Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 77 ( Chapter 77 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 77

 

[Preventer Transport Shuttle PA 121]

 

Climbing down into the cargo hold of the shuttle, Heero couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine when he laid eyes on Wing again. He moved to stand alongside the huge mecha and swallowed the lump in his throat. “Hello, old friend,” he said softly and rested a hand against one of the giant fingers of the machine.

 

Turning, he looked at Deathscythe and felt the tears well in his eyes. He knew just how hard it had been for Duo to give up his `buddy' and now, seeing the gleaming, black mecha lying quietly in the hold it reminded him of just how much he missed his husband.

 

Giving himself a shake, both mental and physical, Heero cleared his mind. Now was not the time to be getting all sentimental. There was work to be done. With the gravity of the shuttle slightly less than that of earth, it was quite easy for Heero to climb up Wing and push the hatch button. The cockpit opened with a hiss and Heero twisted so he could climb inside and sit in the pilot seat.

 

It was a bit of a tight fit, he'd grown since he'd last been in the mecha, but he managed to get himself in. Hands ran over the familiar controls, and as he closed his eyes, so all the memories came flooding back.

 

Long past battles played out on the backs of closed eyelids and he shuddered at some of them.

 

Breaking from his wanderings, Heero took a deep breath and turned the machine on. The consoles began to light up and Heero's eyes tracked all the information scrolling over the screens. There was one important thing he needed to double check.

 

Once the programs had all loaded, Heero typed in a couple of commands and waited whilst the screen flickered and then cleared. It asked him for the code. He typed it in and held his breath. The screen changed again, asking for a series of passwords, all of which Heero supplied.

 

Seconds later the screen changed and all the files pertaining to the Gundam came up. Heero quickly opened several and began to check. After five minutes he breathed a sigh of relief and sank back into the chair.

 

Setting the codes and passwords again, Heero shut the mecha down and sat for a moment. He needed to run his own diagnostic checks on all the Gundams and to do that, he needed his laptop.

 

He also needed to find out what this mission was. He had a pretty good idea, but wasn't sure of exactly all the details. Biting his lip, he decided to swing by his cabin, collect the laptop and then meet up with Zechs to learn what it was Une wanted of them.

 

Giving the Gundam one last caress, Heero left the cockpit, sealed the hatch and climbed back down to the floor of the cargo bay.

 

*

 

Zechs looked up as Heero entered. He raised an eyebrow, glanced at the laptop in Heero's hand and turned his eyes back to the papers he was reading. “I take it you found the Gundams in the same condition in which you handed them over?”

 

“Not exactly,” Heero replied curtly.

 

“Oh?”

 

“They have been fixed.”

 

“Ah.”

 

At the end of the war, the Gundams had suffered some damage and knowing they were handing the mecha over to the authorities, none of the pilots had bothered to fix their machines. It had seemed pointless when they were only going to be destroyed.

 

“Yes, I took the liberty of having all five of them repaired,” Zechs supplied. “Knowing that the commander wanted them to be available should an extreme case come up where they would be needed, I managed to secure parts and had them all repaired. I trust the repairs are to your satisfaction?”

“Hn. I haven't had a good look at them all yet, but I will.”

 

Zechs had no doubts about that.

 

“What about Epyon?”

 

The question caught Zechs off guard for a moment and a brief flash of pain passed through his heart as he recalled the suit he'd piloted. “It was beyond repair,” he said softly. “Some things are better left as they are.”

 

Sensing that Zechs didn't want to go there, Heero changed the subject. “What does the mission brief say?”

 

“Condensed version?”

 

“Preferably, I have a lot of work to do.”

 

“Based on the information received from Agent Fire, there appears to be several mobile suits on this satellite along with one Agent Night, an army of sorts and one, deranged person who thinks he can take over the world by releasing some computer virus.”

 

Heero glared at the blonde. “I haven't just spent the past couple of days playing computer games you know.”

 

Giving up on the attempt of humor, Zechs decided to cut to the chase. “We are to meet with the other three agents who will have hopefully managed to locate and extract Agent Night. From there we are to seek out Barton and arrest him.”

 

Heero noted how Zechs emphasized the word 'arrest'. Damn! He'd been so looking forward to killing the bastard.

 

“And the Gundams?”

 

“They are only to be used if absolutely necessary.”

 

Both men fell silent for a moment, then Zechs spoke again.

 

“What exactly is this Firecell?”

 

Frowning, Heero gave the other man a brief run down on what they knew.

 

“So, it's all just a theory then?”

 

“No. Oh, I suppose in a lot of ways it could be, but there is a professor who has done a lot of work on the theory of it.”

 

“Then he would know if it was possible to put it into practice or not?”

 

“He's disappeared.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“We do have all of his files and notes that we could locate and after studying them all, it would appear that the theory could be put into practice with the right programming.”

 

“And that would spell disaster.”

 

“Exactly. I have my own theory on this and after studying the professor's notes, figuring out the principals of how a Firecell should work, I've been flat out converting file systems at Preventer.”

 

Zechs could see the logic there and as he slowly began to add up all the implications it dawned on him just how bad this entire Firecell thing could and possibly would be if Barton succeeded in releasing it. “If it takes over the computers, we're screwed.”

 

“The shuttle will be fine, I've already changed all the file systems on those. Communications at Preventer has also been converted and I was working on the main data base when Une finally saw sense and decided to put me here.”

 

“The Gundams?” said Zechs and felt a chill run down his spine.

 

Heero smirked. “No need to worry about them. They have their own file system, one completely different to the standard system.”

 

Zechs raised an eyebrow.

 

“It's what you could call a mutation of sorts. The mad five developed it as an extra safeguard should the Gundams fall into enemy hands. Without the correct codes and passwords, access to the computer systems in the Gundams is denied. No chance of the enemy hacking the data banks or downloading any information as the file system isn't compatible with the normal computers and hardware.”

 

Zechs had to admit that was a smart move. “So, they should be safe then?”

 

“I hope so.”

 

The pair fell silent for a moment, then Heero grunted and stood up. “I need to go check on the Gundams, run some diagnostic checks and such.”

 

“I'll be here in the cockpit going over the mission brief again. Une has included the blueprints of the satellite and I'd like to study them a bit more.” Zechs picked up the folder again.

 

“Call me if anything should change, otherwise I will join you later to go over the mission brief in further detail.” Laptop in hand, Heero headed back to the cargo hold to start his checks. Setting the laptop down, he waited for it to boot up. Once it had, he sent a quick message of to Sally, telling her what was going on and asking her to inform Nurse Brown of the current status. With everything that had happened over the past few hours, he'd slipped back into his war persona of the 'Perfect Soldier' and had neglected to let the nurse know what was going on. He'd promised to keep her informed and knew she would be livid with him if he didn't keep that promise.

 

Message sent, Heero set to the task of running the diagnostic checks and going over the Gundams himself to see exactly what repairs Zechs had had done to them.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

The sound of the toilet flushing woke Duric and he rolled over in his bunk as Duo emerged from the small bathroom. Frowning, Duric studied the other man. He looked like hell. Hair disheveled, skin pale and dark circles forming under the eyes. “You look like shit.”

 

“You wouldn't win any beauty contests either, asshole.”

 

Duric ran his hand over the stubble on his chin and had to agree with Duo he probably didn't look all that great either. With a sigh, he pushed the blanket back and swung his feet over the edge of the bunk. He dry washed his face and then stood up. “You finished in there?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Grabbing a change of clothes, Duric shuffled into the bathroom and closed the door.

 

Duo sat down heavily on his bunk and began to unbraid his hair. What he wouldn't give for a brush or a comb. His hair felt thick and greasy, no wonder as it had been over a week since it had been washed. He managed to work his fingers through the mass, combing out the worst of the tangles as best he could. Unable to do much more with it, he divided it into three sections and wove the plait, tying the end off with the ragged piece of elastic.

 

“First thing I'm gonna do when I get back home is take a long, hot soak in the tub and wash this mess,” he muttered to himself. His hair hadn't been this bad since he'd run wild with the gang back on L2.

 

The door opened and a tray was shoved inside, the door slamming shut almost immediately.

 

“And a good morning to you too,” Duo sneered. He looked at the tray or a moment, wondering if he dared to pick it up and see what was on it. Just the thought was making his stomach roll. With a sigh, he got up and picked the tray up, setting it down on the small table.

 

Noting the two cups of tea, he grabbed one and took a sip. It was lukewarm, but it did help to settle his stomach a touch. With several more swallows of the tea, he felt a little better and decided to venture back to the tray and see what their hosts had provided for breakfast this time.

 

Lifting the cover on one of the dishes, Duo stared at the contents, then quickly replaced the cover. He turned away and fought to keep the tea in his stomach.

 

Oatmeal.

 

If there was one thing Duo despised more than anything else, it was oatmeal.

 

It all stemmed back to his street days when out foraging. They had found some oatmeal in a saucepan in the garbage can out back of one of the hotels. It was burnt, sticking to the pan in places but still smelt okay. They had taken it back to the rest of the gang and shared the meager amount out. Within three hours of eating the stuff all the gang were sick.

 

Duo knew now that the oatmeal had obviously been off. Not that they would have been able to smell it, most likely it had been the milk used to mix with it that had soured. Fortunately, the sickness had only been a mild bout, but since then Duo could not stomach oatmeal, it brought back instant memories of that time.

 

Shuddering and barely able to keep the tea inside, Duo put as much distance between himself and the tray that he could, which meant sitting on his bunk and glaring at it.

 

Duric stepped out of the bathroom and noted the tray, then he spotted Duo sitting on his bunk and giving the breakfast tray a hostile look. “Don't tell me they forgot to kill the food this time,” he said and moved to the tray. He lifted the cover and took a look. “Oatmeal.” Picking up a spoon, Duric grabbed a bowl and sat on his bunk to eat.

 

Violet eyes watched and once the first spoonful made it into Duric's mouth, Duo was bolting for the bathroom.

 

Duric stared after the other man then glanced down at his bowl and back to the bathroom. Shrugging his shoulders he decided not to question it and carried on eating.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

“It's time to release the Firecell,” Barton announced to those around him.

 

Silence greeted his ears or a brief moment and then the noise of people scurrying about.

 

“Craven?” Barton called.

 

“Yes, sir?” Craven appeared beside Barton.

 

“Is the program ready to run?”

 

“Yes, sir. All is ready to go on your command.”

 

“Good. The vid feeds?”

 

“All you have to do is look into the camera there and we can begin to broadcast as soon as you like.”

 

Barton nodded. Standing up, Barton took a moment to address all those in the room. “Today we will take back what is ours. Today we will make history. Today we will have our freedom from the earth and those who wish to rule us. It is the earth's turn to bow down to the colonies and accept their rightful leader!”

 

Cheers rang out throughout the control room and Barton smiled. Turning back to Craven, he gave the tech the nod. “Release the Firecell.”

 

Craven typed in several commands to the computer console.

 

“No!” yelled Hawkins and dived across to try and grab the tech. He was quickly overpowered by two other techs and forced back into a seat with a guard in place.

 

“The Firecell is deployed.”

 

Barton rubbed his hands together as an evil smile lit up his face. “Let us broadcast.”

 

* * *

 

The signal was sent, bouncing off satellites, traveling through airwaves and tearing through all wavelengths.

 

It sought out, infiltrated and took over control.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Headquarters]

 

“Commander Une!”

 

Une looked up as Felicity came bolting into her office.

 

“Is your computer on?”

 

Une shook her head.

 

“Vid screen?”

 

“No. Felicity...” Une didn't get any further before she was interrupted.

 

“Turn on the vid screen,” the secretary demanded.

 

Une was too stunned to comprehend for a moment and so Felicity pushed the button for her. The screen fuzzed, cleared and then gave a burst of static before a blank screen appeared.

 

“Felicity,” Une growled.

 

“No, commander. Wait a moment. All channels are the same. It doesn't matter which station you tune into, they are all blank screens.”

 

“What is wrong?”

 

“I don't know. All monitors suddenly went blank, vid screens, computers, everything.”

 

“Shit!” Une picked up the 'phone; and slowly hung it up again. “The phone line isn't working.”

 

“Commander?” Felicity's eyes were wide.

 

Before Une could answer, the vid screen crackled and a picture began to form.

 

“Barton,” hissed Une.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23]

 

Lying back on his bunk, Duo had finished his tea and gotten control over his rebellious stomach. Duric had eaten both portions of the oatmeal by the time Duo returned from the bathroom, much to the long haired man's relief. The tray still sat on the table, awaiting collection and both men felt uneasy.

 

Usually their captors had come for them by now, dragging them off to their respective parts of the satellite. When no one had shown up, the feeling of unease had grown. Duric lay on his bunk reading an out dated magazine he'd found. Duo also lay on his back, only he was counting cracks in the ceiling and keeping an ear on the door.

 

The break in the routine could only mean one thing. Barton was close to releasing the Firecell.

 

If that was the case then Duo wanted to be ready to make his escape. He managed to tune out everything, ears highly sensitized and alert for the tiniest of sounds.

 

Duo was almost falling asleep when he heard it.

 

A quiet snick as the door lock released.

 

In a flash, Duo was off his bunk and at the door. He grabbed it and pulled gently.

 

Duric blinked at the speed in which his cell mate moved. Once he saw what was going on, he was on his feet and beside Duo. “Is it open?” he whispered.

 

Motioning for the other man to remain silent, Duo eased the door open a crack and peered carefully around the edge.

 

The corridor was empty.

 

Jamming his foot between the door and the jamb, he turned to Duric. “Barton must have released the Firecell.”

 

“Either that or the door fairy has paid a visit,” Duric replied sarcastically.

 

“You're a regular clown, you know that?” Duo sneered, fingers flexing as he thought how much he'd like to wrap them around Duric's neck.

 

Duric just shrugged. “You're not leaving without me.”

 

Nudging the door open a little more, Duo took another look and deeming the coast clear, he moved out of their 'cell', Duric almost glued to his back.

 

Calling up what he knew of the satellite in his mind, Duo turned left and staying close to the walls, slunk down the corridor.

 

Behind them the door snicked shut, seconds later the lock snapped back into place.

 

* * *

 

[Residential Section - Satellite XRB 23]

 

Wufei, Trowa and Quatre continued to walk along the corridors of the satellite. They passed a few others on their way, careful to keep their eyes lowered, but no one paid them any attention, they all had their own jobs to do and ignored the three.

 

Ducking into an alcove, Wufei checked his palm top. “Should be down here, second on the right and then third left.”

 

Trowa nodded and the three moved out again.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Headquarters]

 

The screen cleared to show a bald man with a large, gray mustache and small, evil looking eyes.

 

“Barton,” hissed Une.

 

“Who?” Felicity asked.

 

“Dekim Barton,” Une replied absently and then indicated for Felicity to remain silent as the figure on the screen opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Earth and Colonies alike, listen up. My name is Barton, Dekim Barton and I suggest you all familiarize yourselves with it as it will soon become a household name.” Those eyes narrowed a touch. “Today I will become your new leader, free the colonies from the oppressive rule of the earth and those who would dominate us.” Barton paused for a moment to let the words sink in.

 

“Leader?” Felicity questioned.

 

Une's mouth was set into a grim line.

 

“How do I plan on doing this you ask?” Barton raised an eyebrow. “Quite simple. In fact, so simple I have already accomplished it. I have taken over all forms of electronically controlled devices. You are all now completely dependent on me. Your communications systems will not work, unless I allow it. Power, gas, oil, the economy; all of it is now controlled by me.”

 

Une could just imagine the chaos this was going to cause.

 

“For the disbelievers amongst you all, I have a little demonstration.” Barton turned to bark an order to someone off screen, then returned to continue. “I have complete control over the transport grids. I suggest you watch carefully.”

 

The screen changed and several small squares appeared, all telecasting different areas of the transport industry. All were presumably different places on the earth. A busy intersection came into focus in one square - the traffic lights all changed to green. Trains hurtling down lines found their signals on green. Aircraft above the earth suddenly found themselves all flying on the same flight pattern - at the same height.

 

“Oh my god,” Une exclaimed as she watched the scenes unfold. Beside her Felicity screamed.

 

Two planes collided in mid air. Trains ran either into the back of each other or hit head on. The intersections were one of complete carnage - vehicles colliding with each other all over the place.

 

And then it all went back to normal. Those people responsible for directing the various forms of transport suddenly had their control back.

 

“As you can see, I am not joking, nor am I to be trifled with. My demands are simple. The entire board of the ESUN is to stand down. I will appoint my own council to oversee the running of the colonies and the earth. I will restore the communications grids for one hour, that should be more than enough time for discussion. One hour, I suggest you use it wisely.”

 

The screen blanked out.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23 Control Room]

 

Barton sat back in his chair as the broadcast was cut. “That should give them something to think about,” he muttered.

 

The control room was deathly silent.

 

“Craven!?” Barton barked.

 

“Y - Yes, sir?”

 

“Restore the communications grids.”

 

“Yes, sir.” Craven tapped away at the keyboard, face pale. “Communications restored, sir.”

 

“Good. I think I will take a walk and prepare for the next phase.” Barton stood. “The rest of you can carry on.” Turning, he left the room, Zaheer right behind him.

 

Once the door had closed behind him, the room broke out into wild chatter. All had known what the Firecell could do, but to see exactly how deadly it could be before their very eyes brought the reality home.

 

In the corner Hawkins slumped in his chair. “Oh, god, please forgive me,” he whispered.

 

* * *

 

[Corridor on Satellite XRB 23]

 

Duo moved silently, but swiftly down the corridor, Duric following closely behind him. Reaching the end of the corridor, Duo approached it with caution, slowing and melding himself against the wall. He listened carefully and could detect voices, but they were very faint so he gathered they must be a distance away from where he was.

 

Carefully, he inched towards the corner and peeked around. Further down the corridor were several of Barton's men, all standing around and discussing something.

 

“Damn,” Duo muttered.

 

“What is it?” Duric demanded and tried to push forward for a look.

 

Duo shoved him back against the wall. Duric gave a growl.

 

“Shut the fuck up and stay back unless you want Barton to know we've escaped,” Duo snarled, making sure to keep his voice low. “There's a bunch of Barton's men down there.”

 

“I don't see them as being much of a threat to a hot shot like you; or was it all just talk?” Duric sneered the last words out.

 

“You're a fucking asshole, you know that? I should have killed you ages ago.” Duo could feel his temper beginning to get the better of him. Not good. With this pregnancy playing havoc with his hormones, Duo knew he would have to be extra careful - but Duric was seriously getting under his skin.

 

Duric managed to catch Duo off guard and slid forward to look around the end of the corridor. Unfortunately, one of the group chose that particular moment to glance down the corridor and spotted the movement.

 

The soldier frowned and blinked his eyes, squinting as he took another look.

 

“What's up?” one of the others asked, noting his friend's distraction.

 

“I'm not sure. I thought I saw something down there,” the soldier replied.

 

The other soldier turned to look. “I don't see anything, but we could go take a better look if you like?”

 

“It's probably nothing.”

 

“Better to be safe.” By this time the rest of the group had heard the conversation so they all decided to walk down the corridor and check it out.

 

“Fuck!” hissed Duo under his breath. “They're all coming this way. Thanks a lot, asshole.”

 

Duric began to scan around the hallway they were currently in, looking for a way of escape. “Fuck you,” he snapped.

 

“We can't run,” Duo whispered, noting what Duric was looking for. “They will hear us in a second. We need to find somewhere to hide.”

 

“You can hide, I'm out of here.” Duric sprang to his feet and took off down the corridor at a flat out run.

 

“Of all the fucking stupid, idiotic, moronic things...” Duo gave up on his monologue as he heard the sound of boots in the other corridor suddenly break into a run. A cold sweat ran down his spine and he frantically looked for somewhere to hide. Halfway down there was a door, Duo sprinted for it and hoped it would offer some form of hiding place. Knowing his luck it would be something like the mess hall.

 

Reaching it, he grabbed the handle, praying it wasn't locked. The door opened and Duo shot inside - almost colliding with the back wall. It was a janitors closet. Buckets, mops and brooms all protested his arrival and he barely managed to catch a steel bucket before it could fall.

 

The group were almost at the branch in the corridor when they heard someone running. Immediately they all broke into a flat out run and skidded around the corner.

 

“Stop!” one called out to the retreating figure as the others all scrambled for their guns.

 

The figure kept on running though.

 

Taking aim, a soldier called out once more. “Stop or I'll shoot!”

 

The sound of a bullet being fired from a gun pierced the air.

 

A couple of corridors over, three agents heard the shot and looked at each other.

 

“Duo.” whispered Quatre and clutched briefly at his heart.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...