tired, cranky, and I got PMS, which means I could shred your rusty tin bucket into scrap metal in less than a second. So don't fuck with me. Surrender or die, its that simple. We could still retrieve your precious cargo floating around in space, we're prepaired for that if it comes down to it."

Behind him he could hear his crew cursing, crying, and even running. But it seemed as if he had no other choice. He closed his eyes, beads of sweat forming on his face. How could this happen? He thought. How could this possibly happen? This was supposed to be a time of peace.... And how could...how could one of THOSE accursed things still exhist? He sighed and turned to his crew.

"Open the rear hatch so they can enter. Quickly now!" he said raspilly.

"B-But sir-"

"Just do as I say! Hurry!"

They needed no further command. Immediately they set to work at their stations. It was only a matter of moments before the intruders entered the ship, their coming heralded by loud clanking and banging from the back of the ship, followed by gunshots. The captain, hands shaking, grabbed the radio receiver and began to speak through it in a raspy whisper.

�Are there anybody from the Preventers out there? Please, answer me! This is the Eudora and we�re in a great deal of distress! The Storm Ravens have atta--�

But his futile cries to space where cut short with a loud bang as the radio blew into a million pieces before him, sending him flying backwards only to land on the floor, screaming and writhing in agony from the shards that pierced his flesh. Several crewmates ran to his side, while the others remained huddled for cover. It was then that they heard the voice again, this time, right in the cabin.

"That seriously wasn't a very good idea. I'm sure you know better than that."

Their eyes turned. Standing in the doorway was a petite girl with long brown hair tied back in a long ponytail and sharp, cobalt blue eyes. She was clad in army BDU's, boots, and a black tank top, along with black streetfighting knuckle gloves and a black baseball cap on backwards. In her hands was a rather wicked-looking sawed-off shotgun, pointed straight at them. Behind her was a rag-tag group of fighters, armed to the teeth. With a quick motion of her hand they poured in, and it wasn't long before both captain and crew where under control. Confidently the girl strode forward to the main control panel of the ship. She turned to the group of soldiers.

"Take them to the cargo hold. If any of them pull any funny stuff, I will leave it within your good judgement to handle them. I'd rather not be responsible for any more blood on my hands. The boss'll figure out what to do with them when we get to the base."

Immediately the captive captain and crew where led away. The girl flopped herself down on the seat and began reprogramming the ship with new coordinates. "My work here is pretty much done," she mumbled, then began to whistle a happy tune to herself.

But one of the soldiers remained. Like the others, he had the insignia of a raven perched on a skull somewhere on his clothes, in this case a neatly pressed black tunic. All in all he was the best dressed of them all. He had emerald green eyes and bright red hair with a blue stripe going down the back of his head. He looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. He leaned against the open hydraulic door to the main control room of the ship, scowling at the petite girl in the captain's seat.

"What gives you the right to boss around my father's men like that, you stuck-up bitch?"

The girl immediately stopped whistling. Propping her feet up on the control panel, she leaned all the way back in the seat and put her head back to view him.

"Yah know, you look just arrogant and pig-headed upside-down as you do right-side-up, Damien."

Growling, the soldier known as Damien drew his weapon, a machine gun, and aimed it at her head.

"You'll fucking regret you ever said that, Brenna!" He cocked the gun. But the girl known as Brenna just smiled mischievously, not seeming to be the least bit phazed over Damien's seemingly brutal threats.

"Now, how am I going to regret it, eh? I'll be dead. And the dead don't live to regret anything."

Seeing it as a futile gesture, he lowered his weapon with a sigh, but still fixed an icy cold stare at her.

"I never liked you from the moment my father hired you and your Mobile Suit from Hell. But don't worry, soon it'll be my turn. Then we won't need you bossing around our troops. You can return to your goddamned mercenary group and I'll find the little shrimp that killed my brother during the war with Oz. He was one of those accursed Pilots--just like you."

Brenna raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so its just Mobile Suit envy then, eh? And perhaps your brother was wrong to enlist in Oz's ranks. He knew the risks, he knew the Gundams where out there. It was his own damn fault he got gacked."

Damien's face turned blood red. He balled his hands into fists and spoke through gritted teeth, eyes almost watering with anger or sorrow, of which Brenna could not easily tell at the moment.

"How DARE you soil my brother's name like that! Once the construction of my Mobile Suit is completed, I will destroy you AND the pilot that killed my brother! Just wait 'til father hears about this!"

Brenna rolled her eyes. "Sure, he can hear about it all he wants, but he still has to pay me. Unless, of course, the Storm Ravens are willing to break the contract with my group, in which case you'll have a bit of a scuffle on your hands, my dear."

Damien growled. "You have been warned. Don't take this as an idle threat. I'll make you suffer the same way I'll make that pilot suffer. I'll see you on the field of battle, Brenna ShadowHawk." With that he stepped through the hydraulic door, which hissed shut behind him. Brenna sighed and leaned forward.

"What the hell crawled up his ass and died? Damn, that boy has major issues." she mumbled to herself. Sighing, she turned back to the control panel and lit a cigarette. She hardly, if ever, smoked. Oh well, Brenna thought. Its one of those days...

Deep within the confines of the cargo hold, the mysterious avian-like Mobile Suit stirred, its emerald eyes glowing. The captives, bound in shackles, saw the thing stirr and they huddled together in fear. Its eyes seemingly showed intelligence, artificial, alien and cold. It lifted its head and to the humans below it looked like some sort of god or sphynx.

She then opened her eyes an, reaching around to the back of her neck, touched the scar at the base of her skull thoughtfully, a thousand emotions flooding her deep blue eyes as she turned them to the cold quiet of space.