Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reprieve ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Reprieve

Warnings: AU, OOC, not sure yet….lol!

RUSH, RUSH, RUSH- Racing towards the sun.
In blind pursuit of what's to be,
moments on the run.
No time to wait, no time to spare,
no time to feel, no time to care.
Pressures build, emotions crumble.
Psyches strain, ambitions humble.
Then, without warning,
the world slips out from under you,
and a soft gentle darkness washes away the hues.
Peace prevails, the struggle ends,
a loving warmth surrounds you.
It lifts you up into the light,
one at which astounds you.
So little lived, so little tried. What tragic ends.
Yet, you welcome your next journey,
for you know you've made amends.
But then the light fades, and the cold encroaches in,
there's a sharp pain, you open your eyes,
and peer into the din.
The world is back, but upside down,
everything is a mess, and you're still around.
You grovel to your feet,
raise your hands into the air,
and yell, WHY LORD!, why cause this despair?
He Answers... Try again.

- Ilmar Island Saar, October 17, 1988

PROLOGUE

"Hey, Heero…"

Heero lifted his head and glared at the black-clad figure standing in the doorway. He thought he had made it perfectly clear he was not welcome, that this room, his room, was out of bounds. Yet there he stood, leaning casually against the doorframe as if nothing were amiss. Why couldn't he just leave him alone? Go away Maxwell, you're not welcome here.

"Oh for fuck's sake, get over yourself. We've got a mission, or hadn't you noticed?"

None of his surprise showed on his face, but within Heero was shocked. He had noticed Duo's temper fraying lately, the L2 accent growing heavier as if the mind behind the manic grin was losing a battle, returning to its home. Heero didn't really care. What was it to him if the idiot broke down? But…something about it concerned him. He just didn't know what.

"I have my mission, you have yours."

"Oh, really. Well since you have apparently failed to notice, said mission involves two other pilots; 02 and 05. 02, since that too you have failed to recall, is my code name. That makes it our mission."

"Hn." No, it didn't, not in Heero's opinion. Yes they had been sent on the same mission several times now, and if Doc J was contactable Heero would have asked it to stop, for the doctor to show some confidence in him. But J had vanished and he was sent on mission after mission with the lunatic…And now there was another. Scowling darkly, Heero fired up his net connection and ran a search for intel on the area surrounding the base he was to attack. While he waited, he sat facing the door and glared.

"You aren't going to share, are you?"

Heero didn't deign to reply. The menace could do his own damn research. Find his own way there. Annoy someone else. He could go teal up with 05, whoever the hell that was. He was not welcome at Heero Yuy's side.

"Whatever you frigid freak. Screw you too."

Heero didn't even flinch as the door slammed shut. He was a little surprised when he didn't hear footsteps clonking away from his door, as if a ghost had just left not a full-blooded being of flesh. It was slightly disconcerting. Everyone made some kind of noise when they moved, right?

The laptop beeped and Heero turned to face the screen. There were three separate pieces of information. The first was the name of a school near the base. The second was a list of names. The third was a new mission. Smiling to himself as he read through the stats, Heero sent his acceptance, already working on a new search for new intel.

In his rush to avoid the old, Heero failed to file a request to be excluded from the other mission. Both missions would run simultaneously and he could not be in two places at once. No one was that perfect. When he finally thought about it, Heero still didn't bother to file the request. After all, it wasn't as if OZ had anything two trained Gundam Pilots couldn't take care of, right? Right.

*

Duo launched before dawn, sneaking into the base before the light could smudge the horizon. He was invisible beneath the cloaking technology installed in his Gundam and knew his best hopes of succeeding in his mission rested on him staying that way. His screens were open, all com links waiting for any sign of life, but they remained dead. The frequencies shared only by five mobile suits were silent. Duo didn't allow himself to wonder. Patching the systems through to the line he held open with the Sweepers, Duo sent the only failsafe message he had available; the only sign he was worried.

"Off to reap the corn old man. Keep some dinner for me."

The sun broke over the horizon as Duo plunged down, invisible as he streaked down the runway, completely aware the towers would have picked up an anomaly by now. He had fifteen minutes max to get what he had come for and get out. Then the others should arrive…

He left the Gundam at the south gate, just slightly off the middle section I the hopes that if anything did try to come in and couldn't see the Gundam they would not collide and give his presence away prematurely. He snuck in through the cooling system. His fingers shook as he jammed one of the fans and snuck through the small space that revealed itself.

Simple mission. Get in, retrieve data, wipe system, get the data out. Duo barely considered the fact the mission draft said nothing about getting himself out. Since stealing the Gundam G had never once failed to send him missions, but he had never once mentioned the well being of the pilot. Duo had no idea whether the other pilots received their missions in the same manner, if they were completely expendable. He didn't care. It was obvious at least one cared nothing for him and Duo suspected the others would be no different. They had, after all, been chosen for their role. They had not thieved their way into Operation Meteor.

The system was difficult, but nothing he had not come across before. The data flowed onto a disk even as Duo inserted a second disk port and uploaded the virus into the system. A glance at his watch revealed he had less than five minutes to get out. He grabbed the first disk, leaving the other one to finish its job as he returned to the cooling system, not even aware of the bluish tinge to his lips. He only knew his fingers were cold as they fumbled on the catch that would start the fan going again as he passed through it again.

He emerged into madness. Opening his ears, Duo heard the telltale signs of battle. He emerged from the base hanger to find a team of Leo's trying to reach a suit he had never seen before. Fire spewed from one elongated arm and a forked version of his own scythe hacked straight through two…the Leo's were winning, but only because the Gundam seemed determined not to move from its place over thin air. Duo cursed. The Leo's could not see his cloaked Gundam but the pilot of 05 certainly could and he was doing everything he could to provide the backup that had been his mission parameters. Duo did no like putting others in danger to help him. Why couldn't the missions have been the other way round? He couldn't be the only infiltration pilot? Heero could have done it just as well.

A second platoon of Leo's emerged from the hangar and Duo didn't hesitate to throw himself into Deathscythe, firing up the systems. He waited until the other Gundam was almost overwhelmed before one flick of his wrist had the scythe fired up and an entire front line of Leo's fell in half from one foul swoop.

"Shit!"

Duo grinned as 05's voice came over the previously silent com link. It was nice, to know he was not alone, that he was not the only one fighting, that someone would watch his back. Even if it was a complete stranger.

Duo flicked on the external speakers and turned off the cloaking device.

"Welcome to my valley!" He bellowed and some of the Leo's actually paused. Duo grinned. He knew they knew who he was; had read the OZ reports on him weeks ago. Ever since his undersea battle against he newest Cancer models OZ had tried to collect intel on the pilot known only as 02. They had nothing. All they knew was that he liked to appear out of nowhere and that he seemed to be the only one with that technology. And he was.

Five minutes later Duo was more than grateful for the presence of 05. They were using everything their Gundam's had, and were barely holding ground. They only had to retreat, but there was no way out. They had only enough power between them to hold their ground, not gain any. And more troops were coming every minute.

Duo felt something trickle down the side of his head but paid no attention to it. A little blood never hurt anyone. Even as he fought, his eyes scanned his secondary screens, searching for what he already knew was not there.

Heero wasn't coming. They had needed three, and 01 was not coming. He wanted to scream, to rip the bastard to shreds, but there was no time. Even as he thought it the Leo's were closing in. And that was when he saw it. A chance. For one.

Duo struck forward and smashed his shield arm into the face of two Leo's at once, felt his arm buckle but hold as he lifted the other and raked it through five others, creating a clean path, so long as the other two Leo's could be hold for a moment more.

"05, go!"

Without hesitation 05 slipped through the gap as the two Leo's fell through the shield arm and Duo felt the left side of his controls go dead as he swung his right arm around to decapitate them. There were more, so many more, flooding in to replace others.

"02?"

Duo hit a button on the console and data began to flow on a chart to his right, information being dumped from the disk into the 05's Gundam.

"02!"

"That's all of it. Go!" Duo bellowed even as another wave of Leo's emerged from the hangar. He knew he was not getting out and knew 05 knew it as well. The question was, what mattered more to his new comrade? Pilot or data? Apparently it was data, as 05's Gundam flew higher into the air, an anguished cry only slightly alleviating the pain in Duo's heart.

He managed to break free and launch himself into the air. Doing the math quickly in his head, Duo flew Deathscythe over the most vulnerable section of the base. He was the infiltration expert and his Gundam had enough explosives hidden away in it to wipe out ten OZ bases. To blow it all at once. He could destroy everything within fifty miles. He calculated how long it would take 05 to leave the thirty miles of fatal blast zone and his grin split his face, hysterical laughter bubbling from his throat as the Leo's reached him again. It didn't matter.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

Duo flicked open the self destruct.

"seven, six, five…"

Duo hit the button and felt the self destruct systems boot up, felt Deathscythe's heart shudder to life as the machine lit up. Dark red lines ran across the consoles around him and Duo felt fear clutch at his heart.

"four, three, two…"

"02!"

"NO!" Duo screamed as he caught sight of 05 coming back over the horizon, not twenty miles from the base.

One.