Joining the Battle
By Josephine Maxwell-Jackson
AN:
Kinborough Fotheringay is my own character and another Gundam pilot. She knew Duo when they were about seven. Confused? Read on and you shall discover how (with the help of some tactical mistakes) I worked it out. So there's your connections! Enjoy!Chapter One
WOOHOO!!!!
I had two canons locked onto the base and I was not afraid to use them.
"Stop! Identify yourself!" The voice was from another mobile suit. It jarred me momentarily from my reign of torture.
I paused. I didn't want to do all this, but I had no choice. I had my orders. I had to destroy things and blow them up. There was no room for formalities. "No," I growled decisively.
A face came onto my screen. The boy looked petrified. His long, brown hair was tied into a ratty braid behind him, and he just stared at me, open-mouthed. "Kinborough? Kinborough Fotheringay?"
I was taken aback for a moment – just a moment – before I recognised the speaker. Duo Maxwell. "Duo? What the hell are you…?"
A massive shock ripped through my Gundam, leaving me gasping for breath. "Kin? Kin, talk to me!"
Determinedly, I grabbed the stick and swung my Gundam round to the source of the attack. They were going to get the first taste of my canons! But you don't want to fight, a part of me whispered, you know you don't want to have to fight.
But I have to
, I whispered back, for the colonies."I'm still here, I haven't given up on you yet buddy."
"What're you doing here?" He cried in amazement.
I aimed at my target silently. Everyone in the building came streaming out as soon as they saw I was about to fire. I let them run – whatever good it did them.
"Kin? What're you doing here?" Duo's voice was more measured as he repeated the question.
I fired at the building savagely, feeling a bottomless pit open in my stomach as I did. "I'm just hanging around, blowing a few things up," I muttered after a pause.
"But what are you doing here?" He repeated.
I made to answer his question, as something rammed into my side, throwing my whole machine off balance. I forced her to her feet, although she groaned the whole way. "A little busy here Duo! Maybe later?"
I turned and made my machine draw a small sword, which I used to chop the arm of the nearest Taurus suit. I stood back in position, waiting for the next to draw near. They stood around me in a circle. Waiting for me to attack. I knew that was stupid, making the first move. Best way to get yourself killed.
"Guys!" Duo was making a public broadcast to all the Gundams. I counted five suits, not including my own. Duo's was one, whose were the rest? "Listen to me guys, the other Gundam? I know the pilot! I repeat, I know the pilot! Do not take offensive action against that pilot!"
I was cornered, and I knew it. Sizing up the nearest Taurus, I jumped. Keeping on balance, I snapped forward with a foot and took his whole head off. The head of these suits usually contains the pilot. It crashed away, just missing another suit. "Anyone else?" I demanded in a public broadcast, stepping backwards to my original defensive position.
Suddenly, the next nearest suit split right down the middle. The Gundam responsible held out a giant hand to my suit, pulling me to my feet. "The name's Heero," he muttered. I had no visual. I couldn't see his face. "Thank me some other time."
Obediently I said nothing, but jumped to my feet and ran from the amazed Taurus, who'd just let us get on with it. Apparently they'd lost track of Heero's suit and were afraid of making the same mistake again.
I looked about. I had an objective. And I was going to attain it if it killed me. Which it possibly might. I had to blow the main control tower and get out alive. But that last part wasn't an order, just something I would like to do if I got the time. Surviving, you know? A pretty high priority on my list of things to do.
I held forward my arm and aimed. The hand folded away to reveal a canon bigger than the last one. I aimed at the tower. I punched the broadcast button. "Any idea how many people are in the tower?"
I released it to let them respond.
Why couldn't I fire? Knowing how many people would only make it worse. But I held steady. I had to know. A few seconds later, a blond kid responded. "I'm reading close to five hundred. Maybe more."
"Kin! Do it! We'll hold them off," cried Duo, taking out an advancing suit as he spoke. At least, I assume it was Duo. I really didn't know which he was.
I took one hand off the throttle and balled my fist. I felt blood on my palm. I was not about to bail out now. But did I have to…?
I reached for the trigger… and fired.
The building burned beautifully. The flames were poetic. But I could already feel the tears rolling down my face. I'd killed about five hundred people with one action. How could I be so thoughtless?
"Yes!" cried Duo, "They're retreating!"
The army of Taurus were, indeed, pulling back. They couldn't protect the building anymore, and were just leaving everyone inside for dead. I was enraged. I pulled back and then blew towards the nearest suit, pulling it to the ground and making it immobile. "Who do you think you are?" I said, my voice wavering as I broadcast. "Leaving these people to die?"
A young man of about twenty flickered on my screen. "Kill me if you want Gundam, but you killed those people in there. If we try to help them we'd just be killed."
I punched at the cockpit once for good measure before letting the Taurus pilot to his feet to run and join the rest of his unit. He'd have a good story to tell when he got back to base. He faced a Gundam and survived.
Wow.
I raised my head and looked at the burning remains. I still had tears streaking down my face. I sniffed loudly. "Hey," said Duo slowly, his face flickering on-screen, "Kin? You're not… crying? Are you?"
"AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH CRYING? PANSYMAN!" I pounded the dashboard hard with both fists and yelled out in pain. Then I swore a great deal. The other pilots didn't try to stop me.
I sobbed. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing! Let the them have it! Everything! I just didn't care anymore!
I leaned back hard in the seat and let the tears stream down my face. What was the use? We didn't win. We couldn't wage war or we'd have hell to pay. We just had to sit back sticking our finger in the pudding every so often to see when it came to the boil.
"Kin? You okay?" The blond kid's voice was probing, but concerned.
I swallowed hard. "Not really. I just want to…" I balled my fists, feeling my nails digging into my palms. "Destroy something."
I took control of the stick and swung round to face the rest of them. "I'm leaving. There's no reason to stay here."
All the while, I couldn't help thinking that I'd killed hundreds of people. One machine and I had taken out hundreds of people. All acting, like me, on orders. It wasn't their fault, they didn't deserve to die. But I'd taken that decision away from them, whether they were to die or not. I did it. Me.
"Listen to me," said Heero, "We've all been there. We know what you're going through."
"How?" I choked. I could hardly bear it. Them standing around and telling me that they knew how I felt. So stupid!
"You think we've never killed before?"