Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reprieve ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

"I still say you're nuts. There's no way you can destroy that place by yourself. You'll be caught in…eight minutes."

Heero raised a brow at Hilde and smirked. He thought he could last eleven, but he was not about to tell her that. She just didn't understand why he would even try when there was so little chance of success. She did not understand the importance of the mission. But then…Heero was not sure he understood any more either. He did what J told him to and that was all there was to it. At least, that was all there was meant to be to it.

But lately…Heero couldn't help thinking about what they were doing. He had seen beyond the walls of J's compound and discovered the places in his dreams, those ones that seemed like so much more, were real. Those places he had seen, he could now see again; they were real. People he had dreamt were here, to talk to and discuss with. It was all real and yet…It was not. They were fighting; always battling for the same meaningless reasons. And they fought with them, struggling for an elusive thing called `peace'. But if you could not even find peace within yourself, Heero wondered, how could you hope to find it in the world around you? How can you win what doesn't exist?

Peace, Heero was fast discovering, was the dream he had imagined the real world to be. A place where human kindness ruled and love conquered all…there is no such place.

"Yo, Heero! You even listening?" Hilde waved a hand before his eyes, laughing as he blinked back to awareness and snarled at her. "Hey, don't blame me when you space out! Must be that space fever."

Hilde reached over and unstrapped his belt, motioning for the door as if she didn't believe he was rushing off to his death. Heero nodded as he stood, thanking her for all her help and for bothering with him at all. She had made him look at things differently, which he had needed. He was ready to battle again. Somewhere….somewhere he would find such a place…

"Good luck, Heero Yuy!"

The door slid shut and Heero climbed into Wing's cockpit, finally booting up all systems and standing the MS upright. It ran smoothly, with none of the shuddering madness he had come to expect with MS. It was like he wasn't in a machine at all. Hilde really had known what she was talking about. He wondered if this is what it would have felt like before had he just let Duo do what he wanted.

"Clear for launch!" Hilde bellowed over his systems as the doors fell open. Starting up the base boosters, Heero walked out of the cargo ship from C8923 and began his decent to the Moon Base.

*

"Howard!"

Duo was already hauling on his shirt when Wufei sat up in bed as the call came over the ship's coms. By the time Howard got to a com to reply Duo already had his shirt buttoned and was pulling on his shoes. Wufei blinked at the sight.

"Howard here. What's going on?"

Wufei sat up straighter, forcing his body to wake up as he hauled on his own tank top and reached for his shoes. Duo was already ready to go.

"Reports are flooding in off the Oz hack. They've got scientists on that base, two new MS models, and they're under attack by a Gundam. They've also got a Gundam fighting for them!"

"What?" Wufei scrambled out of bed just as Duo disappeared out the door, no doubt headed for the bridge. Wufei almost ran into Quatre and Trowa as they stumbled out of their room and followed in Duo's wake.

"What do they mean there's a Gundam fighting for Oz? Has Yuy turned?" Wufei demanded of his fellow pilots.

"No, they mentioned two Gundams. There must be a new one…Heero would never turn. And what are the scientists doing there?" Quatre seemed to be thinking out loud more than asking questions so Wufei didn't answer.

"Why doesn't Duo seem surprised?" Trowa asked quietly.

Wufei glanced ahead and realized Duo was already out of sight. He recalled how Duo had rolled out of bed and landed prcti8cally dressed, almost as if he had been expecting the call. He had spoken to G yesterday…maybe the Doc had told him something? And he had been so jumpy…Wufei felt a slither of worry work its way under his skin.

They arrived on the bridge to witness chaos. Half the people on the bridge were silent, the rest were swearing and shouting orders as Howard punched in codes and brought up as many screens of information as he could. Duo was at the old man's side, reading over his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Quatre grabbed hold of someone's sleeve as the passed them, asking for an explanation.

"The Gundam fighting for Oz…" the man looked to Howard for permission, but was ignored. Sighing, he continued. "Howard designed it, the Sweepers built it. It was the base model for your Gundams. The Tallgeese."

Wufei's eyes narrowed. The Sweepers built the first Gundam? And Howard designed the first one? How had the Doctor's ever learnt of it? Who was Howard? Who had he been prior to the creation of the Sweepers?

"Shit, it's Heero!" Duo suddenly exclaimed, striding over to the pilots and pushing its current occupant out.

"Get us there Duo!"

"On it old man!"

Wufei watched the people move, leaving their seats for others to take over. The people who moved onto the bridge were all hard-faced, older men and women with scars and mannerisms that spoke of military training and experience. The ship lurched suddenly and Wufei knew they had switched several gears as they sped through space at triple the speed they had been going. Schematics of the ship on the far wall altered and Wufei watched the wingspan thin, the tail split and widen as it balanced them and then they were soaring, dodging meteors and debris with the ease of fish in the ocean.

"Heero's piloting the Tallgeese?" Quatre asked in confusion.

"No, Heero's fighting the Tallgeese," Howard explained, pulling up images of the battle on the main screen. "The pilot of the Tallgeese is unknown to me."

Even as he spoke Howard's fingers worked over a keyboard and Wufei saw familiar commands appearing at a speed he had not thought possible.

"You're hacking Tallgeese!" Wufei was not shocked so much at the thought of the man hacking a Gundam but at the speed with which he was succeeding.

"I designed her, Wufei I know what I'm after."

"Approaching the Moon! Get ready to take over old man. Fei, head for the Gundams!"

Wufei didn't wait to see what happened next. He wanted in on the action and knew the only way that was happening was if he followed Duo's orders and got himself into Nataku.

Wufei was in his cockpit booting u his systems when Duo entered the cargo bay and headed for Scythe. Wufei logged on to the network and the information started streaming in from Wing. He had successfully infiltrated the far side of the Moon Base only to be met head on with Tallgeese; a much slower but larger Gundam that seemed structurally more sound than the newer Gundams but had less weaponry. Heero was, as far as the data was concerned, uninjured. Still, from previous reports Wufei knew that was not necessarily the case. Heero's idea of uninjured differed greatly from his own.

The communications lines opened and Quatre and Trowa suddenly occupied two of the five available boxes. It was obvious they had just finished a conversation of their own as the nodded, welcoming him into their little world. Wufei waited patiently, listening to Quatre's ideas as he studied the data. He was surprised to find the small blonde was quite extraordinary at group strategy. He was devising a good plan.

Another window finally winked to life and Duo appeared. The Duo Wufei had first me with sparkling eyes and a broad, dark grin that promised death, body alive as it woke the Gundam all around him.

"Let's go reap the corn!"

"Roger that." Wufei was amazed to hear Trowa enter in on Duo's odd battle antics. He himself remained quiet, letting the cool calm of battle overtake him as his hands settled on the controls. He was ready.

"Opening doors."

Wufei felt the sudden sucking of air from the bay, the pull on everything, then it was oddly still, the air gone and they were waiting. They didn't have to wait long.

"Releasing Gundams. Prepare for freefall."

And falling they were. Wufei waited until his screens had the moon in sight then booted u his back thrusters, blasting his way toward the north side of the base, furthest from Yuy and the Oz Gundam Tallgeese. The aim was to damage the base as much as possible. Duo was oddly right; let Heero go it alone while they completed the mission, then they would deal with the Gundam.

"Suits coming in from the right!" Quatre shouted over the coms, as if they weren't right under the speakers. "Keep in formation. Trowa missles!"

Even as he spoke a rain of missiles met the approaching force and took out the entire front line.

"Wufei, flame them!"

Wufei obeyed, rushing in behind the missiles and blasting the second line with fire. Behind him he heard orders being given to Duo and a loud war whoop, but the only sign of Deathscythe was the savage green sweep of the Scythe as it swept through the enemy.

"There's no life readings from those suits!" Quatre yelled over the coms and Wufei realized he was right; the suits were dead. Or rather, completely mechanical.

"So, you want me to go to hell alone?" Duo suddenly bellowed and Scythe dropped its cloak right in the centre of the opposing force of suits, the green flash through their heart their only warning before the suit disappeared once more, leaving a hole in their centre.

"You'll have to catch me first. I'm heading in. Catch you guys back at Peacemillion when you're done."

"Duo, we should stick together!"

"Sorry, Quat, you got your orders, I got mine."

Wufei snarled as his sensors told him Deathscythe was moving away. What did he mean, they had different orders? What the hell had G told Duo? Whatever it was, Wufei did not trust the good doctor, and he certainly didn't trust Duo to tell the old man where to go if his orders endangered his life. Swearing loudly in Chinese, Wufei followed the heat strip his sensors marked as Duo's passage and hoped he could keep up with the suit no one could see.

"Trowa! Ah! Why does no one ever listen to sense?"

Wufei smiled as Quatre suddenly switched from the leader of a group to a single fighter. He was impressed with the glimpse of Quatre's skill he got before his systems faltered and he was disconnected from the network.

"Shit!" Fumbling at the communications board Wufei tried several times to reconnect only to discover he was locked out. Calming himself, Wufei logged onto Peacemillion's network and waited for Howard to open his end of the link. It didn't take long.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm locked out of the network!"

"WHAT? Who…never mind, we'll connect you all through our systems!"

Quatre appeared on the screen again, looking small and a little frightened.

"Wufei? I'm locked out!"

"Me too," Trowa suddenly replied, appearing in his allocated slot. Wufei frowned at the box that remained blank.

"Where's Duo?" Wufei demanded and Howard blinked at the blank square.

"I sent the request for Scythe to connect…but there's no response!" Howard looked more than a little worried as he resent the request. Wufei felt the worry that had slipped under his skin surface and become an itch.

"He's in stealth mode so I can't actually see him, but I'm in his heat trail."

"The longer he stays in stealth the colder that strip's going to get. You'll lose him in….three more minutes…" Howard winced as his men announced that.

"Catch up to him, Wufei, and find out what the hell is going on! All of you keep this channel open and tell me if you manage to reconnect to the network!"

"Roger," Trowa was suddenly gone, out of range and by the sounds of it firing missiles.

Wufei saw a bright explosion to his far left and smiled. Trowa, at least, was making the most of a bad situation. A flash of green had Wufei forgetting about fun and Trowa and following Duo's rapid decent onto the Base roof. A loud crash was the only sign that something was not right with Scythe as the ceiling caved and a shadow smashed its way inside. Wufei could do nothing but follow, afraid of what might be going on inside.

"Come on Duo, connect to Peacemillion…" Wufei felt a shiver run down his spine. What if Duo wasn't able to connect? What if in the same way they were locked out of the network Duo was locked in? But how…."Those damn boxes! I'm going to kill that doctor!"

Wufei put his thrusters on full and opened all the sensory material he had, then he let it all go and ran on instinct. He knew he couldn't keep track of Duo for long, but he could track anything else in the base. His sensors picked up on the myriad other heat sources, including humans within the base. Nataku mapped out what it could see of the base and overlayed it with the prints coming from Peacemillion's satellite hacks. He found the plant and a set of dungeons nearby directly in the path Duo had been headed.

"Got you"

Hoping he was not too late, Wufei blasted his way through the wall and too the most direct route.

*

"Who the hell are you?"

"Your opponent."

Heero suddenly felt the urge to quote Hilde…'no shit sherlock' seemed suddenly apt.

"Where I am from they say I can steal your soul if I know your name…is that what you fear?"

"An interesting concept, but no. I fear nothing you may or may not do to me. My name is Zechs Marquise."

Heero grinned he knew that name. This man was…important…to Treize Kushrenada, leader of Oz. Harm him and…well…Oz might have to rethink its strategies. Heero was all for hurting Treize in any way he could.

"You came to destroy this base, didn't you? So what's taking you so long? Surely you can get past me easily enough. Why haven't you done so already? Why are you hesitating?"

"You were not a part of my mission…but I think I can make an exception…"

Heero's systems suddenly blinked out and rebooted. The sudden darkness was all Zechs needed to give a dangerous blow to Wing's head, forcing Heero to retreat several steps. Snarling, Heero was furious when his screen was crowded with several communications screens.

There was Duo, but not the other Gundams as he had expected. There were several faces he did not know, and one he did. But it was not possible. He checked the lines, but this was definitely material coming in off the network…The other Gundams appeared to be locked out.

"Fuck off!" Duo bellowed over the system as his Gundam shuddered and the sound of screeching metal came over the coms.

"Let go Duo! You should be unconscious! What did you do to the box I gave you? What have you done? Have you disobeyed me?"

"Leave me alone!" Duo was smacking the controls so quickly it was hard for Heero to translate what hew as doing.

Heero realized Duo was trying to disconnect from the network and ran a check for Deathscythe's systems only to discover a foreign system had hacked the original controls to shreds and locked it into the network, completely open to the Doctor's, who were feeding it the most complex programs Heero had ever seen.

"Release the controls Duo! Return the inputs to their original configuration!"

"NO! You're going to kill us all! I won't let you!" Even as he spoke Duo's hands were madly countering the doctors controls, bur Heero could see him falling behind. One set of hands could not keep up with five.

"J?" hero finally found his voice, slipping in an extra firewall to Wing's systems to ensure his own computers were not infected.

"Heero? What are you doing here? Disconnect from the network immediately!"

"But…"

"Heero?" Duo screamed his name and a flicker of relief entered that expression. At that moment Heero knew the Doctors had killed Duo's sensors. While he could see them and read what was happening, Duo was blind. Duo, a Gundam pilot, trained and treasured by these very men, blind.

"Heero, LEAVE NOW!"

"Heero, no! Don't go, please, don't leave me like this…help me, you're the only one left! They're going to kill us!"

J laughed at him. Heero might have actually done as he was told had J not done that, but Heero had been there too many times; had J standing there just laughing while he writhed in pain. This was not right. There was no peace here.

Reaching out a hand, Heero began to type, oblivious to the Tallgeese and its actions. Zechs was no longer part of the mission objective. Deathscythe was a lost cause, Heero knew, but the others were not. Tearing through the network, Heero sent offers not for the others to join the network, but to join a systems chat interface within Wing itself. He was confident the programming and interface he had constructed would stave off the doctors.

"Yuy? What's going on?"

Heero sighed in relief when Wufei immediately joined his systems, followed quickly by Trowa.

"Quatre?"

"Damage. He's returning to Peacemillion to help Howard."

Heero nodded and patched an entry through to Deathscythe, hoping Duo had not erased all the backdoors in a fit of rage.

"The Doctors are hacking Deathscythe through the network. We need to get him out."

Duo suddenly connected to the vid-chat, tired and pale, hands still flying.

"Status?"

"Can't keep up…I've got one last idea though…"

"What idea?" Wufei snapped and Heero didn't like the suspicion in his gaze. There was something else going on here. Worse, he should have known about it; should have been with them.

Pride and artifice, Heero reminded himself…you've too much pride and artifice.

"Too late. Re-routing systems…LET'S GO TO HELL!"

The screen went blank and Heero felt Wing shudder to a halt again, systems rebooting. This time when the network reconnected he found no sign of the doctors and the data stream was scrambled beyond recognition. Dethscythe was not connected.

"Heero? What happened?"

Heero looked at Trowa as he was finally reconnected to the network, followed quickly by Wufei, but he had nothing to say to them. He just shook his head.

"Wufei?" Quatre appeared on one of the network screens. "Deathscythe's programming links to the Sweeper networks just deleted themselves."