Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Jokers Wild ❯ Eight ( Chapter 8 )

Eight

"Please brace for impact!"

Quatre looked around quietly a moment, then noted that Deathscythe was landing in the next dock over.

"Sir! Obsidian is within range!" the same soldier shouted nervously. "Please brace for..."

Heavyarms thudded into another bay, and after a moment, the actual transport was enough inside the colony to call it safe.

So where was Demigod?

"Jinli!" Wufei's voice was almost scared.

"I know!" Jin returned, and the machine passed into the hanger.

Quatre launched from Lame without a backwards glance, glad the machine was just a Taurus as Demigod collided with it from behind. It sort of figured in a way, but he couldn't really blame Jinli.

Something...happened.

Quatre looked around, noting that Heero was already on the ground and Duo was also in air. Wufei was a step behind Heero, and Trowa was standing in Heavyarms' entryway.

It was weird to see the colony lurch.

Sirens, in the form of flashing lights, blared to life. He could see the men yelling, but he and his friends had actually made it into the colony, so there was no real worry. Everyone on the colony should have a space-suit on, so the worst thing that'd happen would be the death of the plants inside the colony—which would actually be sad, since they were used to help generate the oxygen the citizens of the colony needed, but...colonies could be rebuilt, and this one was on the line for demolition anyway.

Quatre finally managed to get himself to the ground, and he realized there was shuddering. Heero and Wufei had turned and ordered Matty back onto the transport shuttle, so the two younger males seemed to be begging in the entryway.

Wufei, in his oh so sublime glory, shoved at Matty's chest. The motion sent the two younger boys back into the ship, and Wufei hit the close button.

"Thanks," Heero muttered, sounding a little stressed.

"We gotta go," Wufei returned promptly.

They all headed back for the hanger entry, and Quatre felt a brief moment of interest for their surroundings. He and Jinli had landed in the same bay they'd used to escape with the supposed prisoners of war so long ago.

The soldier who'd been begging him to brace himself proceeded in the annoying track of demanding if he were alright. He couldn't seem to change his volume, either, so Quatre decided to tune him out.

Jinli nearly fell on top of Quatre as they came to the first hallway, looking around.

"Leave your helmet on," Quatre ordered as they started walking toward the area the others should be at. "We have no idea what damage was done yet."

"Obsidian slammed the colony," Heero informed them, moving from the dock he'd been in, obviously pissed. "They just rammed the damn structure!"

Quatre rolled his eyes as Wufei appeared with a laptop.

"Fei?" Jinli muttered.

"You alright, dumbass?" Wufei demanded, falling in with his friend. "What sort of stunt was that?"

"The bay doors were closing," Jinli shot back. "The only machine we could afford damage to was Lame."

"I feel loved," Quatre informed them.

They grinned at him.

"So the emergency sealants have been deployed around the hole," Wufei moved on, still all business. "I don't think the hole was enough to destabilize the colony's frame, but just in case we all need to keep our helmets at least on. We can open them if you really hate the damn things," he hit the button, looking around as the mask part of his opened.

"He's the only one really bothered by it," Quatre informed Jinli, hitting the button for his own. "Him and Duo, anyway."

"Since you're obviously staying with it?" Wufei shot back as Trowa moved to join them, looking around.

"We left them on the transport," Heero supplied.

Trowa nodded.

"You okay?" Duo muttered, moving into their group as well.

"I'm fine," Quatre agreed, looking around. "Where did they hit?"

"The old port," Duo returned wryly. "The same way we got in when we weren't wanted."

"Awesome," Quatre shook his head, starting inward.

The alarm lights flashed from red to yellow, their rotating slowing a bit.

"The sealant was successful, evidently," Wufei noted. "At least, the colony's sensors don't feel a leak."

Quatre pulled his helmet off, but let it hang. He'd never hear the end of it if he took the damn thing off, so he had to arrange it as not to be choked by the weight.

"So what do we do now?" Jinli asked nervously.

"Now we find the soldiers on this boat and go secure the old port," Duo retorted. "What basically just happened was an attempted suicide, failed. I think Gerrange has lost his support for anything, and is trying to hold onto the strands of what he almost had with an iron first."

"That's the impression I got," Quatre agreed.

"Sir!" a soldier appeared in front of them, stopping to salute them all properly. "The main contingent is waiting just this way."

"Right," Quatre agreed, turning to follow him. "I want two teams to sweep the area around the old port. Set men to watching every known exit, including the ventilation systems. We need a perimeter and for a port to be opened for the ESA transports that should be here in ten minutes."

"Right," the man turned, running ahead to give orders.

"Get me a laptop," Quatre ordered the next soldier they encountered. "Get one for Yuy and Chang, too."

"Sir!" that man scampered.

"Set up the medic site," Duo ordered to another soldier, reaching over briefly to grab Quatre's hand before he started off with that little unit.

"So...what now?" Jinli muttered.

"Now we wait for someone to tell us what to do," Trowa reassured him in amusement. "Or, if you can think of something that needs done, that'll work too."

Jinli smiled at him.

"It's just one of those things," Quatre noted, then slowed as they neared the old port.

There wasn't a proper wall there anymore. There was part of Obsidian.

"We need units to sweep this area now!" Quatre shouted, stepping back toward the soldiers who were following them. "Find any..."

Quatre's words cut off as an elbow snaked around his throat, pulling him back...into Marshal Gerrange himself.

"Shit!" Heero snarled, nearly stepping forward until he saw the weapon pointed at Quatre's head.

They all froze, staring at the man in disbelief.

"You've thwarted me for the last time, Blondie," Gerrange growled into Quatre's ear. "We're taking this colony and all you ESA sons of bitches are leaving it...or you won't like what I do."

Quatre's eyes flashed as he met eyes around.

Heero and the rest fell back, obviously thinking fast. This was usually the point, Trowa surmised, where Quatre would tell them what to do.

"Gerrange," Wufei said seriously, "there's no way you've offloaded your full crew, and we have more men on this colony than that. We can hold your entrance."

"We'll kill any soldier we see," Gerrange returned levelly, looking them all over. His eyes fell on Jinli, and he frowned as he looked around again. "Where is J?"

"Jaden stayed back to disperse your dolls," Wufei supplied quietly.

"And Qingfu?" the man asked, looking almost desperately to that man.

"No, Qingfu is in command on Illicit."

The man nodded, looking away briefly, then pressed his gun harder into Quatre's temple.

"You need to let him go," Heero offered in a level voice, obviously hesitant to move any further away. "You know our training, Gerrange. If you persist..."

"Shut-up, Yuy," Gerrange spat at him, then turned and gestured. "Form up or line! Bring out the men!"

One of the soldiers behind the man hesitated a brief moment, then turned and started making the gestures.

"Gerrange," Heero said quietly, "come on now, don't be a fool...this will never work."

"I will kill him!" Gerrange half-shrieked. He didn't have much in the way of control over himself, and his soldiers all hesitated, turning to look at him. "This bitch..."

Heero started to protest the continued prodding of Quatre, but Quatre didn't have the best control over his temper. As the muzzle of the weapon slammed in again—Duo was half launching for them—he dropped...and moved.

Gerrange's expression turned to outrage as he followed those motions, then moved forward again. Quatre's head snapped back at the punch, but that left him to his own.

Heero, Wufei, and Trowa were shouting for the pair to stop fighting while Duo lunged forward and got tangled with Trowa. Gerrange's soldiers were crying out in alarm and outrage, but obviously hesitant to act in the face of the enemy.

The ESA soldiers, meanwhile, were shouting and taking aim, though there was no way any of them could shoot without endangering Quatre.

Jinli stepped forward, then stopped...

And the motion abruptly ceased.

Quatre's chest was heaving as he pulled away, watching...as Gerrange slowly fell to the ground.

Silence fell over the area.

Duo broke free of Trowa, who was staring and didn't seem to care anymore, and darted forward to slide on his knees to Gerrange's side. He checked for a pulse instantly, then leaned forward to listen or a heartbeat...then started shouting for a medic.

. . .but Jinli knew the man was dead. There was no life left in that body.

Gerrange's soldiers stared in horror, then looked up and around...and their weapons started hitting the ground.

Jinli watched as a white-faced young boy darted back for the ship, but he could tell what that was, too. He was telling them that Gerrange was dead.

Their revolution was over, and they'd managed to get themselves in way over their heads.

Quatre wiped blood from his face, his eyes locked onto the body, then focused on his hand. He stared at the blood a long moment, then turned his focus around to look at Heero, then Wufei. Finally, he met eyes with Trowa.

Wufei darted around to his friend, pulling him in for a hug that somehow ended with Quatre's head resting on Wufei's chest. Quatre was looking to the ground, and the noise around them was gradually growing louder.

Marshal Gerrange had been killed by Brigadier General Quatre Winner. The medics would try to revive the body, but Jinli had a feeling that was just lip-service.

. . .so what did they do now?