Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Wings ❯ Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Duo took the golden opportunity of unrestricted access to a lieutenant's personal office as far as he dared. The one hour time limit didn't deter him in the least. He simply propped the door with the stapler and went to town. He had no materials with him but Powell was well supplied. He hacked her computer with laughable ease and began a system-wide copy download to a spare pocket drive. While the hard drive spun and whirred Duo rifled through desk drawers, file drawers, stacks of paper, anything that might be remotely useful. All he determined was that Powell had an unnatural obsession with her pet fish and no close family to speak of. If she had access to any closed files they were not hidden here. Considering the nature of the base she inhabited Duo doubted she had access to much that wasn't here in her office.

The door's lock clicked but didn't engage. It beeped once and the fingerprint scanner blinked red. No doubt it was sending an alert to Powell's keyfob. Duo didn't know if she would come running or not- he wasn't going to bet on the latter. He stopped the computer's download and pocketed the drive. He grabbed the EMP where it sat on the desk corner and kicked the stapler to the side. Duo slid into the hallway and tried to pretend he belonged there.

Recover EMP, check. Determine the current state of secure information, check. Escape without being detected, check. It was almost easy. Once a target was hit they just assumed they'd be off terrorist radar. Their security slacked, their people got lazy, they just plane invited trouble and Duo was only too willing to provide it. Let them think they had things under control; it made future hits run so much more smoothly.

He drove the military truck right out of the compound, the guards still weren't checking outgoing cars, and happily ambled back to the den. He was satisfied with the job- even if it had been against Trowa's wishes it was entirely worth it. Not only did he have an in to follow the information that Heero and Trowa let get away, but he got the EMP back too- and he didn't kill anyone for it either. Zechs and his crew were oblivious that the swipe ever happened and if things worked out, it would stay that way. Powell was too skittish to actually confront Zechs about the location of the EMP and in two days it wouldn't be hers to deal with anyway- hopefully she'd just pass it off as someone else's problem and move on.

But boy she'd be surprised when Duo turned up pretending to be Samuel, Zech's personal aid. What a trip. He couldn't wait.

He pulled up to the den a full day later than expected and hopped out of the truck with the EMP triumphantly held in one hand. Trowa was at the door, and concerned, before the engine even wound down. When he spotted the EMP concern swiftly morphed into anger. Duo watched the transformation in slow motion. His heart kicked in his chest and things took on a slightly purple haze. The wolf inside of him exploded from the box he'd managed to stuff it into and Duo was struck with a wave of shame and inadequacy. How had he dared go against his Alpha? How had he dared to consider his actions were better then what Alpha had in mind for him? He was worthless—

No.

No he was not.

Duo growled at Trowa before the Alpha could say a word; “I am not worthless!” he shouted. “I can take care of myself, I don't need your help; I'm not worthless!” The wolf inside of him flinched back from the anger and absolute resolution Duo had in the pit of his heart. He had fought tooth, nail, and dagger on the streets and back-allies of L-2. He had grown up knowing you had to be faster or stronger then everyone else or you weren't going to make it. He had thrived. He. Was. Not. Worthless.

Trowa started forward, a deliberately slow series of steps that caused the wolf to brush against Duo's skin. He fought the urge to submit, growled at both himself and at Trowa's advance. He dropped the EMP to the side carelessly and leaned forward on his toes.

Alpha's steps quickened, he leaned forward into a jog, then burst violently into his tiger form and came barreling at Duo with a snarl. The subordinate had disobeyed.

Duo loosed his wolf. Fur exploded over his skin. He ignored the disorientation and pain that came with a changing set of bones and a new center of balance. Duo flared his wings high and wide, his cross bumped against his chest, the wind whipped around him. He lowered his head and braced his claws.

Alpha only needed two massive leaps to reach him. Duo sprung at the height of the second, slipping like a dart of lightning under the leap and launched at the tiger's underbelly. His teeth collided with claws. He felt his body impact Alpha's. They rolled in the air, crashed. Duo landed on top.

The front door opened.

Alpha was suddenly Trowa, emotionless and utterly in control. A colorful bruise stained his chest. Duo felt his wolf yanked back into his body like a jack in the box in reverse. The spring re-coiled too fast. Duo collapsed in the dirt and retched. His chest felt too full, his breathing was fast, he couldn't focus his eyes. Purple kept washing everything out into nothing. He retched again but his stomach was already empty.

He felt Trowa move away from him and he thought he heard voices but it didn't matter. He didn't understand up or down. It was all a massive whirling sensation slightly detached from the dust he was clinging to. Something told him that laying down meant he couldn't fall down but he couldn't sense his own body to comprehend laying or standing. Awareness flickered like a bad analog TV signal.

Duo coughed. The world twisted into focus. He couldn't stay here. It didn't matter that the EMP was back. Who cared about the next hit- he couldn't stay here a second longer, not if he wanted to stay sane.

The L2 rat gathered the shredded remains of himself and crawled in the dust toward the only thing that wouldn't betray him- the only thing he recognized in this strange altered world of wolves, tigers, and transforming people. Deathcythe.

The mobile suite was prone, but that just made his progress to the hatch easier. He thought hands tried to help him stand at one point but he swatted them away with deteriorating coordination. He felt Gundanium under his paws. Duo hiked himself upward. He entered the hatch code without seeing the numbers. Hydrolics hissed. Duo collapsed inside as everything went dark.

--//--

Deathscythe's softly glowing screens eventually roused Duo from his change-induced stupor. He blinked. His fingers curled automatically around `scythe's controls but the Gundam didn't move. It took Duo a long moment to realize the machine wasn't actually on. The screens cycled through general data that the offline scanners picked up and discarded with regularity. A small alert caught his attention. He activated the message and was surprised to find Trowa's face on his screen. Duo canceled the video immediately. He had already made his decision.

Duo popped the chest hatch and slid off the gundam. He took a few minutes to cover the machine where it lay on the bed of the transport. Hopefully Trowa wouldn't come outside to investigate before he could get on the road. Duo noticed the EMP he worked so hard to return wasn't on the dirt anymore. Someone had taken it inside. How annoying. He risked his ass, came home triumphant, got the shit lain into him for it, and they took his prize. Ungrateful bastards. The wolf under his skin paced in confusion. He shouldn't be going against Alpha, but Alpha hadn't really given him a direction now.

The pilot wrenched the transport's driver door open and slammed it closed. He started the engine and executed a smooth two point turn onto the road before Heero even made it to the door. Duo was willing to trust Trowa only to a point. He still didn't know the man's full name! And that moment in the fight when Alpha had hauled his wolf back into his body… he never wanted to experience that kind of helplessness ever again. The wolf in him bristled at the thought of such control. For once, Duo was in complete agreement.

Heero could work out whatever deal he wanted with the Heavyarms pilot. Duo was quit of him.

He saw the front door open in his side view mirror with Heero's squat silhouette in the frame. It took a while, but Trowa eventually joined him there. The door closed without anyone waving good bye. Duo put it from his mind. He needed to get to the coast and off this overgrown island. Maybe some out-of-the-way forest in China would be big enough to hide him and the wolf for a while.

--//--

Several hours later, as his transport was skirting the edges of Darwin, Australia in a bid for the coast, Duo started cursing. He'd been so bent on getting away from Trowa that he forgot entirely about his plan to infiltrate the base in Sydney. The sun was nearly set and it would take all night to drive back inland- once there he'd have to abandon Deathscythe and there was no telling how or when he would get the Gundam back. Duo frowned and maneuvered his large truck into steadily more wild territory. He didn't exactly trust Trowa or Heero to protect `scythe, either. It was probably better if he hid the Gundam and took his chances abandoning it for now.

Was it even worth it? What kind of information did the Sydney base have now that Darwin had broken their quarantine? Why did Trowa and Heero think it was worth the risk to infiltrate in the first place?

Duo parked outside the city and outside the suburb. It wasn't secure, but at least it was lonely. He climbed from the transport to Deathscythe's hatch and let himself in. His pocket still held the small thumbdrive that contained most of Powell's data. She was clearly in charge of something important regarding this operation. He sorted the files across `scythe's screens and began skimming through two terabytes of raw text. His brow creased. Darwin had been accepting huge stockpiles of metal alloys, computer modals, laser and AI technologies that Duo was only vaguely familiar with. Everything pointed toward a new mobile suit, something that could aid the warrior if his limited understanding of AI was anything to go by. Yes, it was important, but it didn't seem to be enough to risk the lives of two pilots for. There had to be something he was missing, some detail here in the data he couldn't see.

He sorted through the files more closely and began a checklist of detail on another screen. Weapons upgrades to the arm canon and head beam. Defensive flares of all kinds. A complicated shield matrix that Duo set aside to pick apart later in case he could upgrade `scythe with it. As his list grew something nagged at the pilot. Vernier thrusters and stabilizers, more then OZ's previous suits made use of. An array of electrical programming, stacks of if-than statements and redundant shutoff components. It was almost as if the suit could fly itself with minimal direction from a base computer.

Duo's blood turned to ice. He opened a general schematic file and stopped breathing. The folder contained only two images and they were not very detailed; but they contained all the information Duo needed. This was not a setup for a new mobile suit, this was the beginning stages of a mobile doll. One that was optimized for space and required no human pilot. Chattel for a war that hadn't started yet.

Something like the weight of a hundred thousand invisible plots pressed on Duo's shoulders. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. This was an impossible hurdle. Someone was working seven steps ahead of them all and his ad-hock plan to slip into Sydney and disrupt the progress was just a pipedream. They needed a full tactical strike team with the financial backing of a minor country. This was so much bigger than a simple suit improvement, this was going to change the way wars were fought… it already had.

Did Trowa know about this? Had Heero? Is this why they had planned their own C & C without Duo's involvement from the beginning? They saw an opportunity to take out a significant player in the game and hadn't wasted time looking for help. Now their botched job was a boon for OZ. Sydney had the data now. They'd be getting their supplies in less than a day. They were on high alert in the major city and no doubt this data was scrambling over the network now that Darwin had broken quarantine. It was too late to patch this little crack in the wall- the flood was already here.

Duo cursed fluidly for the better part of an hour while his fingers balled the data with a light encryption and lobbed it over to Quatre's Sandrock. He was better equipped to understand all the global implications of a mobile doll. Duo also included a brief of the past few days, including his intel about Powell. That job was scrapped, but maybe the blonde genius would find a way to use it- who knew. Duo's path was clear to him, get the hell out of dodge while he still could. Things were going to get hot again, he knew it, and this time the Gundams wouldn't be able to nip it in the bud. Things were going to blow up fast and hard, all the pilots would be able to do was react.

He fired up his transport and made a beeline for the shore. In the dead of night no one was going to notice him abandoning ship.

--//--

The steady wash of seawater against unflappable Gundanium was almost soothing in its consistency. There could be an arcing typhoon or not a cloud in the sky and the water would still sound the same: a steady thumpswish of liquid as it parted before powerful Vernier rocket-thrust metal. Duo wished he could relax. Instead Quatre pinged him back as his Gundam was weaving between the isles of Indonesia. He opened the secure line with a grim expression.

“How recent is this intel?” Quatre's eyes were sharp like ice.

Duo glanced at his watch, “Seven hours now.”

“How long did the others know about it?”

“I don't know. All I've got is what I sent you in the brief. You haven't been given any missions recently, right?”

“Nothing, the board's totally clear, you?”

“All's quiet on the western front. Three told me he and One sniffed this one out by themselves.”

“And didn't wait for backup.”

“They might not have known how intense it was…” But Alpha had insisted he shouldn't go back there for the EMP… he had been adamant.

“You don't believe that…?”

“I'm not sure. Q-bean. It's too big for me, that's all I know. I beat the hell out of dodge as soon as I sent you the data.”

“Probably a good move. I'm not sure I can do anything from this end.”

“Even with all your guys?”

“I have a renegade militia following me around, not a precision tactical team. Besides letting this go through might be better for us in the end.”

Disbelief. “Better? How?”

“Well, fewer lives lost, at the very least. I don't know all the possible ramifications yet but I've got my fingers into the politics of scattered Alliance. I'll run a few simulations tonight.”

“Keep it quiet unless you need me A-sap, I'm pretty sure this is beyond all of us already-” An alert chimed softly. “Hold up…” Duo relegated the screen of Quatre's face to a small corner of his display and brought up the imposing image of Doctor G. Duo scowled, “You crazy son of a bitch! It's about time I heard something from you!”

Doctor G didn't react, it was a recorded message. “Oh-Two. Verify that you are secure.” The screen waited for his code.

Duo moved his focus back to Quatre. “Do you have a mission?”

The blonde scanned his screens and shook his head, “Nothing incoming.”

“Keep your ears open.”

“I will, fly gently, Duo.”

“Two out.” Quatre's screen blinked into nothingness and Duo entered his code. Doctor G's voice sprung from the speakers.

“The deaths of the peace delegates was a major blow to our goals. You must be vigilant against false data. I don't know if things can be salvaged but we're not about to give up and die. You're not very good about laying low, surprising for a gutter snipe. Arabia is off limits for now, I wouldn't even test New Germany.

You will be working with one of the other pilots for your next mission but he doesn't know that so keep it mum. You'll be meeting him in central North America, the coordinates of a university are included with this message.

I sincerely hope things are ok with you- I realize what a shock adjusting must be but you must understand it was necessary. Entirely necessary.” Doctor G's eyebrows fell a bit, Duo almost felt sorry for the guy.

Almost. Quite a few things were apparently `necessary.'

“A very high protein diet will help delay hunger, as will long periods of sitting or resting- not that I expect you're familiar with either of those. At any rate: get set up. I'll have more information for you soon.”

Duo narrowed his eyes as the video clip closed itself. He deleted all traces and input the coordinates to Deathcythe's computer. The machine obediently turned east toward the American coast. Was that a hint of regret he had seen in the doctor? A little hint on how to handle the wolf in him now? Nevermind that Duo had figured these simple things out already, he wouldn't be able to function otherwise, that wasn't the point. Could he press this? Could he get more information out of G if he really felt what he had done was against his principles. Did the doctor even have principles? He let a gutter snipe steal the most valuable piece of machinery this side of the Earth Sphere on a whim in the middle of the night.

He shook his head and dismissed it. G wasn't his enemy, but the scientist wasn't his friend either. He would confront the bastard, but on his own time. For now, he had a new mission to focus on.

College… he would need a few changes of clothes.