"Come on Iggy-chan, you can do this�it�s just a little meteor shower, nothing we didn�t handle in the sims," a somewhat deep and almost un-feminine voice said to seemingly nothing. A large chunk of rock whizzed seemingly just past the young girl�s head, and she jerked her head to the side to follow its course with her eyes. Her chestnut brown bangs fell over those pale green eyes that watched the rock with such intensity, her long braid falling down her back. She glanced back to the control panel in front of her and quickly entered a few codes, various statistics and other information appearing on the large screen in front of her, information that she glanced over quickly before touching another button. The screen switched back from the red lettering scattered over it to a scene of her outside environment, which was currently that of outer space, other large chunks of rock like the first going past her at high speed.
The girl breathed deeply, a bead of sweat running down her pale, slightly freckled cheek. Her hands moved from the control panel to the two joystick-type instruments on either side of her seat. "This is no sweat�ne Iggy-chan? We can handle anything together!" She gave a determined grin and pushed a nearby lever forward, the large machine she sat in giving a whir of confidence as its thrusters propelled it down towards the large blue-green orb that was the Earth. "Alright! Now this is more like it! A lot different from those damn simulations, ne?"
The machine seemed to agree with her, because it only went faster, and faster still, until it broke into the Earth�s atmosphere, just around the area she needed to be. She tapped a few keys on her control panel and got a lock on the large building she was aiming for, a hangar large enough for many of the machines such as the one she rode in�a Mobile Suit, a Gundam to be more exact. "Look, Iggy-chan�that�s our new home! Aniki�s there�"
She clutched at the delicate gold locket that hung around her neck, closing her eyes a moment in silent contemplation. She thought back to when she had first heard that her twin brother was alive, that she could see him again�
The year was A.C. 188. She was eight years old at the time, and had been picked up by a man she affectionately referred to as "shroom head," even to this day. Before then she had been living on the streets of a colony in the cluster of La Grange point 2. She didn�t remember much of her family, only that the locket she wore once held a picture of her and her twin brother, but that picture had been lost, burned away when she nearly lost the necklace. As far as she knew, her entire family was dead, killed in an attack by OZ. She was, as the term went, a war orphan. She had become quite an adequate pickpocket in the time she had no home, and that was the only way she managed to keep herself fed. But her criminal activities were ordered to come to a stop the moment she got into that car. That large, black car with the matching leather interior. It had been the turning point in her life, the time when she went from being a street urchin to a Mobile Suit pilot in training. She had seen the large Leo suits around the colony, but never gotten too close. They almost frightened her, with their sheer size and power.
The man who invited her into the car nearly made her fall over laughing at his appearance, and she would have, had he not given her a look that told her he was not the sort of man you laughed at. He introduced himself as Doctor G, but when he asked for her name�she had no real answer.
She had only had one real friend when she was on the streets, a young girl who had traveled with her family all the way from a colony in cluster La Grange point 5, around her age, named Lin. Lin had been out by herself, and had come across a bad part of the colony, the area that the would-be pilot happened to live. She had found herself being bullied by a small number of older boys, and saved by the other young girl. The boys each left the area with a limp and a black eye, and naturally Lin was very grateful for this rescue. They made an attempt to introduce each other, and become friends, but when the girl told Lin that she had no name, she immediately made it her mission to find a name for her. They argued for days, trying to find a name that she liked, and finally Lin thought back to how they had first met, and told her of a goddess of strength she had been told of back on her home colony. The goddess was named Nataku, and Lin seemed to think this was quite fitting for her new friend. The girl accepted this new name quite happily, liking the sound of it.
This was the name she gave to Doctor G, when he
asked for her name, but she still had no last name. That was when she was told
that her brother was alive. He apparently didn�t remember anything about their
parents either, or even recall his sister, but he had chosen a last name.
Maxwell. So from that day onward, her name was Nataku Maxwell.
�Well Iggy-chan�I guess this is it, ne? Let�s go see aniki.� Nataku maneuvered the huge machine to land
on the ground outside the hangar, as gently as possible. The large, feathery-like wings folded down
and crossed just under the chestplate of the Gundam, below the cockpit
door. She paused after she powered down
the Mobile Suit. �I wonder if Doctor G
even told him it was me that was coming�probably not, knowing that coot.�
�Here goes nothing, then�� She took a deep breath and opened the door to her cockpit,
peering down at the small congregation that awaited her. Five boys, just like Doctor G had said. She knew them all from dossiers given to her
by the aforementioned Doctor. Heero
Yuy, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang Wufei�and Duo Maxwell. Her brother, her twin. She smiled brightly at that thought, and
just watched Duo silently for a moment.
He was somewhat skinny, like her, with a round face and that chestnut
braid that fell to his hips, a fashion statement that apparently they had both
decided to voice. His eyes were that
gentle violet that she vaguely remembered staring into when she was very young,
and him staring into her own mint green.
Well, no sense getting all nostalgic.
There he was, right in front of her, begging to be tackled.
She grinned to no one in particular and carefully
made her way to the ground, pausing as she turned to face the other five
pilots. Then she gave a bright
smile. �Konnichi wa,� she offered,
looking only at Duo and straining not to hug him and never let go. She could see his eyes grow wide as he
looked at her, obviously noticing the almost startling resemblance. �Watashi no namae wa� Maxwell Nataku
desu.�
All eyes turned to Duo. ��Relative of yours?� the quiet voice of the blonde boy asked.
�I don�t even know her!�
�You do!� Nataku called, taking a step closer to Duo
and finally rushing for him and hugging him tightly. �Anata wa watashi no aniki desu��
Blink. � Blink.
�Chotto matte�BOKU wa�ANATA no aniki desu?!� Duo asked, a cute chibi
look of confusion passing over his features.
Nataku looked up at him and nodded, grinning
happily. �Mite!� She held up her locket for him to see. �Anata�to watashi. Mite ka?�
Blink.
�Hai. I remember that locket�I
think.�
�Good. That�s all you have to remember for now.�