Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Jaaku na Gundam ❯ Phobos ( Chapter 1 )

Jaaku na Gundam

(English Translation The Evil Gundam)

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Chapter 1

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Phobos

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Inside the ship's office it was ominously quiet something he never thought he could relate to Duo. Outside the office the crew was unusually subdued there was no talking, the radios were nearly silent and the monitors oddly still. Many of the crewmembers showed red eyes from stress and bereavement. They paid no attention to the two officers sitting in the captain's office.

Duo returned with a tray bearing two cups and a pot of coffee. They both reached for the cups before he managed to sit down. Heero noticed that Wufei's hand shook a little as he poured his. He was not the only one shaken up from the incident.

"How did that happen?" Wufei asked after swallowing half his cup in one gulp.

"I don't know," Duo said flatly.

"That's not good enough," Heero told him snapping his recorder back on. "We need to know what happened. Where the hell did it come from?"

"I don't know," Duo said again angrily holding his hands up in supplication. "I can only tell you what I do know."

"Fine then start from the beginning."

Duo sighed and wrapped his arms around his slim frame reminding Heero of their earlier days when he used to wear his priest outfit. He looked just a young now as he did then.

"I had gotten a call from Heidi. She had found it amongst some debris floating around Phobias, Mars's largest moon. She was in the Peniwali the smallest of our three ships."

"So why are you here," Heero asked a funny edge in his voice. "Heidi can pilot a suit. She would know how to salvage one."

"Heidi had the sense to realized that if it was a Gundam suit that it might be protected," Duo said heatedly. "She knew better than to try and take on something like that."

"Does she?" Heero said back with just as much heat.

Wufei's eyes flicked between the two of them curiously. He knew how close they had been before Duo became a sweeper and Heero had joined the preventors. In fact, he was surprised that Heero had joined the preventors alone. After Sally went back into the medical field Wufei had been without a partner and was happy to have Heero.

Heero caught Wufei's quiet contemplation and changed the subject. "So how did your crewmember get caught in the cockpit?"

Duo's look also became shuttered as he took in their audience. "I had made sure there were no traps. When I noticed that there was enough juice in the suit to pilot it into the hangar, I was swamped with volunteers. I was going to do it myself but Ron persuaded me with a promised of a real steak dinner. I caved and let him get in that twice damned suit."

"He could pilot a ship?" Heero asked knowing that the wrong answer from Duo could mean his license and maybe even an arrest.

"Oh yes, he wasn't a young kid. Ron had been a pilot for years. He was head mechanic for the large bays."

Heero was relieved even though he didn't show it. He didn't want to cause Duo any problems. In fact he wanted this case closed as quickly as possible.

"So then he crashed into something or something hit him?" Heero asked.

"No," Duo said quickly. "We realized something was wrong as soon as the hatch closed. The suit suddenly had a power surge and shot straight for Mars. Bad enough Phobos is already deep into Mars's gravitational pull. For a second we thought he was a goner then as suddenly as it shot off the suit stopped."

"So the suit never got caught in the planet's gravity," Heero confirmed.

"Yeah that's right it was close but we were able to pulled it away from the planet with some cabling. We got it back into hangar and when we opened the hatch."

Duo's voice trailed off. He didn't have to continue they had both seen what was inside the cockpit. They had both seen what was left of Ron. The pilot had imploded like a water balloon in a centrifuge. Wires and bits of metal from inside the cockpit had imbedded itself into the bone and harder tissues.

"How fast did the suit go," Heero asked suddenly.

"Not fast, truly not that fast at all, and we have it on the ship's outer cam." Duo suddenly looked ill and Heero wondered if he was going to lose it too. Quietly he added. "Truthfully, I don't think he imploded during the power surge or the flight."

"What do you mean," Heero asked getting a bad feeling he wasn't going to like the answer. "When do you think it happened?"

"When we opened the hatch."

"That's impossible," Wufei piped in.

"I know," Duo said quickly. "I just-forget it. It just happened like that. I can't explain it."

Wufei looked taken aback at that comment. Heero looked doubtful but neither said anything more about it. They would have to check the cam and use it as evidence.

Heero turned off the recorder and they both got up to leave. Suddenly Duo grabbed his arm hard. His face was hard and angry. Wufei tensed next to him.

"Heero next time you see that guy, you ask him, 'what else' because I keep coming up zero."

Heero's eyes darkened at the hint. He glanced at Wufei wondering if he got Duo's message. By Wufei's confused look it didn't look like he did but Wufei knew a hint when he heard one.

"Yeah I'll make sure to ask him," Heero told Duo.

He was about to leave the office when it occurred to him that Duo would have to hold onto that suit until they got back in touch with him. The thought bothered him. It bothered him a lot.

He looked back at Duo concern showing on his face. "We won't leave you with this suit for long."

Duo looked relieved and he gave Heero a sincerely smile for the first time since greeting them. Wufei noted the look. He gave Duo a nod asserting his sympathy and understanding

TBC