Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eternal Betrayal ❯ Battle on L2 ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Disclaimer: I don't own GW at all. Wish I did, but I don't.
Chapter 1
Battle on L2
July 17th, AC 198
Duo stood in the artificial light of L2-RD12. His long brown braid drifted in the false breeze. He loved life on the colonies, despite protests by other people.
“So this is where you've been hiding, Duo.”
The braided teen turned to the voice. “Hilde, I didn't expect you here for another week.”
The young woman laughed. “Well, I decided to come early. You don't mind, do you?”
Duo eagerly shook his head. “Of course not!! I just haven't finished the programming for the Eternity yet or else I would've taken you out for a test run.”
“I'll be around for a while, Duo.”
“That's true.”
Duo pressed the enter key one last time. “There. Done.” He leaned back in his chair.
Hilde smiled. “That's good to hear.”
Duo looked at her and grinned. “The Eternity is officially functional.”
“We have arrived at L2-RD12. Permission to follow Operation: Trinity?”
“Permission granted, Lieutenant. Keep civilian casualties to a minimum.”
“…Understood.”
The explosion shook the entire colony. Duo and Hilde each grabbed onto one of the railings leading off of the Eternity. “What the hell's going on?!” Duo yelled to a nearby engineer.
The man looked at the braided teen. “I don't know, sir!”
“An attack maybe?” Hilde suggested.
“Evacuate the civilians. It has to be her,” Duo said. The engineer nodded and ran off. Hilde looked at Duo.
“Duo?”
The braided teen didn't look at her. He frowned. “If only this didn't happen now…”
“Where the hell is everyone?” The soldiers spread out. Each of the colony's houses and other buildings were empty, but it seemed like everyone had left in a rush and recently too.
“Head towards the other ports. They've got to be there.”
“Yes, sir!”
Duo helped the civilians through the underground passages. Already half of the colony's population had been evacuated onto the Eternity and her two sister ships, the Serenity and the Destiny. The three ships were as large as small colonies, and they could easily hold twice the population of L2-RD12. Since the Eternity's navigation and flight programming was complete, all three ships were operational. “Come on! Just a little further!”
The civilians nodded. They made the rest of the trip safely. However, they found the hanger of the Eternity under attack. Duo immediately took control of the defenders. “Protect the civilians at all costs! Once they're all safely on the Eternity, retreat!”
“Yes, sir!”
“All civilians are to board the Eternity immediately!” Duo yelled as he grabbed a gun from a guard and opened fire on the soldiers. The attackers dove for cover. “Hurry up!!”
The evacuation proceeded quickly enough, and the defenders retreated into the ships. Duo ran to the bridge. “All hands, prepare for a Jump once we clear the colony.” He eased the ship out of the hanger. “Input coordinates for the Jump.” He turned on the intership communications. “You okay, Hilde?”
“I'm fine.”
“Sanji will take good care of you, I'm sure. Can you insert the right coordinates?”
“Yeah.”
“I'm counting on you not to drop those people into danger.”
“Okay.”
“Coordinates correctly entered, sir!” one of the sub-pilots said.
“L2-RD12 has been cleared. Jump engines ready.”
“Alright! Let's do this.” Duo pressed the master switch for the Jump. Earth flashed for just a second, and then the exiled colonists were looking at Mars. The crew cheered excitedly. They had reached safety. “Establish a stable orbit. I think this is cause for celebration.”
July 25th, AC 198
The four ex-pilots sat in the large office. “The colony's been abandoned,” a soldier said. “Terrorists took all of the civilians and left in a weird ship.”
“A research and development colony like this should have hundreds of security cameras,” Trowa said. “Do you have any pictures of the terrorists?”
“Yes, sir, but…” the man trailed off.
“But what?” Quatre asked.
The man reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a folder. He handed it to Heero. “I'm not sure you'll like who's in the pictures.”
Heero scanned each image captured by the cameras. He filed each face in his mind. He turned the page.
And froze.
“Duo?”
The other pilots turned towards him. Sure enough, the braided brunette stood in the center of a hanger, firing a gun.
“Not Duo!” Quatre cried, grabbing the pictures from Heero's stunned hands. “He wouldn't do this. He…We worked too hard for this peace! Why?!”
“Dammit, Maxwell, What the hell are you doing?” Wufei muttered.