Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reprieve ❯ Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Duo crept up on the fortress, waited for the cannon to open, ready to fire and rammed straight in, scythe open and raging as he smashed it elbow deep into the barrel, hauled it loose and sliced open the firing mechanisms, cutting loose the fuses. He was already feeling too tired and knew his time was limited if he wanted to help the others and disable the fortress. Wasting no time, he cut a hole into the fortress and began storming his way through, destroying anything that got in his way. It was not a neat, concise battle plan. He was just rampaging, and enjoying it, truth be told.

He had made it through what he estimated was two thirds of the beast when he broke through a door and came foot to face with Dorothy Catalonia, who looked ready to take on Deathscythe if she had to. She was also holding tight to Relena Peacecraft's arm. Duo was not sure how they ended up here; there seemed to be a big blank in his head concerning that little affair, but he had never placed some people high in his regard and these two, unfortunately, were two of those.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Duo bellowed out over the speakers, surprising even himself with the volume. The girls jumped.

"Hitching a ride!" Came the muffled reply picked up by the external mics. Dorothy was looking up at him, daring him to deny them, and he wanted to; lord, did he want to!

Sighing heavily, Duo opened the hatch and dropped the rope-lift, looking about the cockpit and trying to figure out where he could put them. There just wasn't any room! Growling low in his throat as they stepped onto the open cockpit door and waited expectantly, Duo lurched out of his chair, reached around behind it and hauled loose the back panel leading to the head and the wiring system. There was enough room there for one of them…

"Relena," Dorothy said decisively and Relena didn't even argue, just crawled in behind the pilot's chair and braced herself against the walls. Dorothy in the meanwhile sat in the pilot's chair and motioned for Duo to sit in her lap. Duo groaned, knowing full well there was no other way, and gingerly sat down.

"Your arse is too bony, Maxwell!" Dorothy snapped. "When this is over I'm fattening you up good and proper!" Dear lord, Dorothy, threatening to play mother with him. The world really had come to an end.

"Shut up and hold on," Duo growled as he fastened the seatbelt and grabbed the controls. Deathscythe Hell lurched in his hands, the systems engaging, and then they were moving again, quickly plundering the depths of the fortress. Duo realized the girls came in handy in so far as they led him directly to the bridge.

And that was where they wreaked the true chaos. Duo was about to wipe out the whole console when he noticed a particular system on the far end; a recent addition.

"Dorothy…can you use it?"

She followed his gaze and a feral light came into her eyes as they alighted on the Zero system, ready to engage at a user's whim. She didn't even bother answering him, just slipped out from under him, somehow twisted herself free of the belt and rushed out of the cockpit, grabbing the system helmet and slipping it on.

Duo didn't wait to see what would happen, taking the Gundam and Relena out of there, trusting Dorothy to escape if the fortress became unstable. It was a simple thing to fly between the two lines of Gundams facing off. It was even easier to kick Deathscythe into full defense mode and then throw everything he had at the Epyon, switching on the Zero system as his Scythe tore through the spine of Epyon, spewing oil into space.

He dropped the hyper-jammers then and hurtled back in for a second shot even as Wing was thundering toward the Tallgeese and Altron was spewing fire at the Epyon, creating a fake screen for Deathscythe's second attack. The Zero system engaged and suddenly Quatre was there…

*

Wufei was fuming. There was nothing they could do. He would not, no matter what, do anything to put his home in danger; his people, who he fought for. Who he had entered this war to fight for!

But he could not hand over Altron, or himself. He could not do that to Duo. He was contemplating that very problem when Epyon's spine literally exploded and Deathscythe appeared out of nowhere, the Scythe already spinning back for another go at the injured Gundam even as the Zero system engaged and Deathscythe linked to the rest of them. Wufei felt Duo through that link and his whole body rejoiced. Duo was okay, and the world was somehow right again.

"L5?"

"Safe." No more explanation needed.

Lunging forward, Wufei followed Quatre's commands and blasted Altron with the dragon claw, spewing flame at the head as Duo had in their previous battle. It bought Duo the time he needed to reverse the angle of the thermal blade so he could stab the spear through the Epyon's chest. Then Quatre was there, in their heads, leading hem, guiding them through the motions Zero suggested first and foremost as if they were all one being, one machine. It was unlike anything any of them had experienced before. They were seeking revenge, but it was just, and the right thing to do, and they were being efficient and intelligent. Together.

They were winning, Epyon almost out of the picture, Tallgeese being finished off by Wing, when the full brunt of the mobile dolls struck. They were quickly separated, isolated and Wufei found himself far away from Duo, dragon claw disabled and his trident barely holding its own against the doll's guns. In the distance he saw Deathscythe struggling toward Peacemillion and he knew Duo had reached the end of whatever small endurance he had pulled out of his hat to save them. The Zero system told him Quatre had ordered him home when he became more of a hindrance than help but all sensed Duo had another idea. Wufei wanted to argue, but now was simply not the time. It rarely was.

The dolls were mowing them under and Wufei feared the tide of battle had finally turned against them when the mobile doll attached to his back fell away, shot by own of its own. When he turned to see what was happening Wufei saw similar occurrences taking place all over the field. A second fleet of dolls was systematically wiping out the original and doing a damn good job of it.

"Quatre?"

"Dorothy," was his reply, like that made any sense. Wufei had not see her in days! Still, he was not about to argue with the mastermind. He got down to work helping the dolls while Heavyarms continued to protect Sandrock and Wing battled Tallgeese. There was no sign of Epyon.

Wufei saw Deathscythe reach the safety of the Peacemillion just as the right wing erupted in flame. Epyon appeared there, still spewing parts, but refusing to yield. Wufei's heart dropped into his stomach as Duo turned aside from his retreat to face off with the demon.

*

"What was that?" Sally grabbed hold of the arm of the pilot's chair to pull herself upright, eyes glaring at the screens as she tried to translate the jumble of numbers into actual events.

"We've been hit," Howard replied coldly, and Sally realized for the first time that his battle voice was almost as cold as Duo's. "Charge the coils boys, we're carrying enemy goods!"

Sally watched in quiet awe as the men on the bridge responded to orders like they were commands, swiftly rearranging controls, bringing new information to the front screen for Howard to read. The bridge ran like a well-oiled machine, all slick and new and perfect. It was a living, breathing, intelligent thing.

The screens came to life with external images and sure enough, huddled on the right wing's remains was Epyon, looking about ready to go into meltdown. Seemed to be the fate for broken things in space, Sally thought.

"Coils charged, cylinders ready to fire," came the report from the far left of the bridge where Jax was hovering over his men like a giant just waiting for something to crawl up his beanstalk.

"Hold!" Howard bellowed as a shadow fell over one of the sensors, blocking their view while nothing was there. The entire bridge held its breath, waiting. Then the green flash signaled they were right and Dethscythe appeared, hovering over Epyon like some dark angel, and the head of the red Gundam was in the black fist. The bridge erupted into cheers and howls of delight and Sally found herself caught up in the fervor of the moment, throwing her arms about Howard as he spun her around, laughing. That was their kid!

Realising just what she had thought, Sally settled down almost ass quickly as the bridge crew, sobering as she stared at the back of Howard's head. Now was definitely not the time. Besides, she could bug Wufei about it later. There was nothing that would annoy him more than a good heart to heart with his old friend Sally Po.

Deathscythe was dragging a faintly battling Epyon toward the hanger doors and Howard had them opened as Duo opened a link to the bridge, his thin, weary face a stark, ghostly white, hollowed with dark shadows but still grinning madly. Sally waved at him behind Howard's back and he winked in return.

"Hey Sal! Jax, I need you to get this pilot for me, and a team to haul the Gundam out of the hanger to the shipment rooms. We need the space."

"On it, Kid!" And Jax was, a team already forming about him s he marched out the door. That Duo had asked for help with Epyon's pilot was testament to his true state; complete exhaustion. Sally rested a had on Howard's shoulder and turned to head for the hangar, slightly amused when Hilde turned to follow. The girl was learning; fast.

*

Howard felt the hand on his shoulder squeeze lightly and breathed a little more lightly, satisfied Duo would have all the help he needed, whether he had asked for it or not. His attention then turned freely to the battle, the state of the new set of mobile dolls, which were looking ragged, the worn disrepair of the Gundams, who were still raging against the tallgeese and the dolls combined.

And then he saw it; the space fortress through the centre of the L5 cluster, burning bright in the dark confines of space, a long line of debris in its wake and no one at the wheel, heading straight for the colony cluster.

Howard sent a request to Wing for him to open communications. It took a moment and when Heero's face appeared on screen it was obvious why. Blood trickled down the sign of his face, pilled off a split lip and a purple bruise was already forming around his neck from the belts. Still, he was cold, determined, and Howard would bet his life that Tallgeese's pilot looked no better.

"Heero, the space fortress!"

Heero's eyes flicked to his own external sensors and widened in alarm when they fell on the fortress.

"Roger!" Was his only reply as the connection was cut and Howard knew the Zero system had been put on hold to get the call out. Switched back on once more, Heero would no doubt relay the information to the others. Hopefully. Unless…

Howard swore softly under his breath as Trowa abandoned his post at Quatre's side and took Heero's place against the Tallgeese as Wing transformed into flight mode and raced toward the colony. Wufei was, thankfully, still battling mobile dolls, and had not yet discovered the new threat. Howard wondered if Quatre was keeping it from him.

The bridge doors opened and none other than Relena Peacecraft barreled through them, looking pale and scared, but hard and ready for whatever came her way. Howard nodded to her, and let her do whatever she wanted. She just there, slightly behind him, watching, eyes fierce, face slightly downcast. All her dreams were about to come true, or be shattered forever.

It all looked like it might go well, but the Oz ships shifted and their doors opened. More dolls, and at their head…a Gundam. A mammoth of blue and gold gundanium that shimmered even in the dark of space like a sick parody of ancient knighthood.

"Howard…" Harry hissed under his breath from the engines panel.

"I know," Howard replied, just as furious. There was no mistaking the lines of the original Gundam model, remade and modified to create this beast. "Tallgeese 2."

In the silence that descended on the bridge only Relena's voice was heard.

"Treize Kushrenada."

*

Duo didn't power down Deathscythe, using one massive fist to rip the cockpit door completely off the Epyon. Inside, the pilot glared from behind a dark purple helmet, still strapped into the pilot's seat, as if daring him to kill her. It was very obvious she was indeed female, dressed in a skin-tight deep purple flight suit that revealed every line of her body.

Duo didn't bother going anywhere near her, waiting for Jax's crew to arrive and take her into their ever-reliable custody. She didn't struggle against them. It seemed to Duo that she simply did not care.

And neither did Duo, truth be told, so long as this whole mess resulted in a peaceful place where Gundams were not needed anymore.

"Duo!"

He looked up to see Sally Po and Hilde running to him and he opened the cockpit, dropping the lift for them, not really sure what they wanted. Well, not sure until Sally appeared before him with her medical supplies in hand. He always managed to forget she was a doctor.

"Sal, I'm fine! Honest! The drug just ate everything that wasn't genetically me, that's all. I'll get over it. I'm just tired." He refused to get out of his Gundam just yet. He might still be needed. Not that he honestly believed he could make all that much difference in his current state, but he could damn well try.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

Relena chose that moment to come out of hiding, not saying a word as she smoothed her hands over her clothes, ran a hand through her bangs to neaten them, then grabbed hold of the lift and left them alone. They all watched her go without comment.

"Well, if I'm not needed here, I think I will go check on our prisoner," Sally waved as she too grabbed the lift and disappeared from view, leaving Hilde and Duo on the open cockpit door.

"You okay?"

Hilde nodded, a faint smile touching her lips. She was as alright as it was possible to be, all things considered.

"DUO! There is another Gundam! And the fortress is out of control, hading for L5."

"Roger!" Duo panicked, grabbing at the controls, wondering how the hell they were supposed to stop the fortress, and another Gundam…It was a complete fluke and good aim that had resulted in the fall of Epyon. And Tallgeese was still out there…

"You're too tired," Hilde noted coldly and she marched up to him and undid his belt, forcing him to stand as he took his place and then pulled him back into her lap.

"What is it with women today? Everyone wants me to sit on them!"

Hilde didn't respond, just leant around Duo and flicked the switch to close the hatch as Duo's hands closed once more around the controls, Hilde's ready to assist when they were needed as they opened the hangar door once more and dropped out, kicking Epyon back inside when it threatened to follow in the pull.

"So what are we going after?"

"Fortress," Duo replied immediately. The fortress was his fault, and he had to get Dorothy. Which would mean they would lose the dolls…at the worst time!

Scowling darkly, Duo slammed past three overzealous dolls as Hilde tried continuously to message the fortress. There was no reply.