Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eyes Cold As Stone ❯ Chapter Seventeen ( Chapter 17 )

Eyes Cold As Stone

Chapter 17

"Major, I want the prisoner executed by sundown."

"Yes, sir."

"I will also need a shuttle prepared immediately." Colonel Satavich walked briskly down the hall, dishing out orders by the handful. He needed to get to the other bases and pull them together into a massive counter-strike against the Gundams. Jezebel had been optimistic that this move would work, but with the fact that they only had two Node bases left, he wasn't quite as optimistic. Still, he was only a Colonel; the real decisions were left to people like Jezebel. He simply followed orders.

"How much fuel do you need, sir?"

"I only need to get to the Eagle base. From there I can get re-fueled or a long-range shuttle if need be."

"Yes sir. I will have your shuttle ready for you in one hour. The Gundam pilot will be executed at sundown. Anything else, sir?" He shook his head.

"That's all for now, Major."

"Yes sir." He sighed as the Major left to take care of his orders and turned toward the control room. He had one more thing to take care of before he left. Jezebel had wanted the ZSMDs from this base to be loaded onto the cargo planes and launched as a part of the counter-attack. Although the ZSMDs had been tested, this would be their first real battle. They were supposed to have launched a little less than seven months ago, but the Gundams had destroyed Node base after Node base. He had to admit that the Preventers, especially the Gundams, were very good at war. He and Jezebel tended to forget that the main characters at Preventer Headquarters were none other than the major players involved in the war a few years ago. After all, it was Lady Une and Zechs Merquise who had orchestrated the OZ take-over, and it was Zechs Merquise who had become the leader of White Fang. The Gundam pilots were the ones sent from the Colonies to destroy OZ, and they were truly the ones who won the war. Satavich shook his head-if only they hadn't all become pacifists, they could be living in a grand world right now. The pilots had had so much potential, but they threw it all away after the Eve Wars. With the entire Earth's Sphere in their hands, they could've taken the world anywhere, but they chose to follow the sadistic views of the Peacecraft girl. Though she was no longer the Queen of the World, her role in politics was nothing less. He paused before entering the command center. If nothing else, the counter-strike will destroy HQ and allow us to rebuild our arsenal. The Preventers are so heavily induced in their pacifism, that they won't have any other bases or any back up. One strike to the heart will destroy the Preventers and leave only a few stragglers here and there for later clean up.

Satavich smiled. One way or another, he would destroy the Preventers. And he would kill the Gundam pilots.

______________________________

Quatre peered around the corner.

No one.

He slid quickly from shadow to shadow, leaving no trace of his existence.

He was no longer in his cell.

He was alone.

He was going to play.

Quatre skipped down a hall, pausing at every door and hall to peer around the corners. He wanted to make sure that no one saw he before he was finished playing, but he also was looking for someplace fun. So far the entire building was rather boring. Just bare room after bare room-jeez, didn't these people know how to play? He thought they did from the way they treated him, but apparently that was all they knew how to do.

He stopped at an indescript door and peered in.

Jackpot.

There were machines galore in there, and no one was in the room. Quatre rubbed his hands together in anticipation and stepped up to the door. He studied the locking mechanism-simple to break. He pulled a scrap piece of metal that resembled a flathead screwdriver, out of his pants. He had picked it up off the floor in the Interrogation room and hid it while the guards toted him back to his cell earlier. He grinned-they could be so stupid and dense sometimes. He inserted the metal behind the lock and proceeded to wedge the covering off. He stared at the newly bared wires a moment before using the metal to disconnect a couple wires. He switched their placements and reattached them, wrapping the wires around their new connections. He replaced the cover as the door clicked open. He smiled and skipped in the room.

It was full of computers. Quatre spun around slowly trying to see everything at once. Giving up on that idea, he decided to play. He moved toward a console waiting unsuspectingly for its controller. Quatre sat down and began pushing buttons. He hummed to himself as he played.

"Ooh, buttons!" He giggled and tried this button and that button, frowning in disappointment when nothing happened. He moved to the next console. This one sported a keyboard and Quatre was soon immersed in typing out obscene messages and sending them to e-mail addresses that just sprang to mind.

deathbygundam@juno.com, perfectsoldier3118@hotmail.com, nataku@att.net, and heavyarms12@gov.uk came immediately to mind.

To deathbygundam, he wrote: Sorry I missed you, but I was too busy raping my goats. We can try for tea tomorrow! To perfectsoldier3118, he wrote: Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me, cant sleep, the clowns will eat me, can't sleep the clowns will eat me… To nataku, he wrote: JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED BY MY FLYING MONKEYS!!! BEWARE OF MY FLYING MONKEYS!! ABSOLVE YOUR SINS NOW!!! And finally, he wrote to heavyarms12: How heavy are your arms? Do they hurt? Can I help relieve your strain?

Becoming bored with strange e-mails, he began to type nonsense into the computer to get it to freeze. He laughed hysterically as he succeeded. He moved to another console and called up a map of the base. He felt like setting a fire. He found the weapons arsenal. He began to leave his newly dubbed playroom when he spotted a small console toward the back of the room. His interest sparked, he skipped up to it and began pushing buttons. The red one finally did something-a short, loud, irritating buzz escaped from the console causing Quatre to stumble back in shock.

"Twenty minutes to self-destruct." Quatre jumped. This was cool, but he wanted more than twenty minutes to play. He moved quickly to the console and began typing in commands. His first command was to make it a silent count-more fun, and it wouldn't be discovered until he was done playing. The next command was to make it a four-hour countdown. He laughed at his practical joke and left the computer room. He skipped joyously down the hall in the direction of the weapons lockers. He would definitely have fun.

______________________________

"Calm down, Trowa. Your nerves are getting to me." Trowa made an effort to still his bouncing knees.

"Sorry." Noin laughed.

"Don't be. We're all nervous." Trowa couldn't bring his face to smile back at her. She reached a hand over to his knee. "We'll get him out of there and bring him home. Don't worry." He decided not to say anything. She eventually removed her hand and returned it to the controls. "We're almost to drop. You might want to get ready, we'll be there in about six minutes."

"Roger." Trowa stood and slipped through the cabin. He looked at the prone figure of Heavyarms. "We'll get him out of there. I just wish I knew how Wufei was doing." He climbed into the cockpit and brought Heavyarms to life.

"Drop in two minutes." Trowa signaled his okay and prepared to be dropped over the forests surrounding the base where Quatre was. "Drop in ten, nine, eight…" Noin's voice echoed in his head as he mentally ticked away the seconds. "Three, two, one…drop." The cargo doors opened and Heavyarms slid out into the thin atmosphere. He fell toward the unforgiving trees below, counting the meters. Just before he pulled up into steady flight, he heard Noin's soft voice over the Comm. "May Forseti watch over you and give you strength. Be just, Trowa. Give those bastards everything they gave Quatre."

He aimed his Gundam at the base and prayed that Wufei would contact them soon. Forseti indeed. The God of Justice could certainty be of use. An eye for an eye.

______________________________

Quatre giggled. He had just finished placing the last bomb in the corner of some poor soldier's room. Boy was that soldier in for a surprise. He giggled again.

He stopped at an intersection of two halls. Which way? He decided after a moment's hesitation to go down the one to his right. He turned and ran down the hall, laughing maddeningly the whole way. It had taken him almost four hours to place all of the wondrous explosives that he had found in the weapons arsenal, and now it was nearing sunset. Being a sucker for pretty things, Quatre decided to leave the building and watch the sunset from a hill just outside. While placing the explosives, Quatre had stopped to look out of a window in one of the barracks and spotted the massive hill.

He neared the outer door, breaking into a sprint, hoping to get outside before the sunset began. His world slowed down as an unexpected soldier stepped into his path. He tried frantically to find a hiding place-he didn't want t miss the sunset, but he couldn't find one. The soldier turned to face him, bringing his gun to bear. Quatre couldn't veer away from the guard's aim, and the bullet tore through his chest. He stumbled, but regained his balance out of anger. Letting loose an animalistic howl, he charged at the stunned soldier. He lowered his head like a raging bull and threw the guard into the glass of the outer doors. The glass shattered and he ran through the sparkling shards to the beautiful sunset beyond. He ignored the pain burning in his chest and raced for the crest of the hill.

The sky was flaked with bright hues of orange and red, like a fire was raging against the sky. Quatre climbed up the side of the hill. Near the top, he faltered, staggering from the pain of his wounds. He sat down and looked at his blood-soaked shirt. Luckily, the bullet had entered the right side of his chest, and was most likely high enough to not damage his lungs, although it hurt tremendously to breathe. He ignored his pain. He watched the sun sink behind the horizon, the majesty of the event calming him. He could hear engines approaching, like a plane or a mobile suit. He could also hear shouts from the direction of the base-probably about him. Not wanting to go back into the little dingy cell, Quatre stood up and walked away from the base. Taking a last look at the sunset, he fled into the forest.

______________________________

Shit. The sun was setting and he hadn't heard from Wufei yet. Hurry, hurry, hurry. He radioed Heero.

"Looks like its Plan B for us. You ready to cover me?"

"Hai." Trowa scanned the base and its surroundings and noticed a lone figure rushing toward the woods.

"I think I see Wufei, but he's alone."

"I've got you covered whenever you're ready."

"Ready."

"Acknowledged." Trowa sped up, moving straight for the base, knowing that Heero was coming in harder and faster from the other side. He noticed a weird spike in the energy readings from the base and began to inquire about them when a sudden brightness engulfed his vision.

"Trowa! Heero! Pull out of there!" He could barely make out Zech's voice. He blinked his eyes, trying to figure out what just happened. His vision cleared and he looked out at the base.

Or rather, what was left of it.

A gigantic crater lay where the base used to be, fire raging at the debris scattered around it.

Quatre.

Quatre had been in that base. Wufei hadn't gotten him out.

Tears fell bitterly from Trowa's eyes. The world would never be the same. His hope had gone up with the base. Now there was nothing. No way that Quatre could have survived that. He faltered in his piloting, dropping Heavyarms several meters. A gundanium foot scratched at the scorched land as he cried out his pain to the unforgiving sky.

______________________________

"The base was completely destroyed. Not even the underground sections remained intact. It was like someone planted bombs in every room and timed them to all go off at the same time." Heero was giving his report in dull, uncaring tones to Lady Une. The base where Quatre was, was gone, all trace of it gone. He was giving the report to Une for both he and Trowa, because Trowa was in no shape to be doing anything. After almost crashing his Gundam, he had fallen silent, and hadn't spoken a single word on the flight home-Zechs and Noin had maintained an open channel between the two cargo planes. Trowa was in bad shape-first Duo, now Trowa. And now there was no hope that Quatre was alive. He hadn't spoken to Wufei yet; he as well had been uncharacteristically silent, being prompted by Trowa's suffering to remain quiet. Wufei was standing slightly behind him now, just waiting to give his report.

"Did you see anything else?"

"No. But Trowa said that he saw Wufei heading away from the base just prior to the explosion."

"Alright, Heero, thank you." Heero nodded and stepped out of the way for Wufei. He decided to stay so he could hear the Asian man's report.

"Trowa said he saw me?" It was a question for Heero, not Une. He nodded. "How? I was on your side of the base." Heero's head shot up.

"My side?"

"There wouldn't have been any way that Trowa could have seen me, was he sure?"

"He told me that he couldn't see very well, he was assuming it was you. He said that you were heading into the forest."

"That wasn't me. The forest was on the other side of the base-I was no where near it."

"That means-"

"Do you think it was Quatre?" Heero shook his head.

"I don't know. God, I hope, but…"

"Talk to Trowa, find out everything he knows about the person he saw." Lady Une looked between the two of them. "If it is possible that that was Quatre, I want you to scour any cities, towns, villages and huts that he could have encountered. He may be injured, inquire at hospitals. He could have been arrested, check the local jails. Check under bridges, in grocery stores-you get the idea. If its possible the he's out there, I want him found."

"Yes, sir." Heero nodded and left Une's office, leaving Wufei behind to finish his report. Quatre alive. He so dearly hoped.

He knocked softly on Trowa's door. Instead of waiting around HQ, he had just grabbed his laptop and raced over to Trowa's apartment. He knocked again-no answer. He reached into his pocket and searched for the key to Trowa's door. Out of paranoia, he had made copies of all of their housekeys, just in case something drastic happened. This was a something drastic. He slid the key into the lock and entered a tomb. At least that's what it felt like.

He looked around the darkened room checking for signs of life-or suicide. Fortunately he heard Trowa sobbing softly, and could make out a slightly darker patch of huddled form residing in the corner. He slowly advanced.

"Trowa?"

"Leave me alone."

"Please, Trowa. Let me help you."

"No help for me now."

"That's not true." With this, Trowa jumped up and stepped close to Heero.

"Quatre's gone, Heero, or did you fail to notice an entire fucking base blow sky-high." Trowa screamed. Heero jerked back, the fact that Trowa, of all people, was screaming frightened him. He reached out and placed a hand on Trowa's shoulder, much like he had seen either Duo or Quatre do before. Trowa stiffened but made no other move. Heero moved closer.

"No he's not." Trowa began to sob openly, now. Giant sobs racked his thin frame.

"I miss him. God, I love him so much, and he's not here." Trowa's body shook from the force of his sobs. Heero pulled Trowa to him and wrapped his arms around his breaking friend. "Oh, God, Heero. Why? Why did they take him from me? Why?" Heero could feel tears of his own gathering behind his eyes. He gently rubbed Trowa's heaving back and let his grieving friend cry. Trowa's tears soaked into his shirt as pain-filled tremors traveled through his body.

"Its okay, it'll all be okay." He didn't know what else to say. Duo used to always pick on him about his suaveness with words-total sarcasm, of course. Now he wished that he had Duo's uncanny ability to make people forget their pain, or Quatre's natural ability to soothe and console. He felt Trowa stiffen at his words.

"Like hell it will be." Trowa rounded on him. "Are you fucking insane, Yuy? He's gone. He died in that blast. Wufei didn't get him out." Heero didn't know what else to do, so he fought back.

"How do you know Quatre didn't get out? How do you know that that was Wufei you saw? Did you get a good look at him, or did you just assume?" Trowa stood with his mouth agape, stunned with the force of Heero's words. He lowered his voice. "I talked to Wufei, Trowa, and he told me that he was no where near the forest. He was on the other side of the base. You couldn't have seen him, Trowa. Who did you see?"

"I…I don't know. I just assumed…" Heero took Trowa's shoulders in his hands.

"Maybe it was Quatre." He let the statement sink in before continuing. "We all know that Quatre is just as resourceful as the rest of us. He could have escaped."

"But, seven months…" Heero nodded, trying to show that he understood.

"Maybe he didn't have the opportunity. His security could have lessened after the order came down for his execution. He could have seen his chance then, or he could have escaped on the way to his execution. Maybe he had been in bad shape from being interrogated, and he was now strong enough to escape. Trowa, you don't know what happened in there. You don't know who it was that you saw. You don't know."

"The explosion?"

"The blast was so complete, that it is possible that it was Quatre's doing. Possible, Trowa-I don't know what happened in there any more than you do. All I am saying is don't give up just yet. He's not dead until we have proof, and I'm not gonna accept an explosion as proof. Are you?" Trowa weakly shook his head. Heero sighed, letting his shoulders slump, he had been worried that Trowa would disappear like Duo had. "Good. Then let's go over these maps and see if we can figure out where Quatre might have ended up."