Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ When Shooting Stars Fall ❯ BEYOND ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Part 4- BEYOND
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Who comes ungently tapping, rapping at my chamber door like a horse kicking in a stable?" Sally Po bellowed as she got up from her small kitchen table.
"Sorry dear Lenore. Simply Gundams escaping jail, only this and nothing more," Nichol quietly said through the decorative wooden door. (Shit now I'm rhyming too)
"Then you'll try to capture them won't you?" she replied loudly through the door.
"Yes ma'am. It will happen nevermore," Nichol replied, barely stifling a laugh in spite of the situation he was in.
Sally Po opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Nichol quickly took note of the large handgun she was carrying. Her hair was a tangle and catsup was smudged at the corner of her mouth. Seeing the usually prim colonel in such a state would have normally allowed Nichol fifteen minutes of uncontrollable laughing, at minimum. But now the blond OZ officer was giving him her strongest "deathlook" and he figured he had better shut up and find the Gundam pilots.
"What happened?" she asked as they briskly walked down the hall towards the prison area. "Is Yuy escaped too?"
"I just got word about the prison break a second ago," Nichol humbly said. "As far as I know only Maxwell and Barton got out. I don't know what happened except that they killed some idiot and then made a run for it. I don't know what happened."
"Well send somebody over to check on Yuy. Make sure he's still there. I'll go after Barton and Maxwell."
"I've already sent a soldier to check on 01," Nichol replied curtly. "And…" He was cut off as his walkie-talkie sounded and the sound of an out of breath soldier reached his ears.
"This, is, is Alex, over. 01, huff, is still in, huff puff, his cell," the exhausted soldier reported. 02 are dead. Wheeze, repeat 02 is dead."
"How about Barton?" Nichol asked. "03, what about him?"
"Gone, he ran. He should be in B Block area to free 01. Can't find him though."
"Idiots," Sally Po spat. "I'll be over to B Block right away. Nichol since *you* enjoy taking care of cadavers so much why don't you run down to C Block and escort Maxwell to the morgue?"
Nichol grimaced at the idea but only replied meekly, "But I believe that I would be able to be of greater assistance finding Trowa."
"That was an order Nichol! Not an invitation for you to speak your thoughts."
"Bitch," Nichol muttered under his breath as he crisply saluted and walked away.

/ Shoot, shoot, take cover, shoot, watch out behind you, listen for more troops, take cover, run, take cover, run, shoot, take cover, don't think. Don't think about anything else/ Trowa's brain commanded as he ran through the OZ facility.
He spun around and emptied the rest of his clip into three OZ soldier stepping off of and elevator. Sprinting to the elevator he got inside and grabbed the three weapons from the now lifeless hands. Shoving the ammo into his gray prisoner pants he pressed the elevator UP.
/ A sound! Where? Left? No there! Shoot him! /
Another OZ officer fell in the line of duty as the elevator doors finally closed and Trowa began to move upward. Wiping sweat off of his face he frowned at how out of shape he had become from rotting in that jail cell for weeks, his only company, Duo…
"I'm sorry Duo," he whispered aloud, tears forming in his green eyes. Another friend lost, another comrade, gone.
/ At least you get to meet up with the others on the 'other side' / he grinned a little. / I'm all alone now. God, I never thought the day would come…what's that noise?!? /
He turned around to see the three dead bodies lying on the floor.
/ A radio /
He picked it up and listened, "…Alex, over. 01 is, huff, still in, huff puff, his cell. 02 is dead, repeat…"
/ Heero is still alive! /Trowa's heart lifted for a second. He had to find Heero; he had to get him out of this place with him. He hit the STOP button and then sent the elevator down to B Block. / Quatre, Quatre would want me to do this. / Trowa adamantly thought to himself. / Gomen little one. But at least I can save Heero. /
BANG!
The guard outside jumped as a loud noise came from inside of the Gundam pilot's cell. Warily checking inside the guard saw that the tied and bound pilot had somehow smacked his head against the bed railing, the kid looked unconscious, or worse. Unwisely he opened the cell door and ran in, checking the prisoner he found that the boy was unconscious but his breathing was incredibly weak. Scurrying to unstrap the prisoner he quickly ran out to call for a medic and report in the incident.
Another noise startled the guard as he whipped around and saw that Heero had gotten to his feet. Wondering how the boy could have made such a fast recovery he barely managed a soft yelp before Heero snapped his jugular. Dragging the guard into the cell Heero quickly exchanged his old gray prison uniform for the OZ soldier's. The clothes were loose and too baggy, especially the pants, but they would have to do.
/ I should just keep a low profile and see if I can get out of here / he thought.
He noiselessly walked down the hallway away from the cell. Slowly his mind drifted from his escape to Duo. The chestnut haired boy's image wouldn't remove itself from Heero's head. Two OZ soldiers ran past him, not even taking a second glance.
/ But either way I've already lost either Trowa or Duo. /Heero grimly realized. The thought of Trowa dead was almost enough to make Heero sick to his stomach. Trowa had been a great friend to him; even they were both usually silent they seemed to communicate well with one another.
"You've been asleep for a month."
"You've been looking after me all this time?"
"To the rest of the world and to OZ you're dead. Maybe…maybe the rest of us should have followed your lead and died also."
"Well if you're going to kill yourself I've got one piece of advice. It hurts like hell."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"The only true way to live is by one's emotions and one's emotions alone."
/Trowa…even though that's what I told you I haven't really done that much myself. All my life I've taken orders and carried out the mission without bringing my emotions into it. And I certainly didn't follow my emotions when it came to Duo. /
"Lieutenant!" a soldier snapped to attention as Nichol passed through the jail area.

Nichol walked slowly up to the now roped off area and stepped inside. A medic was treating an OZ soldier for injuries and Nichol noticed another medic wheeling a limp body away on a cart. Finally a young black OZ officer walked up and saluted him.
"Lieutenant Nichol there are eight dead, and one in critical condition," the officer reported softly. "Some more are wounded but nothing fatal."
"Thanks for the report Alex," Nichol said s he surveyed the damage. "May I see the body of 02? I need to check to make sure he's dead."
Pvt. Alex shook his head. "He's dead alright," he muttered. "He's over there on that cart if you really want to look," he pointed towards an area where a medic stood hovering over something.
"Thanks, Alex," Nichol replied. "Do my one last favor and round up a couple of guys to come with me, 01's escaped too."
"Knew he would," Alex mumbled. "That kid wasn't the type to sit by while his friend's made a break for it. I'll get some troops right away."
Nichol then walked up to the cart where a body lay under a blanket. Compared to the large hulking bodies of the soldiers this one was so much smaller and for a second Nichol wondered how in the world such a person could die so young in a way as this. Finally he reached out and pulled back the sheets. Duo lay face up, a small trickle of blood on his lips, his large violet eyes showing a look of pain but relief as well. Nichol noted that the boy seemed to be smiling.

"He's close, he's close," Sally Po said frantically as she led a small group of OZ soldiers through the B Block area.

Silently cursing her luck (or lack thereof) she stopped the group as a dull 'thump' came from one of the larger R&R rooms. She signaled for an ensign to come over and open the door. Doing so the man nervously kicked the door open, revealing a dark and apparently deserted room.
Waving for the ensign to go in and search the room Sally crouched outside of the door and held her pistol ready. The ensign took a step inside.
BANG!
The sound of metal hitting metal startled the soldiers but with cat-like reflexes Sally Po dashed away from the door and threw herself down to the floor. A small metal ball spun on the floor near the ensign's feet.
BANG!
The grenade exploded suddenly sending the startled ensign and company off of this mortal coil. Sally quickly jumped to her feet and pointed her gun at the now smoke filled hallway. Finally she stepped into the R&R room and aimed a gun at a figure in gray. She cleared her throat and the figure spun around and leveled his gun at her.
"Barton," she gave as a greeting.
Trowa simply nodded back in response. He had thought that the grenade had killed all of the soldiers; now he realized that it had been foolish to presume so. Both stood, Sally barely in the doorway, Trowa calmly glaring at her with sad green eyes.
"Omae o korosu," Trowa said with great venom in his voice.
"Hahaha," Sally laughed, seeming to catch Trowa off guard. "I could have killed you the instant I came into this room. However I decided that it might be better if I talked to you first and then dispatched you from this Earth. You now know that OZ is going to win this war! Your Gundams have long since been melted down and OZ has complete control over the colonies and Earth. True that three of the five scientists are still missing and most likely responsible for some of the terrorist attacks lately, but they aren't that much of a concern."
"You wish me to join OZ?" Trowa asked shaking his head. He cocked his gun. "Never."
Sally chuckled again and suddenly threw her gun to the floor. Glaring at Trowa she said, "Let us finish this as person against person. What do you think?"
In response Trowa flung his gun to the ground and squared off into a fighting stance.
"Personally I think guns would make it much more interesting," Sally sneered as she pulled another smaller pistol out of her uniform and fired point blank at Trowa.
BANG!
As Trowa limply fell to the floor Sally grinned and shook her head. Slowly she began to walk out of the room when a clicking sound sent her heart into a flutter.
BANG!
Searing pain shot through her as a bullet dug into her right breast. "That's for Duo," Trowa said calmly as he stood with his gun in his hand, but holding his stomach.
BANG!
Sally Po cried out as another shot hit her in the shoulder. "For Wufei."
BANG!
Again she would have cried out but the bullet had shred her vocal cords. "For Quatre." Blood spit profusely from the wound in her neck. Sally Po slunk to the floor, her vision blurred. And then she was dead.
Trowa staggered as he watched with grim relief as Sally lay on the floor, dark red blood still spilling from her multiple wounds.
/ Now you are avenged. / Trowa thought as he lay down on the carpeted floor of the room.
-end part 4