Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gods of War ❯ Twilight ( Chapter 6 )

Title: Gods of War: Twilight

Author: Shinigamis_Soul (AKA Starlight Soul, AzureInk_Parchment)

Beta: None… (I know, I'm lazy, I haven't responded to any of the offers yet)

Disclaimer: I don't own them; I only like to play with them.

Status: WIP

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xS

Warnings: Torture, Angst, Preventor-ness, betrayal, Yaoi, Lemon (eventually),

Summary: The war has been over for years. Our pilots have worked hard to keep the peace they fought so hard to help create. Just months from retirement, Heero Yuy goes missing. Who is trying to capture the pilots and what is his connection to them?

 

Gods of War

Twilight

 

Quatre and Dorothy returned to Une's office grim and quiet. They placed their notes on her desk along with a copy of the interrogation before taking seats to wait for her attention. After a few minutes she looked up from her task and raised an eyebrow at them.

 

“Do I need to send the psychologist in now?” questioned Une.

 

“No,” sighed Quatre. “they gave it up so easily.”

 

“Do you believe them?” she asked.

 

“Yes, I was almost sure we were going to need Psych once the first guy realized who I was,” replied Quatre, “though he seems to be under the impression that I am the lesser of two evils. Five of them want protection from Cronus.”

 

“Did they give us enough information to warrant it?” asked Sally.

 

“Yes and no, it's more complicated than that,” replied Dorothy. “Cronus AKA Tony Smith was an alliance research assistant for the scientist known as J. He is possibly working from a warehouse on the south side of town though we have three other buildings he is known to work from. We're going to have to tread carefully. The five looking for protection are only trying to keep hostages alive. Cronus took their families, mostly children. I guess he's pretty pissed that Duo blew up his lab.

 

“He's lucky he escaped,” added Quatre.

 

“The fire alarm was pulled to encourage people to vacate the building,” said Duo from the doorway. “I found the nanite they altered and that problem has been solved. I've set up a decoy so no matter where we go they're gonna think that Heero at least is here.”

 

“I've got the file we were looking for,” said Trowa, “Tony Smith was a research assistant for nearly three years. The alliance discharged him due to mental instability. That was six weeks before J and the other scientist fled to the colonies and began the Gundam project. He was with them up until four months before the launch of operation meteor. Even J couldn't dispute the mans madness.”

 

“What did he do that finally convinced J?” asked Heero.

 

Quatre's face darkened and he forced his hands to still on his lap. “He tried to break me. He seemed to think that I was weak because of my space heart… He thought I was the one that he was most likely to be able to control. He… He was too caught up on my looks for comfort.”

 

Duo looked furious. “I told G. I told him what that man was. He should have shoved him out the airlock while he had a chance.”

 

“Cronus may be crazy but he's smart too,” said Quatre deftly turning the conversation back to the topic, “We need to check out all of his buildings and hit all of them at once. If he's alerted to our plans he'll have time to escape and I have not doubt that he will take it.”

 

“Good idea,” Une replied, “This has gone beyond kidnapping and assault. I cannot afford to be down any of my best agents. Quatre, Dorothy, return to interrogation and separate the victims from the willing employees. Then see what else you can find. Trowa, Wufei, and Sally I want you to find out everything you can about Tony Smith. Heero I want you and Duo to locate blue prints for those buildings and lay out the best plan of attack. If this guy has hostages, we need to know where they're being kept and get them out without losses. Zechs, Noin, and Hilde, I need five teams out of that mess.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Trowa, we need your opinion in here,” called Duo.

 

“What's going on?” Trowa asked joining them at a table covered in blueprints.

 

“Of the five of us, Cronus doesn't know you,” explained Heero. “We want you to work with us on the plans because he was in charge of most of my training. He knows the rest of us to some extent. He seems to be operating on the premise that you are the original Trowa Barton.

 

“We're pretty sure that he's going to have any hostages in this building. My goal is going to be to get the hostages out. I should be able to get into the hostages but until we have an idea of the number and age of the hostages I'm worried about getting them out. If it is kids that aren't too big or too scared I can at least take them into the ventilation to hide.”

 

Trowa looked at him funny. “You would take them into the ventilation system?”

 

“This one I would. The ventilation system is a specialty design though only the manufacturer and a select few people know it. It's a composite of fiberglass and metal coated in a plastic/rubber polymer. It can hold several hundred pounds and is pretty much impervious to an EMP,” Duo explained.

 

“You're sure that he's going to hold them there?”

 

“Yes,” Duo sighed, “They've been seen by a couple of the men Quatre's interrogating. It sounds like he's not drugging them but he is using those fucking drops on their eyes.”

 

“Drops?” inquired Trowa.

 

“They burn and keep your eyes blurry,” Heero explained. “If you rub your eyes they burn more and will crust shut.”

 

“I have the solution to that,” said Sally joining them. “I just picked these up from the hospital and ordered them for all of our first aid kits.” She handed them each a tube of clear liquid. “These are designed to neutralize most of the drops that can be used to cause temporary blindness and distorted vision. Thanks to the files Duo found, I know what Cronus likes to use.”

 

“How much do we use?” asked Duo while examining the tube to find where it split in two.

 

“The tubes are actually two separate pieces. One dose for each eye,” answered Sally. “These are the latest in medical advances. They were originally designed for pilots.”

 

“Incase a hydraulic line breaks?” questioned Heero giving the tube an appreciative glance.

 

“Among other things; it will neutralize an amazing list of compounds.”

 

“I'm going to need a couple dozen of these for the hostages,” said Duo adding them to his list for his pack.

 

“The hostage list is up to twenty children and two women,” said Une entering the room.

 

“Is that going to be a problem with your plans?” Trowa asked looking at the two maps closely. “Out of curiosity, how did you learn to navigate this kind of mess?”

 

Duo shrugged, his eyes turned to the map of the duct work. “Photographic memory but I used to just keep exploring them till I found what I wanted. G though it was some kind of instinct developed out of need. All buildings are set up in one of a dozen or so patterns. It shouldn't be a problem; I'll use these off shoots to hide the kids. ”

 

“We should try to get our forces in on a seemingly unrelated cause. They would probably focus more on that and make it easier for the two of you to slip in,” said Trowa. “Once we get confirmation that you have the hostages into the ventilation, we'll rush all the facilities at once.”

 

“You're taking them into the ventilation?” questioned Une.

 

“Yes, it's a fiberglass/aluminum composite covered in a plastic/rubber polymer. It should be fine. Heero's going to come with me.”

 

“I'll trust your judgment, Maxwell. Quatre and Dorothy are going to lead the team taking down that facility. Zechs and Noin are going to lead the second team. Sally and Wufei will lead team three. Trowa and Hilde will lead team four and I will lead team five. The two of you are in charge of getting the hostages to safety. We'll have paramedics waiting for you. We are working with the locals to be mobilized in three hours. They've called in their swat teams to assist us. They will be meeting here in two hours.

 

“Noin, is calling in our chosen teams. They will be in within the next half an hour. Yuy, can you be ready to brief them in forty-five minutes?” ordered Une

 

“Of course,” answered Heero. “We need the plans for all of the buildings in here and I need to go over the plans with each of the team leaders. How are Quatre and Dorothy doing on the interrogations?”

 

“They're in with the last guy now,” replied Sally. “He's been a little bit tougher than the others; it seems he's loyal to Cronus. The only ones that had the suicide plan were completely loyal.”

 

“Good, let them know I need to be briefed before the meeting. As soon as the team leaders are ready, I need to know their plans.”

 

* * *

 

Heero followed Duo's lead as they snuck into the warehouse. The sting across the way made the perfect cover for the presence of so many officers. While all eyes in the building were busy watching the happenings across the street, no one was watching as they slipped into the exterior ventilation.

 

Duo led the way through the strange duct system with ease. Each time they checked a series of rooms he would mark the cleared vents and tunnels with an iridescent mark. The were nearing mid building when they found the first hostage. Duo moved close and whispered against Heero's cheek.

 

“I'm going in. Be ready to pull her up,” He whispered.

 

Duo faced a room like the one he found Heero in. Voices played at different volumes, speeds, and in different languages while lights flashed and pulsed in multiple colors. The little girl was huddled in a corner with her knees pulled to her chest and her head on her arms across them. He dropped to the floor and knelt beside her, letting his hand rest on her shoulder to gain her attention.

 

“It's okay,” said Duo placing his badge in her hand. “I'm a Preventor, my name is Duo. I've come to get you out of here. Did they put drops in your eyes?”

 

She nodded. “It burned.”

 

“I know,” soothed Duo, “I have stuff that will clear your eyes. It's going to feel cold. Tip your eyes up and keep them open wide.”

 

Duo quickly split the tube and emptied them into her eyes, flushing them as best as he could.

 

“They don't burn any more,” she said awed.

 

“I'm going to lift you up to my friend now and we need you to stay quiet.”

 

Heero reached down and met her halfway before pulling her into the duct. Once she was behind him he pulled Duo up and closed the vent. The braided man marked the vent with a different symbol before moving on to the next vent.

 

The next vent led to a dark room with the sound of heavy breathing. Duo opened the vent and peered in through a small eye piece. With just a sign to Heero he dropped into the room and moved to the kid's side. He was barely on the floor before the boy started whimpering.

 

“Please, don't leave me in the dark,” he sobbed.

 

“It's ok; I'm here to take you home. My name is Duo, I'm a Preventor,” said Duo softly. “Did they put drops in your eyes?”

 

“Yeah,” sniffled the boy, as he latched on to Duo's arm. “They hurt.”

 

“I've got stuff to make them feel better, tip your head back,” said Duo gently. He quickly flushed the boy's eyes before moving him towards the vent. “I'm going to lift you up to my partner now.”

 

“You won't leave me?”

 

“Nope, Heero and a little girl are going to be up there but I need you to be quiet for me okay.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They continued through the rest of the rooms until they were had twenty-eight kids and four women. Four of the children were unconscious, their screams too much of a risk to the group. The two women took two of them each without a word while Heero and Duo settled the children in to wait for the team.

 

“All teams, hostages are cleared, be advised we have four more children than expected,” announced Duo before going to radio silence.

 

“All teams we are a go,” ordered Une over the radio while joining her team. “Cronus is our top priority.”

 

Agents moved in as one at the five buildings, an intricate dance of armed men and women versus their surprised foe. In most buildings, the agents found little to no resistance. Quatre and Une found themselves trapped in fire fights within the close halls of the two labs. Heero and Duo listened in while each of the teams checked in.

 

“Team two is secured,” called Zechs.

 

“Team three secured,” added Sally.

 

“Team four secured,” Trowa said softly over the radio.

 

“We're under heavy fire,” responded Quatre, the sound of bullets chased his voice before the radio clicked off.

 

“Team five cleared, we've got a lot of suiciders here,” stated Une. “Has anyone found Cronus?”

 

* * *

 

“It's over,” shouted Quatre over the sporadic gun fire. “All of Cronus' facilities have been taken and the hostages have been released. Put down your weapons and you won't be harmed.”

 

“Quatre, Someone is moving around back there,” said Dorothy.

 

A loud scuffle from the hall where Cronus' men were taking their stand signified the end of the fire fight. “We're surrendering. Are our wives and children really safe?”

 

“Take them. There's someone else back here,” hissed Quatre before signaling for Dorothy to follow him.

 

The two of them moved silently towards the office where someone was hastily shoving papers into a bag. Once they had a clear view Quatre knew who they had within their grasp. Cronus was a tall thin man with dark hair and eyes. While he may have been handsome at some point, it looked as though someone had taken a peeler to his face.

 

With a glance at Dorothy, he slipped into view with his gun locked on Cronus.

 

“Cronus, freeze,” ordered Quatre.

 

Cronus froze, his dark eyes lifting to fall on Quatre. “Sweet Quatre, how nice to see you again.”

 

“You're under arrest,” said Quatre evenly, “Tony Smith aka Cronus, You are under arrest for kidnapping and assault among other things.”

 

“Did you come alone little God,” questioned Cronus in a lilting voice that set Quatre's hair on end.

 

Quatre flinched but realized that Cronus couldn't see Dorothy though she could see into the room. “Of course not, I have an entire team of agents in this building.”

 

The slow grin that spread across his mangled features was disturbing, completely mad in its appearance. “I think not.”

 

Just where the gun came from, he didn't know. The force of the first bullet biting into his left arm nearly spun him. The second bullet sliced through his vest and left a deep mark across his ribs. He let his training take over; let the innocent mask that Cronus knew so well to fall away. He knew the effects of the transformation, he was terrifying; Trowa had told him as much.

 

He turned back to Cronus, shooting the dark haired man through the hand holding the gun. “That was not a good choice.”

 

Dorothy stepped into the room, he gun trained on Cronus. “Status?”

 

“I took two hits, left arm and right ribs,” answered Quatre.

 

Dorothy grinned at Cronus with her demon grin. “You call yourself Cronus but I seem to recall that the story didn't end well for him.”

 

“Father of the Gods,” mumbled Cronus, “I created the Gods of War. I created them so they belong to me.” He turned madness tinted eyes towards Quatre. “So pretty, all my little gods.”

 

Dorothy moved to begin cuffing him while Quatre ripped off his sleeve to examine his wound. “The Gods killed Cronus. Tony Smith, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…”

 

“Why didn't it work on the children?” demanded Cronus looking at Quatre's nearly healed arm.

 

“You infected the children!?” exclaimed Quatre. He could feel his rage building beyond what he felt he could control. “Get. Him. Out of. Here.”

 

“Yes, sir,” grinned Dorothy.

 

Quatre turned his attention to the rest of his team. “Status?”

 

“The building is secured, Sir,” came the reply.

 

“Team one is secured. We have Cronus,” Quatre said wearily over the main channel “Duo, Heero the hostages need to go to Preventors medical unless in need of more urgent care.”